The checks and balances is a way to prevent government from either devolving into an autocratic tyranny or an autocratic mob mentality.

I don't think that Washington is a fundamentally bad or corrupt place.

When you have both parties who will not find ways to compromise, who won't meet in the middle, you have paralysis. It's the perversion of idealism.

My jobs on campaigns were pretty low on the totem pole - I was an advance man.

In politics, it's very theatrical. There’s a lot of stage craft. The campaign is trying to tell a story that they want people to believe in, and candidates are playing the role, like actors, by a creative personae that people will be attracted to.

The fact that slavery is written into the Constitution is about as entrenched a form of classism as you could possibly imagine.

It's a rough and tumble game whenever power is involved - people's ambitions, their desires, their competitive spirit will often push them to play outside the rules. It's dramatic, it's interesting, and I think it's something we can all identify with to a degree.