The Wit and Wisdom of Barney Frank

For journalists covering Congress, one of the best things about game-changing elections like the 2006 mid-terms is that they create a trove of new story lines. David Herszenhorn exploits the opportunity well in a smart piece about Barney Frank in this morning's New York Times. Frank, 68, was elected to the House from Massachusetts the same year Ronald Reagan was elected president. He was in the majority for 14 years, in the minority for 12. Now he's chairman of the House Financial Services Committee at a time of economic upheaval. Best line of the piece:

Then, in a flash of trademark wit, he said that asking the White House to support more government intervention was “like asking me to judge the Miss America contest — if your heart's not in it, you don't do a very good job.”