The groups want certain questions asked of Roberts to lay a predicate for future nominees. Unless there's a revelation we can't fathom, this will be the meat of the hearings.

If Fitzgerald comes down with something that strikes the White House, all bets are off with conservatism. It's the post-Bush era.

He's lowered the gap between the Democrats and Republicans on defense. It may very well be an ephemeral victory, but the Democrats will take it. Chuck gave them an issue - Dubai - that they're going to bring up over and over again.

Clearly, they have to make gains in 2006, or it's possible there will be a contest.

They looked into the abyss and saw this whole thing falling apart and realized they needed to get something done over a serious issue. It was a rare moment of government at its best, and it's not clear how long it will last.

Congress has become a playground sandbox with no adult supervision.

It's almost like Bush is running for reelection with peace and prosperity.

It's the opposite of what Frank Sinatra sang. If you can make it there, you can't necessarily make it anywhere in the Republican Party.

It's a unique Washington story. Usually you rise, you fall and then you become a lucrative lobbyist. Here's a case where he rose, he fell and he stuck it out in the institution.

This is the Lord's gift to the Democratic Party. It is not every day that the Democratic Party gets to the right of the Republicans on national security.