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Category Archives: Columns
Sen. Ben Nelson’s Retirement Signals Twilight of Blue Dog Democrats – The Daily Beast
The Blue Dog pack is thinning. Centrist Democrats saw their ranks cut in half after the 2010 midterm elections. Now, with Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson’s announcement that he will not seek reelection, an endangered species warning is appropriate. This is … Continue reading
Why Trump Can’t Run as an Independent – CNN.com
Among the political threats wielded by Donald Trump in his carnival barker quest for the presidency is that if denied the Republican nomination, he would run as an independent. As an independent myself, I usually cheer the prospect of any … Continue reading
The Postal Service Is Fighting for Its Life and Should Be Saved – The Daily Beast
A crowded post office is part of the scenery of the season-–long lines, arms full of packaged presents, spare Christmas decorations hanging under the humming lights.
Hey Ted Nugent: You’re No Rosa Parks – The Daily Beast
Honoring Rosa Parks is important, but when you cross over into comparing yourself with her, it’s time for a reality check. Strangely, this has become a particular twitch on the far right—folks who couldn’t be getting their history more wrong. … Continue reading
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Romney Embraces Center-Right Record as Gingrich Firms Up Conservative Cred – The Daily Beast
Mitt Romney’s strange tack in the final Iowa debate was to speak to a New Hampshire and national audience. For perhaps the first time in this campaign, he unapologetically framed his Massachusetts record as a center-right leader who could achieve … Continue reading
GOP, it’s time to give Huntsman another look – CNN.com
The “conservagencia” is starting to give Jon Huntsman a second look. He deserves it. But the stirrings of respect may be too little, too late. Too bad, because he might stand the best chance of beating President Barack Obama. RINO … Continue reading
Why Obama is listening to Teddy Roosevelt for 2012 – CNN.com
The town of Osawatomie, Kansas, was chosen as the location of a major speech Tuesday framing the 2012 election as”a make-or-break moment for the middle class,” what the president described as “the defining issue of our time.”
GOP Would Have Had Better Shot in 2012 With Center-Right Pols Like Christie – The Daily Beast
Imagine them all clustered in a roadhouse, having a beer around sunset, shaking their heads over the lost opportunity. There on the bench are Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, and my former boss, Rudy Giuliani. On TV … Continue reading
The GOP’s Supercommittee Backlash – The Daily Beast
Congressmen coming back from Thanksgiving break are hoping that a seasonal spirit of forgiveness—or the lingering effects of a food coma—will erase the supercommittee’s stain of failure. It won’t. There will be an enduring political price to pay for last … Continue reading
Michele Bachmann Fumbles the Facts – CNN.com
There’s an old saying that a lie can go halfway around the world while the truth is putting its boots on — and in politics, a steady drumbeat of misinformation and mischaracterization can too often shape the national debate. So … Continue reading
GOP Rivals Need to Get Real on Foreign Policy – CNN.com
“It would be an irony of fate if my administration had to deal chiefly with foreign problems,” said Woodrow Wilson during his presidential campaign 100 years ago. World War I soon intruded on his plans — and international conflicts have … Continue reading
The Supercommittee Needs an Intervention – The Daily Beast
Cynicism passes for wisdom in Washington for a reason. With the hours counting down before a November 23 deadline, the so-called supercommittee seems either unable or unwilling to make a deal that would reduce our debt by $1.2 trillion over … Continue reading
Occupy Wall Street Movement Has No Right to Sleep in Parks – The Daily Beast
I heard the helicopters in the middle of the night hovering over lower Manhattan as the eviction of Occupy Wall Street occurred. Only a few hours before, I’d walked past the Zuccotti Park encampment and Occupy Wall Street’s tent city … Continue reading
George Washington to Debt Panel: Man Up – CNN.com
The clock is ticking in Washington on the bipartisan supercommittee, those 12 members of Congress tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by Thanksgiving. More than 140 of their colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, are encouraging them … Continue reading
Election Day Backlash – The Daily Beast
Swing voters asserted their independence again on Election Day 2011, repudiating Republican ideological overreach in key votes but denying Democrats clear-cut victories heading into 2012, as the cycle of over-reach and backlash continues.
A year from election, how does Obama measure up? – CNN.com
Is President Barack Obama running against the GOP or the GDP? In exactly one year — November 6, 2012 — we’ll be lining up at polling places to cast our votes for the next president. How much of that decision … Continue reading
How Obama Can Win – The Daily Beast
On the campaign trail, President Obama is already offering flashes of his favorite 2012 narrative: “Give ‘em Hell, Harry” redux, running against the “Do-Nothing 112th Congress.” It is the hyper-partisan Republicans in the House, he says, who have stopped his … Continue reading
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Tagged 2012 Elections, Elections, President Obama, The Daily Beast
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Georgia Terror Plot’s Militia Roots – The Daily Beast
The Hatriots have reared their heads again—this time in the form of a Georgia domestic terrorist plot against law enforcement officials that variously contemplated ricin attacks, blowing up a federal building, and targeted assassination.
Jan Brewer’s Sleazy Power Grab – The Daily Beast
This is low and cynical even by political standards. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is trying to impeach her state’s independent redistricting commission because they recommended political districts that do not disproportionately favor Republicans.
We Need Deficit Deal Now – The Daily Beast
Nearly 100 members of the House of Representatives from both parties have signed a letter urging the so-called supercommittee to go big and tackle $4 trillion in deficit reduction instead of the $1.2 trillion it has been tasked. The letter … Continue reading