Thursday, November 20, 2008

Novak's Revealing Interview

Syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who is fighting for his life in a battle to survive brain cancer, sat down for a very revealing interview with Barbara Mutasow of Washingtonian magazine. It's a must read for political junkies. Here's a few of the items Novak shares in the interview:

  • He didn't pay enough attention to his two children when they were growing up.
  • Politics is just as partisan today in Washington as it was decades ago: "Bob Kerr, a Democrat from Oklahoma, called Indiana Republican Homer Capehart a 'rancid tub of ignorance.'"
  • The Republican Party finds itself in the same place it was in 1957.
  • Mike Pence isn't on his list of "most interesting Republicans" in Congress.
  • One of the sources he talks to daily is a former Lugar staffer.
  • He has a very low opinion of President George W. Bush; Reagan is his favorite president.
  • Newt Gingrich was a failure as Speaker of the House. "It's amazing to see how much influence he still has and how popular he is in the Republican Party."
  • He regrets writing too much in his column about "behind-the-scenes" political trivia.
  • On left-wing critics in the press' attempts to ruin him over the Valerie Plame affair: "The hell with you. They didn't ruin me. I have my faith, my family, and a good life. A lot of people love me -- or like me. So they failed. I would do the same thing over again because I don't think I hurt Valerie Plame whatsoever."
  • The most helpful thing that someone can say to a person gravely ill like him: "I guess the most helpful thing they can say, if they're a man or woman of faith, is to tell me they're praying for me."

2 comments:

Jacob Perry said...

To me, the best was the constant references to his faith. Not sure how well that will go down with certain quarters.

artfuggins said...

The bottom line is that he compromised national security for the sake of a headline.