2008 Elections

New York GOP must reconnect with centrists – Newsday.com

November 13th, 2008

Like a drunk after a decade-long bender, the Republican Party needs to hit bottom before it can bounce back.

The good news is that it can’t go much lower. The numbers are ugly: Ten years ago, New York had a Republican governor and a Republican mayor of the state’s largest city. The county executives of both Nassau and Suffolk Counties were Republicans. The GOP controlled the State Senate and held at least one of the U.S. Senate seats for decades.

Now, the New York GOP is virtually without power in the state. There are nearly twice as many registered Democrats in our state as Republicans, while third-party and nonaffiliated voters almost equal GOP registration. Read More…

The Repudiation of Karl Rove – Politico.com

November 2nd, 2008

We don’t know yet who will win or by what margin, but we know one thing for certain: This election represents the repudiation of Karl Rove and his play-to-the-base strategy.

There was always something dicey about stoking the fires of hyperpartisanship as a campaign and governing strategy, treating 51-49 victories as ideological mandates instead of an obligation to form broader and more durable coalitions.

Now we have the data to judge the results: a president who tried to unite his party at the expense of uniting the nation and failed to do both, repudiated by both candidates running to succeed him. Even John McCain admits to visitors at his Web site homepage, “the last eight years haven’t worked very well, have they?” Read More…

Marathon Becomes Brawl – Politico.com

September 27th, 2008

The rules of sports metaphors in politics are as follows: primary campaigns are marathons, general election campaigns are horse-races, the final weeks leading up to Election Day are sprints — but debates are boxing matches.

And in last nights’ first round debate — call it the Melee at Ole Miss — neither candidate delivered a knock-out punch.

Careful scorekeepers may judge that John McCain won the first round on points. The legendary brawler, a few years past his prime, defied political gravity to battle a younger opponent—it was toughness versus talent, experience versus eloquence. Read More…