When there is a serious race for speaker of the House, for instance, it's a time to spy, to see who is contributing to whom, to see how the interests and the members themselves are lining up.
According to Schroeder, Bob Dole was a very serious speaker and had a hard time remembering to smile.
Having a serious speaker — Chernow is an esteemed historian who has chronicled the lives of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Ulysses S. Grant, among others — is a big break from the tradition of having a stand-up comedian entertain the ballroom of journalists, members of Congress and administration types.
Having a serious speaker -- Chernow is an esteemed historian who has chronicled the lives of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Ulysses S. Grant, among others -- is a big break from the tradition of having a stand-up comedian entertain the ballroom of journalists, members of Congress and administration types.
The former two-term councilman, Angel Rodriguez, a Democrat who represented Red Hook, was a serious contender to become speaker of the City Council in January last year, but he lost that contest to Gifford Miller.
Unfortunately, despite a dramatic increase in the amount the US spends on public diplomacy programmes, to about $1.2bn a year, long-term investment in learning Russian during the cold war means today there is a serious dearth of Arabic speakers in the US administration.
The Court expressly declined to decide whether the statute would be satisfied by a showing that the speaker knew there was a serious risk that the target would be put in fear (the "recklessness test").
His switch now, as a leader who hopes to be Speaker of the House one day, is a serious indication of the strength of protectionist sentiment Congress.
Unlike Mr Cain, the man has been a serious politician Speaker of the House, no less, and architect of the Republican resurgence of the mid-1990s.
