Earlier this week, the WaPo ran an item, on the front page, explaining that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito “has signaled he would be highly reluctant to overturn long-standing precedents such as the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling.” The piece went on to quote a variety of senators, most of them pro-choice centrists, […]
I’ve been posting all week about all the various polls highlighting Bush’s faltering public support, but the one issue that has to keep the Bush gang up at night is the question of the president’s honesty. Most Americans say they aren’t impressed by the ethics and honesty of the Bush administration, already under scrutiny for […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Now that Tim Kaine (D) has highlighted the Dems’ ability to win in Virginia, the DSCC is looking anew at taking on Sen. George Allen (R) next year. I noted two weeks […]
For Dems who’ve hoped to see Samuel Alito’s Supreme Court nomination spark a massive fight that would ultimately force the White House to retreat, the past few weeks haven’t been going well. Key Dem senators have balked at the idea of a filibuster, and closely-watched GOP moderates have signaled that Alito may be acceptable to […]
Sure, the legislative implosion made the Republican majority look pretty inept yesterday, but if you’re a conservative worried about the right-wing agenda, there’s a bright side. GOP lawmakers can’t pass a budget, but they can move a constitutional amendment on gay marriage. U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today applauded subcommittee passage of the Marriage Protection Amendment […]
About a month ago, Tom DeLay’s lawyer went public with a claim that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle offered DeLay a plea bargain deal whereby the lawmaker could plead guilty to a misdemeanor and save his job as House majority leader, but DeLay and his legal team rejected the offer. The disclosure didn’t really […]
There was a flurry of activity on the Hill yesterday, most notably the breakdown in the House over the budget, but there was one vote that warrants attention and shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle. The Senate voted overwhelmingly to push the Pentagon to inform lawmakers about “black sites,” the CIA’s secret prisons in Europe […]
For all the spin that Republicans are doing fine — they’re in control, have an agenda, know how to govern, etc. — sometimes reality, no matter how inconvenient, has a way of making it to the surface. House Republican leaders were forced to abruptly pull their $54 billion budget-cutting bill off the House floor yesterday, […]
For the better part of the last six decades, the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees have held a joint hearing, before crafting their budgets, in which leaders of veterans’ groups are able to share their concerns directly with lawmakers from both chambers and both parties. It’s become an important “tradition” for everyone involved. And […]
Republicans perfected the execution of “wedge” politics. They’d find otherwise united Dems and peel off supporters using cultural wedges — affirmative action, gay rights, flag burning, etc. — to divide and conquer. Newsweek’s Howard Fineman reported today that Dems are taking a page from the GOP playbook and going with something Fineman calls “Wedge Strategy […]