Jul 18 Split Focus: Seeing polarization up close By Gwen Ifill MILWAUKEE -- The people who came out to see Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., at his town hall meeting in the Milwaukee suburb of Menomonee Falls this past weekend were angry and resentful. The immigration crisis, they worried, is threatening their… Continue reading
Jul 11 Gwen's Take: Take a tablespoon of policy, add a dash of politics and mix well By Gwen Ifill The national immigration debate has risen, Lazarus-like, from the ash bin to which politics had consigned it. As with issues ranging from death to taxes (to death taxes) we’ve been having some version of the same argument for years. Continue reading
Jun 27 Gwen's Take: Welcome to the circus By Gwen Ifill I resisted. I really did. It was too soon, I argued. Couldn’t we get through the midterms first? Did we really have to cover the 2016 campaign for two solid years?… Continue reading
Jun 20 Gwen's Take: On liars, prostitutes and shrinking civility By Gwen Ifill I believe it has been well established in this space that I like politics and generally respect politicians. Sometimes, however, it is a challenge. Take Brian Schweitzer. Please. Continue reading
Jun 13 Playing whack-a-mole: Hit or miss on politics and policy By Gwen Ifill Had a bad week? One that made you cry? One where you got smacked sideways by a setback you never saw coming? John Boehner has some advice for you: change the subject. That's the option the speaker of the House… Continue reading
May 29 John F. Kerry: In search of credit in a complicated world By Gwen Ifill When you have an interview with the Secretary of State, there is almost too much to get to -- Syria, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Sudan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Edward Snowden. But what John Kerry wanted to talk about… Continue reading
May 16 Gwen's Take: 5 things you may have missed in my Bill Clinton interview By Gwen Ifill It’s always gratifying when an interview gets headlines. We cover the news, but it’s also kind of fun to make news from time to time. So I knew when I walked on stage to interview former President Bill Clinton at… Continue reading
May 09 Gwen's Take: The perils of keyboard activism By Gwen Ifill The Internet makes it so easy. You see a compelling picture, you retweet it, Instagram it, or post it to your Facebook page. Instantly, you have joined a movement and signaled to everyone you know (or kind of know) that… Continue reading
Apr 25 Gwen's Take: Politics as an extinct species By Gwen Ifill It is an entirely human condition to pine for the good old days, when candy cost a penny, hopscotch was the best way to spend recess and politicians actually talked to, not only at, one another. But as the… Continue reading
Apr 11 Gwen's Take: The arc of history and the Civil Rights Act By Gwen Ifill From where I sit in Washington -- as midterm malaise sets in once again -- it’s breathtaking to look back on a time when so much got done. Continue reading