Post Politics Hour

washingtonpost.com's Daily Politics Discussion

Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post national political reporter Shailagh Murray was online Monday, April 30, at 11 a.m. ET.

The transcript follows.

Political analysis from Post reporters and interviews with top newsmakers. Listen live on Washington Post Radio or subscribe to a podcast of the show.

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Shailagh Murray: Good morning everyone. A fine day in Washington. It's not too often that President Bush whips out his veto pen, so you can imagine all the pre-parties and whatnot in advance of Wednesday. Fingers crossed that Rich Little returns!

Bring on your questions.

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Longmont, Colo.: Hi Shailagh, myself and others have had serious misgivings about some of David Broder's recent opinion columns. When people make comments about David in these chats, however, you guys invariably defend him as the wisest of the wise and greatest of the great. As I haven't been around for fifty years, could you please explain to me why Mr. Broder gets so much respect and homage, even when some of his latest stuff seems to way be off base (e.g. his prediction of a Bush bounce back in February)? Also, because he mainly writes opinion columns these days, why do you guys defend him at all?

Shailagh Murray: It would seem to me that the whole idea of an opinion page is to express points of view that aren't shared by everyone. Maybe it was all my years at the Wall Street Journal, but I like some spice in the stew.

Now, I don't happen to agree with David about Sen. Reid -- I'm in the Capitol every day, all day, and I haven't heard one serious complaint about him, other than his cryptic speaking style backing him into dark alleys now and then. To the contrary, a lot of Democrats are glad Reid has stepped up, because Speaker Pelosi has been so quiet.

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Raleigh, N.C.: Good morning! Did you see George Tenet on 60 Minutes? In my eyes, he came across as pretty much the epitome of the spineless, bootlicking bureaucrat -- in other words, I think he only hurt himself, not Bush or Cheney. What was your take?

washingtonpost.com: Tenet Details Efforts to Justify Invading Iraq (Post, April 28)

Shailagh Murray: I'm wondering where all these truth-tellers were when telling the truth really mattered.

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Alexandria, Va.: Any hint yet on how far the prostitution scandal will reach?

washingtonpost.com: Rice Deputy Quits After Query Over Escort Service (Post, April 28)

Shailagh Murray: We're hearing it's big!

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Philadelphia: What's Republican morale like around the country? Do you expect to see many Republican retirements next year?

Shailagh Murray: A real interesting question.

Put it this way, if you were a Republican, how would you feel?

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Charlottesville, Va.: How do you think they will ease Gonzales out and preserve his loyalty? Ambassadorship? They don't want him writing his book before 2009.

Shailagh Murray: I don't think Gonzales is going anywhere, unless of course his name is in that little black book.

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Winnipeg, Canada: Now that the emotional wave following the Virginia Tech shootings has subsided, do you think there is any chance that America will have a rational discussion of its gun culture and the damage it inflicts on the country? I'm not talking about new laws restricting gun ownership or possession in public places, but the public attitude that it is somehow necessary to own and carry weapons in a civilized society. The number of people who die of gunshot wounds each year is not only tragically high, but far exceeds the rate of death for any other country in the world. At some point, don't Americans owe it to themselves to ask themselves why?

Shailagh Murray: The answer to your question is: No.

Politically speaking, gun violence is wrapped up in too many other social problems to separate it out and argue that addressing it would actually make a difference.

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Kensington, Md.: Nearly every day a study comes out documenting new dangers and anticipated damage from man-made climate change, but aside from John McCain, I haven't heard one Republican 2008 candidate even acknowledge the issue. Many prominent conservative figures still sociopathically are throwing out words like "myth" and "hoax" in the face of the overwhelming science. No wonder that much of their rank-and-file still is confused or in denial. Why hasn't anyone covering the campaign trail put Giuliani, Romney, and others "on the spot" by asking them something like "do you endorse Sen. Inhofe's notion that this is the 'greatest hoax ever' "? In other words, drag them kicking and screaming into something resembling a "leadership moment."

Shailagh Murray: It would seem the left is doing a pretty good job marketing climate change as a polarizing political issue, meaning like most environmental causes, it only has so much growth potential.

That said, I think there is an appetite for dramatic policy changes on energy, as most of the Democratic 2008 candidates are proposing. But they won't be featuring Sheryl Crow in their ads.

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Bethesda, Md.: Rudy Giuliani leads in polls, did well in fundraising last quarter, but I don't see many leading Republicans endorsing him. Why not?

Shailagh Murray: Because of his moderate views on a lot of issues, and because many establishment Republicans don't believe he can win.

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Minneapolis: How do you think the effort by Waxman's committee to compel the testimony of Secretary of State Rice (mainly about her days as National Security Adviser) will play out?

Shailagh Murray: I don't know. But I doubt Henry Waxman's gonna get scared away.

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Anonymous: Why should the prostitution scandal really matter aside from exposing the most nefarious of hypocrites?

Shailagh Murray: Anonymous, eh? Very mysterious.

I was just saying to a colleague, I guess I'm a little old fashioned -- what's the public good of ruining the lives of so many people? Not only the men, but their wives, their kids, etc. It's one thing for a politician to pay for a hooker from his campaign account...but how far beyond that do you extend the net?

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Mt. Lebanon, Pa.: Any interest brewing other than inside the beltway on Unity08? Does this show have legs or is it strictly off-Broadway? Here are my unity candidates: Bill Moyers, Paul O'Neill, Tony Knowles, and Stephen Flynn. Thanks much.

washingtonpost.com: Video: PostTalk on Unity08 (washingtonpost.com, April 25)

Shailagh Murray: Seriously, do you really think a third party candidate has a chance this year? Seems too crowded already.

