David Gergen

So this is building, legally and politically, this is really building.

I think, Anderson, that we have known sort of through whispers and rumors that the vice president was very heavily involved. This is the first direct evidence of the vice president's extraordinary involvement.

It's hard for a law and order administration too to say, well, if somebody else does it, they have to go to jail, but if it's one of ours, they don't, you know, they don't have to pay a price.

The president has now thrust this into the '08 election. Now they're certain to be in Iraq during '08. And everybody's fate is suddenly tied to that.

It would be a nightmare if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, for example, as a Shia nation and then Egypt gets nuclear weapons as a Sunni nation.

If this does not work, the Democrats are much, much more likely to take the White House in '08.

There seems to be one aspect of this speech which hasn't gotten a lot of attention yet, is that rather than negotiating with Iran and Syria... he's moving a carrier group into the area.

The Democrats don't want to take responsibility for the policy in Iraq. They want to leave that responsibility in the hands of the president.

There's nothing you can do. You can't attack him. And it's conceivable that she might even want him to be a running mate.

I think the president may well emphasize energy next week or two weeks from now in his State of the Union.

I think there's actually going to be more cooperation on Capitol Hill between Republicans and Democrats than there is going to be between Democrats on Capitol Hill and the president.

I think this is much more about her laying out a path forward, you know, the various, you know, the pros and cons of what she's trying to do.

Every sign points to the fact that within the next couple of weeks, Barack Obama is going to declare -- and around the same time period or shortly thereafter, that Mrs. Clinton is going to declare...

Because, you know, there are -- there is a fear among people around her that the best day of her campaign is going to come the day she announces.

If, as the president -- you reported here on CNN the president recommends 20,000 to 40,000 troops, he's going to face a lot of opposition from Democrats, but he's also going to face a lot of opposition within his own party.

Yes, I think that they -- that the -- that the Democrats have thrown down the gauntlet.

Yes, they -- the White House should be, very definitely, nervous about it.

This has been a huge gift to the Democrats' hopes of taking the White House. Because if this does not work, the Democrats are much, much more likely to take the White house in '08.

It would be a nightmare if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, for example, as a Shia nation and then Egypt gets nuclear weapons as a Sunni nation.

We want to keep the Saudis out, just as we want to keep the Iranians out. We do not want a regional conflict.

There seems to be one aspect of this speech which hasn't gotten a lot of attention yet, is that rather than negotiating with Iran and Syria... he's moving a carrier group into the area.

I think all of us here, Anderson, very much hope this succeeds. But our -- our lament is that it's coming so late in the game. And, in fact, if -- if the stakes are as high as the president says they are -- and they are, indeed -- why…

Had he been into a winding-down phase, you know, he might have gotten American troops out of there before '08. Now they're certain to be in Iraq during '08. And everybody's fate is suddenly tied to that.

No, I think on those three issues, although I do believe that Republicans have a strong argument that the 9/11 Commission legislation really ought to deserve -- deserves more scrutiny than just sort of shoving it on through.

This has taken an awful long time.