In a painful waste of time, Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) is engaged in negotiations, which his staff calls “very delicate,” with some moderate Dems to sign on to his constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) and other Republicans are courting several Democrats the GOP believes can be persuaded to support an amendment […]
There’s certainly nothing wrong with the Senate considering a measure to formally apologize for the Senate’s role in blocking anti-lynching legislation for decades as African Americans were being murdered across the south. The problem, however, lies in the senator who’s leading the way on this — Virginia’s George Allen (R). “I have come to believe […]
The White House insists it’s going to keep bringing back the president’s most offensive judicial nominees, Senate Dems insist they’re going to keep blocking them from confirmation, and Senate Republicans insist they’re going to invite full-blown partisan warfare by enacting the “nuclear option,” which would prohibit filibusters on judicial nominees. In response, Harry Reid has […]
To follow up for a moment on yesterday’s post about Bush embracing some of the Dems’ proposal to increase death and survivor benefits for American troops, there were two quick additions. First, some correspondents reminded me that I neglected to mention that the last time the “death benefit” was raised — from $6,000 to $12,000 […]
The problem is not just that the Bush White House is run by people who act like thugs, it’s that they’re thuggish about everything, including petty trivia. Consider the recent lessons for new Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. The new cabinet secretary invited only one non-Bush administration official to join him at Commerce, a gentleman named […]
At the outset, let me acknowledge that I wrote direct mail letters for nearly 10 years. I’ve written them for candidates at almost every level and for a non-profit organization. With this experience comes an appreciation that coming up with topics for these letters is not always easy. Unfortunately, all available evidence suggests direct mail […]
Howard Dean’s rival with the most institutional support, former Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas), has dropped out, effectively wrapping up the race for the DNC chair. Howard Dean emerged Tuesday as the almost assured new leader of the Democratic National Committee, as one of his main rivals quit the race and Democrats streamed to announce their […]
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who comes up with a good idea; it just matters that it’s a good idea. On the other hand, when it comes to politics, credit sometimes matters. A little over a week ago, Senate Dems unveiled their policy agenda for the 109th Congress. The very first […]
We’ve been hearing for months about the Dems drive to reach out better and more effectively to religious voters nationwide. It’s a reasonable goal — like the 2000 election, the 2004 results showed that the more often a voter attends religious services, the more likely he or she would vote Republican. Now we’re seeing some […]
Bush’s political strategists believe Republicans should recast themselves as the “party of civil rights,” and reach out to African-American churches as a way to improve GOP candidates’ chances, but before that can happen, the president may want to learn what the Voting Rights Act is. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) says he’s “shocked” and “utterly […]