David Gergen

We never imagined it would be General McChrystal vs. General Eikenberry.

It's startling news, in many ways, Anderson.

The president is taking a lot of time to being very deliberate, try to figure out how to get in and very importantly how to get out of Afghanistan.

This process has become long and very messy.

I think the likelihood is to get it through the Senate, they're going to have to strip out the public option.

They have got an uphill job, Anderson. Senator Reid does not yet have the 60 votes that he needs.

If it does spill over into next year, there's going to be an awful lot of stock piling about the elections.

It's ultimately going to come down to a test, can a Democratic Party govern with this majority? And if they can't govern, I think Candy's right. As a party, they're really going to get punished.

I think it's ultimately going to come down to a test of can a Democratic Party govern with this majority? And if they can't govern, I think Candy's right, there's a sense in the party, they're really going to get punished.

To get it through the Senate they're going to have to strip out the public option.

One of the reasons that there was such a big shift of independents to the Republicans in Virginia... is that McDonnell ran a campaign that appeared to the middle as well as to the right.

It's one of these interesting things. You know, the gay community was very demoralized by what happened in California with Prop 8 when they -- when they voted against gay marriage.

But, Roland, there is also a question of whether he's gone for so much government, that people are rebelling against that, whether he's applied it on the stimulus, to health care, to all the -- the automobile, automobiles, and whether…

Well, Anderson, I think the critical thing is that the wind has now started blowing a different direction from what it has been in the American public for the last four or five years.

If these races go badly for the Democrats tonight, say, in New Jersey -- and it has gone badly in Virginia -- that's going to give a lot of moderate and conservative Democrats pause on the health care bill.

The Senate may have to wait and the House may have to wait until after the 1st of the year. That's not good news for the White House.

How striking that how many of these races are moving against the party that held the seat, against the incumbents? It's a -- it's a vote against the way the country is going. People are not -- obviously not very happy.

I will wager when history is written, Mike Bloomberg will be remembered as one of the best mayors New York ever had.

There is a sense among some voters even though they like Obama personally... that they're saying this is just too much too fast.

It's not -- ten months is not enough time to deliver on all of this.

If they passed health care, it's probably going to help him and help Democrats. But if they don't pass health care, it will totally demoralize...

I think tonight much more than in the past Barack Obama owns the economy, for example. And he's now being held responsible for the jobs question.

You can't throw your chance on elections.

You have to have the country behind you as commander in chief.

Actually I'm very sympathetic to Michael's point of view about that you have to fight a war and you got to be either in or out and you can't throw your pinch (ph) on elections. But John, we've learned in Vietnam, we learned in Iraq, you…