Reporters are always supposed to be demanding more access and more transparency. So the day that there isn't some friction between the White House press corps and the White House is the day that somebody in the press corps is not doing their job.

My start in politics was watching my parents go to the polls on election day. It reminded me that being an active, engaged citizen and voter is critical to the success of our democracy.

didn't come from a particularly political family. My parents were regular voters. My parents didn't make enough money to contribute to campaigns, and they didn't really knock on doors for candidates when I was growing up.

My mom and my grandmother definitely were (Democrat supporters). It wasn't a sense that, "Well, we vote for Democrats no matter what," but it was sort of the sense that, "Democrats are typically the ones that are looking out for working people like us."

The President and first lady did hold a private party at the White House over the weekend, but given the private nature of that event, I don't have a lot of details to discuss from here.

There was also a sense that if he [Obama] did not win in Iowa, that it was very unlikely that he would be able to come back and win the Democratic nomination and win the general election. It was sort of an all-or-nothing bet. The stakes were that high.

Even now, hearing the debates about Medicaid, the suggestion that somehow we could save money by cutting Medicaid strikes a chord in me personally. It seems there are some other ways we can save money rather than making it harder for people like my aunt to get health care.