Brazile gives the beginnings of the Bush Administration a grade of "D." While she commends President Bush's handling of the Chinese plane collision, she not too surprisingly criticizes his environmental policies and his domestic goals.

"I grade him on his priorities," Brazile says. "His priority is on a huge tax cut which will hurt the economy and not get us back on its feet. I grade him on campaigning as a centrist and governing from the right wing. I believe he said he would change the tone in Washington and he hasn't."

But even though she believes Americans agreed with Gore on the majority of issues, she says that people should not criticize Bush's abilities.

"There's this perception that the President is not a very smart and capable fellow, but he is," Brazile says, describing how the Bush campaign was able to lower expectations during the presidential debates. "He's very smart and very shrewd. He understands politics and he is a very educated man."

And while Brazile accepts that Bush is the president, she has now returned to Washington, ready to help prepare the Democratic Party for the 2002 midterm elections, drawing on lessons from her IOP study group.

"We spent a lot of time talking about the election and things we could have done better, which allowed me to think about things we can do better in the future," Brazile says.

And while she is unsure what her exact future holds, she will remain in the political world, both as a Washington insider and an active citizen.