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Rochester, N.Y.: Any impending announcement that The Washington Post will follow the New York Times and skip the Correspondents Dinner in the future?

Shailagh Murray: I haven't heard. But it's awfully tempting.

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Park Ridge, Ill.: Are you pleased Tony Snow is returning to the press secretary position? I'm sure the White House is.

washingtonpost.com: After Hiatus, Snow's Happy Return (Post, April 30)

Shailagh Murray: Tony is very good at his job, but their problems go a little beyond personnel.

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Seattle:"It would seem the left is doing a pretty good job marketing climate change as a polarizing political issue..." Woah. So you think that the people who are creating awareness about the largest environmental issue of our time are doing so in efforts to polarize politics? Either you're too close to your work or you have a level of cynicism that isn't healthy. Seriously. That statement doesn't make any sense.

Shailagh Murray: Actually I think environmental awareness is way, way up -- my kids think people who drive Hummers are criminals.

But I think the big changes that people are seeking aren't going to happen if the climate issue becomes polarized and movement-like. That's just political common sense.

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Arlington, Va.: You said that Gonzales is going nowhere. If this is indeed true, will he be able to work with Congress, testify before them as Cabinet secretaries must do, and discuss sundry other matters, when the members of both parties are not taking him too seriously?

Shailagh Murray: I don't think he's the first member of this administration to hold on despite a mighty political rip tide -- Donald Rumsfeld comes to mind.

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Hingham, Mass.: Will the Republicans have President Bush speak at their convention next year? How can they not? But wouldn't an appearance be a huge boost to the Democrats?

Shailagh Murray: Good question. I assume he will speak -- and I assume Democrats will be thrilled for it.

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Re: Hooked in Washington: Shailagh, I have to disagree with you: Revealing the prostitution proclivities of those in power doesn't ruin families or marriages -- having sex with hookers does. Come on: Sunlight is good, even if it means certain wives have the blinders pulled from their eyes. And voters, too! I mean, the oft-massaged Randal ("Randy"?) Tobias was the abstinence-only AIDS Czar, wasn't he?

Shailagh Murray: Fine, that's great -- and your reasoning is exactly why this story will dominate the news for weeks to come.

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Silver Spring, Md.: You wrote: "I was just saying to a colleague, I guess I'm a little old fashioned -- what's the public good of ruining the lives of so many people? Not only the men, but their wives, their kids, etc. It's one thing for a politician to pay for a hooker from his campaign account...but how far beyond that do you extend the net?" Because, if it is prostitution and not an escort service, it is illegal! Our lawmakers are supposed to make laws, not break them.

Shailagh Murray: I'm operating under the assumption that many of the people who will be revealed in this case are not lawmakers, but private citizens.

Yes, prostitution is illegal. I'm not condoning it.

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Re: Hooker Scandal: This is what makes summers in Washington great! Front page, Style, Metro and maybe a Saturday op-ed for fun! Hopefully, someone will get caught on film.

Shailagh Murray: Maybe it'll even knock the war off the front page.

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San Jose, Calif.: Why doesn't the Post ever take any questions on impeachment, especially since its such a big issue (3 million pages and counting) on the Web?

Shailagh Murray: I'm taking a question on impeachment.

Fortunately, it was pretty easy to answer.

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Minneapolis: Hi Shailagh -- thanks for taking my question and for your reporting. Any thoughts as to why Laura Bush's "the president and I are suffering because of the war, too" remark didn't get more traction/coverage in the MSM? Reid's comment about the war being lost created a huge outcry as being insensitive to to the troops, and yet Mrs. Bush's equally (in my mind) insensitive comments seemed to have gotten a pass from pretty much everyone.

washingtonpost.com: 'No One Suffers More Than the President' (washingtonpost.com, April 25)

Shailagh Murray: I had not noticed her comments -- which goes to the heart of your point.

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Memphis, Tenn.: Re: Fred Thompson's possible presidential campaign. Isn't his wife younger than his children? Won't that bother conservatives? Or will they just be jealous...

Shailagh Murray: As long as he doesn't pay for prostitutes, I'm sure he'll be fine.

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Minnesota: There is a gossip site that is "reporting" that President Bush is drinking again, and the First Lady is so upset about it that she's staying in a hotel. I have no idea if that's true or not, but if it were, would it be news? If there is gossip going around Washington about that, would the Beltway insiders ever let the rest of us in on it? As a news consumer who lives far from Washington, I sometimes wonder how much of what's going on behind the scenes actually makes its way to me, even when you guys know about it. This is just one example.

Shailagh Murray: Would it be news? Oh yeah, the best kind! What hotel?

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Washington: On his new TV program Bill Moyers said mainstream media journalists routinely take White House assertions about Iraq and many other issues at face value instead of digging in, investigating and reporting on their validity. That is a serious charge given the media's fourth estate role in keeping our government honest. Is Moyers onto something in your opinion, or not?

Shailagh Murray: There's general consensus among reporters that the coverage leading up to the war probably wasn't as tough as it should have been. I think that's been corrected more recently.

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Silicon Valley, Calif.: How about a serious answer on the merits of the case for impeachment against Bush and Cheney?

Shailagh Murray: If Bush is drinking again, then definitely, impeach him. And if either Bush or Cheney are implicated in "massagegate," well, heck yeah!

I'll ponder about other possible charges and get back to you in a couple of weeks. Thanks for participating, and take care. Cheers, Shailagh.

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