To Compare Whitewater To Watergate

On The Day I Started College In 1979, No Woman Had Ever Been On The United States Supreme Court Or Served As The Speaker Of The House. None Had Been An Astronaut Or The Solo Anchor Of A Network Evening News Broadcast. Not One Had Been President Of An Ivy League College Or Run A Serious Campaign For President.

There Is An Institutional Cynicism That Causes Reporters To Question Everything The President Says, And The Motives Of Everything The President And His Administration Try To Accomplish.

Obama Seemed Poised To Realign American Politics After His Stunning 2008 Victory. But The Economy Remains Worse Than Even The Administration's Worst-case Scenarios, And The Long Legislative Battles Over Health Care Reform, Financial Services Reform And The National Debt And Deficit Have Taken Their Toll. Obama No Longer Looks Invincible.

A Lot Of People Over Time Have Had This Kind Of Pattern In Their Relationship With Bill Clinton. You First Meet Him And You're Overwhelmed By His Talent. He's So Energetic And Articulate And Full Of Ideas And He Calls Himself A Congenital Optimist And That Optimism Is Contagious.

No Doubt, The White House Thinks The American People Know Obama's Story. But Since The Inauguration, We've Seen Only The President's Present: His Perfect Family, His Ivy League Elegance, His Effortless Mastery Of Complex Issues. We Never See Him Sweat. And We Forget That He Ever Had To Struggle.