Dec 17 Gwen’s Take: The Sincerity Test Polls can be confusing. Americans generally hate Congress but don't mind their own congressman. And many of them say they hate President Obama but consider him a good father and a generally likable fellow. What gives? I did a deep… Continue reading
Dec 03 One-Week Wonders: We Pay Attention So You Don’t Have To By Gwen Ifill I have a new theory. Let me know what you think about it. Has it occurred to anyone lately that so many of the things we obsess about turn out to be stories that last for - give or take… Continue reading
Nov 12 Truth and Consequences: Or What Happens When The Election Ends Former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, a Republican, and former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles, a Democrat, have been to this rodeo before. That's why they waited one week and one day to drop their post-election bombshell. By… Continue reading
Oct 22 In This Election Season, Pondering Peace and Harmony I've been giving a lot of thought during the waning days of this bitterly-fought midterm election campaign to the idea of peace and harmony. "Come on," you say. "What does peace or harmony have to do with dead heat campaigns… Continue reading
Sep 24 Gwen’s Take: Telling Our Stories Two women I know have recently written terrific books that could easily have never seen the light of day. By complete serendipity, each is a former colleague and friend. Isabel Wilkerson and I were both reporters for the New York… Continue reading
Sep 17 Gwen’s Take: Who Exactly Are the Bums? With a little more than six weeks left before Americans go to the polls and put us out of our midterm election madness/misery, this year's prevailing political story line got a fresh bump this week: voters want to throw… Continue reading
Sep 03 Gwen’s Take: Middle East Peace Talks Then and Now By Gwen Ifill "A great moment of opportunity," she said. "There's a lot of skepticism out there," he said. "But I think there is ground to be hopeful." She was Madeleine Albright, a Democrat and former secretary of state. He was Stephen Hadley,… Continue reading
Aug 27 Gwen’s Take: Why We Love It When the President Goes Away By Gwen Ifill The president of the United States is on vacation. I am not. It rained for his first three days in Martha's Vineyard. The sun was shining here in Washington. (Tee hee.) Forgive my enjoyment. But it's nice to take a… Continue reading
Aug 06 Retiring ‘Mission Accomplished’ and the Long Hot Summer Perhaps Oprah brought the president a cake when she joined his tight circle of Chicago friends for a birthday dinner this week. That's more of a celebration than he has been able to have for any of his other landmark… Continue reading
Jul 30 Gwen’s Take: Toxic Conversations By Gwen Ifill A few years ago, my friends Mark Halperin, now of Time Magazine, and John Harris, now of Politico, coined the term "freak show" as a catchall for the fever that overtakes those of us in the information gathering business from… Continue reading