And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN, the Axviles, with your

host, David Axelrod.

Ron Fornier has been one of the most incisive and insightful observers of the Washington

scene for a quarter of a century.

He's also the father of a young man with autism.

And now he's written a great book called Love That Boy, in which he discusses his son,

his family, and there's struggles and revelations around autism.

And we sat down the other day to talk about the book and about the political scene, the

crazy political scene that we find ourselves in today.

Ron, you and I know each other through politics.

We're going to talk a little politics during the course of this conversation.

But I want to talk a little bit about you, about your book, about your child.

We have that in common as well.

But first tell me a little bit about your own life.

You grew up in Detroit.

Your dad was a police officer.

Ron Fornier Yeah, I grew up in the same block on the

East side of Detroit.

My mom and dad were raised on.

They grew up together.

And my dad became a Detroit cop in the early 60s.

He was a Kennedy Democrat.

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