Roberts speaks out on national politics

On Utah Rep. Jim Matheson, co-chairman of the "Blue Dog Coalition," a group of conservative House Democrats: "Matheson is a good example of a Blue Dog, someone from a conservative area, who is very personally popular, who can bring into the Democratic caucus some sense of what America is all about. Sometimes the coastal Democrats seem to not have a clue, and that has been a tremendous problem for them. To the degree that they are listened to, I think that will be very beneficial to the Democratic Party."

On Rep. Nancy Pelosi, speaker-to-be of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Blue Dogs: "The success that Pelosi had in the last couple of years was in bringing the caucus together. She listened to all elements of the caucus and tried hard to make them feel that they were not only welcome, but essential. That's only going to be truer, one would think, given the types of people who were elected."

On Pelosi's controversial decision to support Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania for the No. 2 job in the new House majority: "I think that (Pelosi's) decision to endorse Murtha, which she's done for personal reasons, is probably not the best way to start off, just because it does throw a divisive bomb into the caucus before they even convene. But it's also possible that the election happens tomorrow, it all gets over with, and they all go on and live happily ever after. But that would be very unlike Democrats."