The WaPo had an interesting item today about voters replacing some of the few remaining Republican moderates in Congress with Democrats. Tuesday’s electoral upheaval wiped out many of the few remaining Republican moderates in Congress, further cementing the geographic partitioning of the House and potentially widening the ideological divisions that have contributed to partisanship and […]
After months in which the conventional wisdom suggested that [tag]corruption[/tag], as a political issue, lacked salience and would do little to help Democrats, Election Day proved otherwise. Not only was the issue important to voters, many of the incumbents tarnished most by scandal found themselves unemployed this week. Some conservatives clearly get this. National Review’s […]
The fact the conservative voices have dominated the Sunday-morning public affairs shows in recent years is well-documented. Some have suggested that shows like Meet the Press simply go where the action is — if Republicans have power, than it’s Republicans who’ll get the invitations. Since the GOP has been the majority party in recent years, […]
Everyone seemed quite polite yesterday when the president had a nice Oval Office chat with Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi. “Bi-partisan” was the buzz-word of the day, and both congressional Dems and the White House seemed to appreciate the inconvenient reality that they’ll each need the other side to accomplish anything. For Bush, who is unaccustomed to […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * In Virginia this afternoon, Sen. George Allen (R) officially conceded his race to Sen.-elect Jim Webb (D). * A couple of hours prior, in Montana, Sen. Conrad Burns (R) conceded his race to Sen.-elect Jon Tester (D). Taken together, the Dems went +6 for the cycle and officially claimed […]
The elections are over, and there’s a temptation to put some of the unpleasantness of the campaign season behind us, but the stunts Republicans pulled in Maryland may have a lasting impact. We talked on Tuesday about one of this year’s more egregious stunts. Republican campaign operatives, working for Bob Ehrlich (governor) and Michael Steele […]
Here’s a helpful bookend for my last post. The few remaining GOP moderates believe Republicans lost because they’re too conservative, while religious right leaders like James Dobson insist the party isn’t conservative enough. Conservative Christian leader James Dobson accused the Republican Party of abandoning values voters in the midterm elections — and paying the price […]
I’m not exactly optimistic, but I suppose it’s at least a little encouraging that the remaining GOP centrists are trying to reassert themselves. The Republican Majority for Choice, a lobbying group for Republicans who support abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research, blamed the losses Tuesday on Iraq and “social extremism,” Co-chairwoman Jennifer Stockman said. […]
I have to wonder if some of these leading conservative voices fully appreciate how foolish this makes them sound. For example, responding to the Dems reclaiming the majority in Congress, Rush Limbaugh said: “The way I feel is this: I feel liberated, and I’m going to tell you as plainly as I can why. I […]
It’s largely faded from memory, but it’s worth noting that Karl Rove was demoted from his job as White House chief of staff back in April for one reason: the GOP establishment wanted him to focus exclusively on the midterm elections. He’d been given all kinds of policy responsibilities — including heading up the administration’s […]