In this week’s episode of Washington Unplugged, host Bob Schieffer talks with Newt Gingrich about where the GOP is fitting into this new Washington, and how they may try and redefine themselves.

 ”This budget sets the stage for the biggest fight for the future of America since 1965,” said Gingrich.

Schieffer also talks with Craig Mullaney about his new book “The Unforgiving Minute”, and of course his round-table.

Enjoy!

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We had an interesting discussion today during our afternoon drive meeting that I thought you may like to hear about. It started because of a listener.

A few days ago, the story about Governor Palin’s pricey wardrobe first came out and Anchor Wayne Cabot talked with Politico’s Charles Mahtesian about a pretty hefty price tag of $150,000… some of that money spent at upscale department stores such as Sak’s and Nieman Marcus.

For the sake of balance we mentioned that Senator Obama had purchased multiple suits at $1,500 a piece.

Here’s where the listener comes in.

Our News Director Tim Scheld received an email from a man who wanted to point out a few things to us. One, Palin’s wardrobe bill is being paid for by the RNC; whereas, Obama bought the suits himself. Two, the story is newsworthy because of the platform Senator McCain is working on of “Joe the Plumber”, the everyday guy.

Without going into the politics and semantics of the actual story, I wanted to let you know that we hear you. We listen to our listeners and love it when they make good points. Covering politics is hard and it’s important for you to know that we debate everyday about whether to cover a story and how to do it in the most accurate way for you to make up your own mind.

That’s it! That’s all…I’ll get off my (little) soapbox, and go out to find you more stories.

Before we get into the next ‘battleground state’ (I’ll give you a hint: NM), I just thought we should talk about the first interview that Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin gave this evening.

ABC’s Charlie Gibson began the two-part interview in her home turf of Alaska. 

 While I should have been listening to the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, I was riveted to Gibson’s exclusive interview… and I was more than surprised by some of her answers.

I was struck by the comment ‘word blizzard’…and with her handling of Gibson’s questions.

What do you think?

Sidenote: I will let you all know that word on the street is CT Sen. Joe Lieberman is ‘coaching’ Palin on foreign policy, and that today Palin’s eldest son departed for his military service in Iraq.

I think it’s safe to say that Governor Palin hit it out of the park Wednesday night.  It was the first time that Americans had a good look at her and most were impressed.

Some are even calling her a media star, which is something the Republicans haven’t had in a long time.

Last night was Senator McCain’s big night.

It didn’t go as well as Palin’s.

While he thrives in his Townhall Meetings, addressing large crowds is not his forte. (You may have noticed the catwalk that was built for his Thursday night speech. That may have been added to help give more of a ‘Townhall’ feel.)

Maybe it was the ever-present green screen behind him (turns out it was the grass part of a giant picture on the screen behind him.)

Maybe it was his warm-up speaker… wife Cindy stumbled over her words often in the 45-minute speech.

Maybe it was the two women protesters who were causing a ruckus. Oh wait, that kind of WAS interesting.

Who knows.

We’ll have to see if he can find that spark for the next major speech. And don’t worry, I’ll be watching.