National Democrats
Me and Anderson Cooper
I made my maiden appearance on Anderson Cooper’s CNN show last night (regrettably, I can’t find a link for your viewing pleasure; somebody help me). Therein lie two stories: one about how news happens today and the other about how President Obama still might get reelected. First, the news. I was on – looking,…
Read MoreTrashing Obama
It’s terrible what they’re saying about President Obama. Not the Republicans; the Democrats. This week, there has been an explosion of criticism from the President’s own party and old supporters. You’ll find an example on almost every newspaper or political website. It runs the gamut: He’s too aloof, he caved on the debt…
Read MoreJimmy Obama?
Democrats fear they’re watching another failed Presidency. Like with Jimmy Carter, they see a faltering economy and a President who seems unable to turn the political tide. It was telling that, throughout Carter’s four years in office, editorial cartoons pictured him growing smaller and smaller. In the few cartoons left today, Obama gets skinnier…
Read MoreOutlook for Obama
Public Policy Polling is bullish on President Obama’s reelection prospects. I’m not. Tom Jensen at PPP wrote this week: “A broad theme has been emerging in our state by state Presidential polling over the last couple months: if the Republicans nominate Mitt Romney it’s a tossup. And if they nominate anyone else it’s…
Read MoreBad Outcome for Democrats
Democrats hoped the debt-ceiling narrative would play out like this: Tea Party extremists nearly drive America over the cliff. Instead, it went like this: Government is broken and doesn’t work. That’s a big problem for Democrats. Because voters see them as the government party and Republicans as the anti-government party. Democrats always…
Read MoreBattling Extremism
The headline and teaser on Politico today read: “W.H. counter-radicalization plan due: The administration plans to roll out its new strategy for countering extremism in the U.S. Wednesday.” Given how the debt-ceiling fight turned out, it’s about time the White House came up with a strategy for combating the Tea Party.
Read MoreMoody’s and the Meltdown
Barney Frank may be more liberal than Harry Reid or Obama combined but he doesn’t mind marching right into the lion’s den at Fox News and taking on any anchorman in sight. The other day in an interview Neil Cavuto put Frank on the spot, asking if the Democrats’ brinksmanship on the debt ceiling…
Read MoreThe Glass Debt Ceiling
A TAPster passes along a link raising the question: What if Congress was more than 13 percent women? A NPR commentator is quoted as saying: “In experiments, when men feel there are lots of other men around, they tend to pose more, they tend to talk tough, they become shortsighted, they take bigger bets.…
Read MoreIs the Center Right?
If both Tea Party Republicans and Democratic liberals don’t like the debt deal, does that make it a good deal for America? There is a line of thinking today that what is missing in politics is a “vital center” – those supposed wise men and women who find the right answer to our problems…
Read MoreTwo Facts about the Debt Ceiling Deal
It’s pretty hard to sort through all the facts and figures and the rhetoric and posturing about the latest debt ceiling deal – but two facts seem clear. President Obama, Speaker Boehner, Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid all say the latest agreement will raise the debt ceiling $2.4 trillion in exchange for $2.5 trillion…
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