In the flurry of post-government-shutdown analysis, the talking heads are speculating about the demise of the Tea Party. According to the New York Times, “In the aftermath of the U.S. government shutdown and a close call with default, there is a political consensus among Democrats, many Republicans, establishment conservatives, business leaders and the inside-the-Beltway commentariat: […]
Well, this is helpful. A clutch of Republican elites have run to the Supreme Court demanding the judiciary shut off debate on gay marriage. The story has predictably been front page news at the New York Times and in the world of the liberal media, the Times leading with this: More than two dozen Republicans […]
Few politicians are interested in making obscure UN treaties a political talking point. Nevertheless, the Republican and Democratic parties stand at polar opposites on the question of whether or not the United States should ratify new UN treaties, particularly human rights treaties. The platform adopted at the Republican National Convention last month specifically names four […]
With Mitt Romney now the presumptive Republican nominee, the battle for the 2012 Presidency has begun in earnest. And, as is not uncommon, the outcome of this year’s race is expected to hinge on that that slice of the electorate that doesn’t pledge fealty to any political party, the so-called independent voters. According to a […]
In politics, as with many competitive enterprises, frontrunners love to promote the myth of inevitability. Having squeaked out the narrowest of wins in Iowa and now polling favorably in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney is attempting to capitalize on the notion that his nomination is inevitable. If Republicans want to defeat President Obama come November, primary […]
I live in Western Pennsylvania, just across the county line from where former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum grew up. My wife went to the same high school as Santorum. I’ve followed his career very closely. I’m surprised—but I’m not surprised—by Santorum’s performance in the Iowa Republican Caucus. I’m surprised because it looks like he’s changing. […]
The inevitable has happened. After weeks of steadily plummeting polls numbers and increasing political pressure, Herman Cain’s campaign has finally collapsed under the weight of multiple allegations of sexual infidelity. The general assumption is that Newt Gingrich will be the primary benefactor of Cain’s demise. Unlike the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO, Gingrich’s political star has […]
Theodore Roosevelt’s great image of politics as a kaleidoscope hardly captures the present pandemonium over Herman Cain’s alleged sexual misdeeds. For a Republican primary, usually a pretty button-down affair, this is pretty steamy stuff. Compared to Bill Clinton’s escapades-proven, admitted and forgiven by his wife, Hillary — this matter is still in the realm of […]
They say that money is the mother’s milk of politics, and now that the field of Republican presidential hopefuls has solidified, the media has locked onto fundraising numbers as the primary means of measuring the viability of the candidates. Not surprisingly, establishment favorite Mitt Romney is far and away the best funded candidate. Rick […]
The need to worship is hardwired into the human psyche. Yet, as unfashionable as it’s become in the last century to worship the God of Creation, the same cannot be said of the worship of political heroes. The most notable — and horrific — examples that come to mind are found in the frenzied, almost religious zeal […]
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is being urged to seek the Republican presidential nomination. There is a genuine groundswell for Christie. Asked [last] week at the Reagan Library whether he will enter the race, Christie gave a very interesting answer. Citing the example of Ronald Reagan, he stated: “I know, without ever having met President […]
The GOP presidential primary, which I continue to compare to a colorful, shape-shifting kaleidoscope, is now in overdrive, revolving at a blistering speed, with the latest Gallup poll showing Texas governor Rick Perry rocketing past all other Republican contenders. According to Gallup’s Jeffrey M. Jones, 29 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents nationwide say they […]
I have been flogging the kaleidoscope metaphor to describe the Republican presidential primary. Given all that is happening, or about to happen, in the pachyderm dust-up, I think it still works. Turning, turning, the GOP battle is making things very interesting in these early days of the endless campaign of 2012. Colorful and chaotic shapes, […]
Amidst the rhetorical pyrotechnics surrounding July’s debt-ceiling debates, another controversy streaked across the sky like a comet, flared for an instant, then receded into the maelstrom of ongoing partisan attacks. The shooting star in question involved an exchange between two of Congress’ most controversial members, Allen West (R-Fla.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), whose regard […]
Move over, Sarah Palin. Michele Bachmann is the new bogeyman — er, woman — of the left. She opposes pornography and abortion. She’s stingy with the taxpayer money entrusted to her. There are even rumors that she gets headaches — really, really bad headaches. As for her family values, well, yes, Bachmann and her husband […]
During the dark days of Republican profligacy, when earmarks were the rule and GOP House and Senate members routinely voted for massive discretionary spending bills (many loaded with pork and earmarks) there was one man who bucked the tide of red ink: Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona). “I believed the earmarks game was robbing us as […]
Deep dish or thin crust? Leno or Conan? And people say American civic discourse is no longer serious. What could be more serious than the choice presented to former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty at Monday night’s Republican presidential debate, between Coke and Pepsi? (For the record, Pawlenty prefers Coke.) The debate, hosted by CNN and […]
The Republican presidential primary is only getting more interesting every day. That is, it is even more kaleidoscopic than I have previously noted. Mitt Romney, who has been kicked around pretty hard for Romneycare, flip-flopping on abortion, and, now, his views on global climate change or warming, won a head-to-head poll against President Obama among […]
American conservatives do not often argue that it is the government’s role to guarantee comfort. While each of us has a right to be unimpeded by excessive governmental interference in our own “pursuit of happiness”, it is not common to find conservatives arguing that the government guarantees us happiness, or more to the point, guarantees […]
Remember how you felt when Nancy Pelosi told us that we would know what was in the Obamacare bill after it had been passed by the House of Representatives? For a lot of Americans – in and out of the Tea Party movement – that quintessential expression of political elitist arrogance and contempt for the […]
I faithfully listen to audiobooks as a means of coping with northern Virginia traffic. Recently, I have been engrossed by Edmund Morris’s Colonel Roosevelt (2010), which, like the first volume of his biographical trilogy, could very well earn him another Pulitzer Prize. At one point in the book, Theodore Roosevelt describes the workings of politics […]
