[tag]Republicans[/tag] pulled out all the stops, twisted every arm, and pushed as hard as they could, but in the end, enough Dems held firm and blocked the GOP’s cynical ploy. Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bid to combine a tax cut for the wealthy with a wage increase for the working poor last night, adding […]
Jim Pinkerton had an interesting column in Newsday today about the tendency of voters to “look up to war heroes.” As he sees it, this makes John McCain the odds-on favorite to win not only the GOP nomination in 2008, but also the presidency. With all due respect to Pinkerton — a professor from my […]
Former House Majority Leader [tag]Tom DeLay[/tag] resigned from Congress and withdrew himself from consideration for re-election, after he had already won a GOP primary, claiming he moved to Virginia and was therefore ineligible. A lawsuit challenged the move, arguing a) DeLay couldn’t take his name of the ballot just because he expected to lose; and […]
I don’t mean to belabor the point, but I think it’s important to remember — for policy and political reasons — that when it comes to the war in Iraq, the public and Republicans in DC are not on the same page. Last week, the New York Times released a poll showing a clear majority […]
After initially balking at the invitation, Defense Secretary [tag]Donald Rumsfeld[/tag] reversed course and agreed to speak to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Given his position, he might as well have stuck to his original plans. Sen. [tag]Hillary Clinton[/tag] asked Rumsfeld a series of aggressive questions, in particular noting his track record of […]
The Bush administration, known for its unambiguous moral certainties, with-us-or-against-us worldview, and disdain for nuance and “gray areas,” isn’t quite clear on what conduct is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions. [S]enators [told Attorney General Alberto Gonzales] Congress should not endorse any treatment it would not want used on American soldiers. “We must remain a nation […]
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: * Two new Rasmussen polls offer good news for Dems in Pennsylvania. According to the latest numbers, Gov. [tag]Ed Rendell[/tag] (D) has sustained a double-digit lead for the third month in a row, […]
Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) has always supported the president’s approach to the war in Iraq, but after having recently visited Baghdad, he’s starting to waver a bit. (via Holden and a tip from reader J.D.) While still hopeful that Americans would one day be able to look back on their foray into Iraq as “a […]
In the world of inside-pool and back-room rumors, this is interesting. Some high level Democratic Party political insiders have shared with TWN details of a potential shift in vectors for several of the major political stars in that party. First of all, Senate Minority Leader [tag]Harry Reid[/tag], whom most give high marks for the manner […]
The first six months of 2006 were the hottest ever recorded in the United States. The National Climatic Data Center reports that more than 50 American cities have set [tag]record highs[/tag] this summer. It’s prompted the New York Times’ [tag]Bob Herbert[/tag] to ask, “[tag]Hot[/tag] enough yet?” The heat wave burned its way east from California, […]