Democratic Strategist
Paul Begala
Notes from Evan Smith
"The manic political consultant and the charmingly glib cable TV pundit are two of the great stock characters in this modern world. Both know a little about a lot as well as a lot about a little. Both are supremely self-confident bordering on arrogant in a way that makes you want to get your gun. Both are professionals of the stand-on-the-masking-tape-X and cash-the-check variety. But they make our lives so much more interesting, and despite ourselves, we learn from them. Or at least I do. And the one I learn from the most and am entertained by the most is this week's guest, Paul Begala, who grew up in Missouri City, graduated from the University of Texas, and was soon thereafter launched into a celebrated career in politics and pontification. You may know him best as George Burns to his pal and partner James Carville's Gracie Allen, although it sometimes seems that neither one wants to be the straight man. Together, they masterminded, most famously, Bill Clinton's successful race for the White House in 1992, but they performed equal feats of strategic magic for former governor Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, former senators Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania and Zell Miller of Georgia, and current senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. Also together, they have written several books, most recently Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future. By himself, Begala is also the author of the tartly named Is Our Children Learning: The Case Against George Bush--are you not yet clear that he's a diehard Democrat? And, of course, he is a once and future mainstay of CNN's political coverage -- the longtime co-host of the now-defunct Crossfire, and a familiar face during every election cycle, including this one." - Evan Smith, Texas Monthly Talks, Broadcast 4.13.06
