Politics & Power Quote by George Will

George Will’s jab lands because it flatters and insults the press in the same breath. By placing “the American media and this President” alongside Abelard/Eloise and Romeo/Juliet, he borrows the glow of epic romance only to expose its absurdity. The comparison is deliberately overripe: it frames coverage as infatuation, not scrutiny, and suggests the newsroom is acting less like an institution and more like a besotted character in a tragedy.

The intent is polemical but not subtle: Will is warning that political legitimacy can’t be manufactured by a favorable narrative. The subtext is sharper. He’s not merely accusing journalists of bias; he’s accusing them of self-dramatization. In Will’s telling, the media wants to be part of the story, to feel history happening through proximity to power. The “love affair” isn’t only about the president’s charm; it’s about the press’s appetite for a protagonist.

Then comes the pivot: “Reality will impinge.” That verb choice matters. Reality isn’t debated, spun, or curated; it intrudes. Will is staking out an old-school, results-first conservatism: policy outcomes are the final editor, and sentiment is a temporary headline.

Contextually, the line fits a recurring cycle in American politics: a new president arrives, coverage warms into fascination, and critics brand it a crush. Will’s rhetorical trick is to concede the crush might be real while insisting it’s also irrelevant. If governing fails, the romance doesn’t end in poetry; it ends in math.