Senator Zucker? Governor Zucker? The prospect seems to excite him much more than becoming CEO of GE. And like I said—like Zucker says—his ambition is gargantuan and unembarrassed. Although he’s also a realist. He would probably run for Congress first, once he figures out exactly how that’s done.

Kurt Andersen worked as a consultant to USA/Universal Television for the three years before its acquisition by NBC.

Related:

• Archive: “The Imperial City”
• Articles by Kurt Andersen
• Table of Contents: October 3, 2005 issue of New York | Subscribe!