[Senators John Kerry & John Edwards] have risen high in Democratic polls with a brand of class resentment and soak-the-rich rhetoric rooted in the old-fashioned liberalism of Ted Kennedy.

Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media.

I welcome new words, or old words used in new ways, provided the result is more precision, added color or greater expressiveness.

Of higher value than any one leader is the cause.

At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.

To 'know your place' is a good idea in politics. That is not to say 'stay in your place' or 'hang on to your place', because ambition or boredom may dictate upward or downward mobility, but a sense of place - a feel for one's own position in the control room-is useful in gauging what you should try to do.

Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.