David Gergen

The members of Congress would have understood and they could have made their arguments in a longer term way.

There is not the confidence that the president has a firm grip on getting here and where he's going, and that is also a problem for him.

Had he thought ahead, you know, international relations is like playing three-dimensional chess.

Well, Anderson, I think that you have to give the president a victory today coming out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

I think this is almost a classic Obama where he's being so cautious that sometimes the message gets mottled.

Wolf, I welcome the fact the president put this on the national debate more fully.

If she loses the election, she is no longer a political celebrity. And she loses her speech fees.

She had enormous impact on the Tea Party movement.

What we don't know yet is how much the IRS scandal or controversy is igniting and bringing the Tea Party back together.

The Tea Party movement is not gone.

She had a very thin legislative record. She wasn't taken as seriously as many others were.

She left a lasting impact.

They fired the IRS commissioner swiftly, but more than that, they also did it out of anger.

This is a precious moment because he has to get things done domestically in the next few months or his power is going to disappear almost completely.

I do think it's not just a question of -- and as Dana says, it's feeding into each other when you've got this issue now with the IRS.

I think, especially in a slow news time, you know, it's not a big news time politically, but it's a precious moment for the Obama administration.

I think this controversy has now mushroomed into a big league scandal.

The attorney general is saying he's going to launch a criminal investigation. That says there are signals this is very serious.

Yes. Well, we now have from the inspector general had a chance to, within the government, to look at it and say it's serious.

It was notable that a number of Democrats today, especially in the political consultant group, were calling for some sort of independent probe.

At some point he has to lead. He has to put some things on the table and he has not yet done that on entitlements in a serious way.

I think there has been a recognition on part of White House aide, not everybody that they were too reticent.

I believe the president deserves the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Anything but. The fact they're meeting tomorrow, both sides are into theatrics now.

This is just a continuation of the lack of responsibility that serious people and serious positions of power, that's what is so -- you know, I don't think the day is far off, frankly, when the Italians can take a clown and have a new party…