The relationship between the prophet and the President the priest and the President is a sacred one.

I spend a great deal of time with the President. We have a very close personal loyal relationship. I'm not as they say a potted plant in these meetings.

There is but one way for a president to deal with Congress and that is continuously incessantly and without interruption. If it is really going to work the relationship has got to be almost incestuous.

Nowhere has the political power of coal been more obvious than in presidential campaigns.

In the sense that you're not at the centre of power like a president or prime minister of a major power everyone is marginalised my position doesn't isn't unique in that respect. I think there are different sorts of relevance in different contexts.

There is much to dislike about President Obama's approach to the financial crisis. But opposition it seems will have to come from somewhere other than conservatism. The party out of power is also a party out of touch.

Given the daunting challenges that we face it's important that president elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one.

I foresee the Chinese ruling the world. What are you going to do to stop it? No president of the United States will ever have enough power to stop the Chinese when they want to take over the world.

Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president from a murderous general or a beloved leader I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomenon.

Bill Clinton sitting on Air Force One getting his hair cut while people around the country cooled their heels and waited for him became a metaphor for a populist president who had gotten drunk with the perks of his own power and was sort of you know not sensitive to what people wanted.

You should see what our Founding Fathers used to say to each other and in the early part of our nation. But what they were able to do especially in Philadelphia in 1787 four months they argued about what a House should be what a Senate should be the power of the president the Congress the Supreme Court. And they had to deal with slavery.

I try to avoid saying anything positive about any presidential candidate for fear that if I actually like them then I will kill their campaign.

Well I think the president is going to do well in terms of his influence for positive change here in the Congress making sure that we don't overspend making sure that we spend for only those programs that are justified.

President Obama has basically avoided or not done any attempt to intervene in any positive way in the housing market. I think in the financial crisis that's been a shame.

As Bob Dole found out you can't keep a positive image while being your party's mouthpiece in Congress. That's why no legislative leader since James Madison has ever been elected president.

The President in talking about freedom and democracy is sparking a wave of very positive democratic sentiment that might help us override both Islamic fundamentalism that has formed in that region and also some of the hatred for our policies of invading Iraq.

Political consultants are pugilists masters in the dark art of negativity. Which is why it's surprising to hear Democrats such as Steve McMahon and Republicans like Rich Galen urging their presidential candidates to be more well positive.