In the new issue of the Washington Monthly, T.A. Frank argues that New York Times columnist Bob Herbert is “boring,” writing easy-to-ignore pieces on the nation’s most valuable op-ed page. “Twice a week, Herbert yells at them for their indifference,” Frank notes. “Twice a week, they slam the door and run out for a joyride […]
With Congress set to vote on a consensus, bipartisan bill to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), it’s clear that this is an issue on which Dems have decided to take a stand. They’re still getting pushed around on Iraq policy, but when it comes to passing a good bill to help more […]
Most of the recent national polls have shown widespread discontent with politicians in Washington. Both the White House and Congress are wildly unpopular, leading a lot of conservatives to boast that the new Democratic congressional majority has already lost the electorate. After all, if Americans liked what they saw from the new Democratic Congress, the […]
It’s hardly a secret that the Bush White House plans to hand over its mess in Iraq to the president’s successor. Short of Congress cutting off funding for the war, which seems unlikely, the president expects to have at least 100,000 U.S. troops in Iraq in January 2009. At that point, this disaster will be […]
At the most recent debate for Republican presidential candidates, Rudy Giuliani said, “The reality is that I’m not running on what I did on September 11th.” It was unintentionally amusing — Giuliani wouldn’t be running if he hadn’t created a persona around 9/11 — but as it turns out, not everyone has gotten the message. […]
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: * CNN: “Trying to reclaim the health care spotlight from campaign rival Hillary Clinton, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards unveiled his plan to combat HIV/AIDS during an appearance at the Families USA/Kaiser Foundation […]
Last November, 70% of white evangelical and born-again Christians voted for Republican candidates nationwide, which is about the same performance as in 2004. DNC Chairman Howard Dean thinks Dems might be able to shave a few points off that number. Richard Land had never met one-on-one with a chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The […]
The NYT’s David Brooks insists today that, rumors to the contrary notwithstanding, it is the center, not the left, that is in ascension in the Democratic Party. Political observers can “learn almost nothing” from the netroots, Brooks argues, because the real power is with centrists and the Democratic establishment (though they are not mutually exclusive). […]
As a rule, “gotcha” political interviews make for good television, but that’s about all they do. Russert, Blitzer, & Co. will confront a policy maker with some old quote, pause for dramatic effect, and leave the interviewee temporarily flummoxed. Whether there’s a point to the exchange is oftentimes irrelevant. That said, occasionally “gotcha” moments tell […]
There’s just something painful about watching desperate people lash out wildly. Two weeks ago, Republican supporters of Bush’s Iraq policy decided that the single most important issue in the country was a newspaper ad from MoveOn.org. It took precedence over conditions in Iraq, troop rotations, and funding. The GOP, frantically hoping to avoid anything resembling […]