Cleanup Crew

President Obama rolled out his best 2010 message yesterday at a town hall in Wisconsin. Click here to see one clip that captures it.   The message is simple: The Republicans gave us a mess, and they refuse to help clean it up.   Maybe Obama’s team has learned a lesson: They haven’t played the…

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McChrystal’s Balls

General Stanley McChrystal and his hard-driving team probably didn’t say anything about their civilian bosses that military leaders haven’t always said about their civilian bosses.   McChrystal & Co. just said it in front of a reporter. From Rolling Stone, no less.   No wonder these guys can’t catch Osama.   McChrystal never quite hit…

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E-NC Authority

A while back President Obama’s administration was giving cell phones to people on welfare and, now, State Senator Doug Berger has sponsored a bill to have the “E-NC Authority” provide broadband Internet service to the same folks. It is unclear how hard-pressed welfare recipients will get computers.   Senator Berger’s bill may be seen as…

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Why We Like Women

Women are winning everywhere: Elaine Marshall, Nikki Haley, Blanche Lincoln, Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman.   North Carolina leads the way. Marshall would make two female Senators. A female governor. As Thomas Mills with the Marshall campaign pointed out, seven of ten statewide winners in 2008 were women. And women are moving up in the legislature…

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Nuts

Republicans are determined to save Democrats from electoral disaster this year.   With any luck, the GOP will nominate Tea Partier Bill Randall to run against Brad Miller. Randall distinguished himself this week by speculating that the Gulf Oil spill is a conspiracy between Washington and BP.   Did anybody ask him if 9/11 was…

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No Governor

President Obama rolled out his biggest weapon yet in his battle to get on top of his spreading oil-slick political crisis: his own oratorical power – and the Oval Office.   He’s making progress, but he’s still in catch-up mode.   Things might have been different if Obama had been a governor instead of a…

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Emoter-in-Chief

What’s with this mania about whether President Obama has shown enough anger over the BP oil spill?   Is this the legacy of Bill Clinton, who so famously felt our pain?   Or that old actor Ronald Reagan, who could muster a catch in the throat and a flash of anger at the drop of…

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Old Guvs Rule

Tuesday’s primaries across the county were good for women candidates. And old governors didn’t do too badly.   California Democrats nominated Jerry Brown for governor again. Brown, 72, served as governor from 1975-1983.   Iowa Republicans nominated Terry Branstad for a return engagement. Branstad, 63, was governor from 1983-1999.   Both were fellow governors with…

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Blame the Republicans

The White House needs to go on offense on the Gulf oil spill.   Democrats, all too often, are weenies when it comes to political combat. They want to be fair, see all sides and over-intellectualize.   It’s time for a go-for-the-gut message: Blame the Republicans.   Here’s how it goes:   This all started…

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X Factors

X factors are the spice of politics – and the bane of political operatives.   X factors are the unexpected events that disrupt the best-laid plans of campaign consultants and political consultants, who are the world’s greatest control freaks.   The classic X factor was the economic collapse that decided the 2008 presidential election by…

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