The common agenda both sides seem to share is: Whatever works.

She graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Simmons College in Boston Massachusetts. Her father's ministry required the family to live in several cities throughout New England and the Eastern Seaboard during her youth.

She is the managing editor and moderator of Washington Week and a senior correspondent for the PBS NewsHour both of which air on PBS. She is a political analyst and moderated the 2004 and 2008 Vice Presidential debates.