Mar 11 Rest in Peace, David Broder Gwen Ifill and David Broder on "Meet the Press." Photo courtesy NBC News. David and Ann Broder were precisely the same age. So when they decided to celebrate their 80th birthdays last year, the couple's four sons, daughters-in-law and… Continue reading
Mar 04 The View From Indiana Indiana State Capitol building. Photo via Flickr user Intiaz Rahim. INDIANAPOLIS | This otherwise unprepossessing state capitol has in recent weeks morphed into one of several hot spots around the nation that are testing what it means to govern… Continue reading
Feb 25 Close To The Edge: Tales from Tripoli, Madison and Washington When I was just a young thing, I loved a song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five called "The Message." "Don't push me, 'cuz I'm close to the edge," the refrain went. "I'm trying not to lose my head."… Continue reading
Feb 18 Meaning What You Say It's a familiar cycle. Voters say they want new faces and fresh thinking in Washington. But once the newcomers arrive in the nation's capital, they discover themselves consigned to back benches and basement offices. Reality soon sets in. It's harder… Continue reading
Feb 11 Gwen’s Take: When Sending Signals Matters, When It Doesn’t By Gwen Ifill House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor strolled out onto the White House lawn after lunch with the president this week to deliver an upbeat and focused message to the reporters gathered there. "I thought it was… Continue reading
Jan 28 Date Night: Or Why the Best Part of the State of the Union Address Wasn’t the Speech Seldom have I watched the president's annual speech to the joint session of Congress with anticipation that had so little to do with the contents of the address itself. By now we surely know that - aside from the… Continue reading
Jan 21 Kennedy, King and the Power of Words I am not such a fan of celebrating anniversaries for their own sake. Much of what we say on such occasions is rote - if not trite - and the true meaning of observance is easily lost. But there were… Continue reading
Jan 14 Of Symbols and Meaning: Part Two Last week in this space, I mused about how quick we can be to over interpret events and ascribe tenuous meaning to actions that so often defy explanation. Less than 48 hours after I posted that column, 19 people… Continue reading
Dec 30 Gwen’s Take: Predictions, Prophecies and the Perils of Prognostication One of the things that I promise reporters who appear on "Washington Week" is that they will never have to make predictions. Even on the PBS NewsHour, where many of our guests actually make their livings by peering… Continue reading
Dec 24 Gwen’s Take: Why Santa Likes Political Junkies Let's face it. If you still have to go to work while everyone else is out shopping and partying and hanging mistletoe, you might as well have fun doing it. Gridlock is not fun. Poisonous debate is not fun. Being… Continue reading