Incumbent White House parties have won 10 of the last 18 presidential elections; the odds are tight, but they favor Obama in 2012. And so gloomy Democrats, check your despair; gleeful Republicans, watch the hubris.

It would be great if politics were fact-based, but it is not, and it is surely not nuance-based. What works in a classroom or a think tank does not work on Capitol Hill or in the White House. Obama sometimes seems to be running the Brookings Institution, not the country.

The Republicans are very sensitive to the idea that the Democrats are attempting to embarrass the White House, even when there's a legitimate issue to look into.

Mr. Guardia had an invitation to the White House. He went to the (presidential) inauguration. Every indication was that he was a reputable, upstanding person.

We elect Democrats to the Congress to give us stuff and we elect Republicans to the White House so we don't have to pay for it

Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to your last. All the pressures are to the contrary.