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I think on a whole host of issues Washington tends to be a lagging indicator on public opinion.

I think, first of all, you know, Washington has a bad habit of a very short attention span.

Public relations is at best promotion or manipulation, at worst evasion and outright deception. What it is never about is a free flow of information.

I'm not a career politician, so the ways of Washington may be a little obscure to me.

Washington is a place where people have always been suspect of style and overt sexuality. Too much preening signals that you're not up late studying cap-and-trade agreements.

In so many of the other beats these days, there are these layers of public relations people that you have to go through to get to the newsmakers themselves.

My view is different. Public relations are a key component of any operation in this day of instant communications and rightly inquisitive citizens.

You don't change minds in Washington with sweet reason. You do it to the white light of public opinion.

There's a void of leadership in a lot of Washington. I think one of the reasons why there's so much angst across the country.

Oh, that all the things my father had told me about how disgusting Washington is are true. And again it's the system - there are lots of nice, well-meaning people there. But it's a sleazy place. And politics is all about doing favors.