Novel writing should never be confused with journalism. Unfortunately, in the case of Primary Colors, a fair number of journalists confused.

We`re facing a very different sort of threat now, a more amorphous threat, al Qaeda, terrorism, and so on. And so the military has abandoned the two-war strategy.

Dictating to dictators doesn't work; they are congenitally delusional about their own indispensability.

What do you do in a novel? You take recognizable characters from your own life, and you fantasize about what they're really like.

For those of us who consider ourselves political moderates, life is a dispiriting slog, a sorry mix of rectitude and ineptitude.

You know, larger-than-life politicians have larger-than-life strengths and larger-than-life weaknesses.

I'm in favour of politicians having extra-marital relationships. Oh yeah. It makes them more understanding of the flaws that the rest of us have.