National Democrats
New Day, New Leaders
I’m at the age (76) where conversations with old friends turn into “organ recitals.” Who has what illness or ailment? Who did your knee/hip/heart/shoulder/prostate surgery? How are Joe, Mary, et al getting along with their (fill in the blank)? No matter how sharp you are or what good shape you’re in, you start losing it…
Read MoreHealing Wounds
Instead of going to college Joe Kent joined the army at 18; a Ranger, Green Beret, did 11 combat tours. Stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia he met Shannon Smith, also a soldier – they married, had two children. Five years later on a street in Syria an Isis terrorist walked toward four soldiers, ignited a…
Read MoreCould Kamala Have Won?
The media/punditry obsession with President Biden’s age and health in the White House obscures a more important question: Could Kamala Harris have won anyway? Yes, says Stan Greenberg, a veteran Democratic pollster and analyst who worked for Bill Clinton. In fact, he argues in “Kamala Could Have Won” in The American Prospect, she was winning…
Read MoreOff-Year Elections
Chariots of Fire won the Best Picture Oscar…Joe Montana and the 49ers won the Super Bowl …Dallas was the top TV show…and, back in 1982, I ran head-on into my first off-year election. By then I’d worked in 3 campaigns – each ended well. In 1982, with Reagan in the White House, we set out…
Read MoreQuite a Day
Trump had quite a day yesterday. Qatar offered a posh new jet to replace Air Force 1 – Trump said it’d be ‘stupid’ to say no. Next Trump said we’d stopped a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. When he’d imposed tariffs, Trump whacked China. Got whacked back. Blinked. Yesterday announced he’d cut a big…
Read MoreWithout Bedrock
Bald head, hair shaved on both sides above his ears, skull shining, pedantic, certain he’s right, sitting in a restaurant Steven pointed across the room at the TV set above the bar. ‘There’s your friend John Bolton on TV. Criticizing Trump. You ought to tell him to shut up.’ I glanced at the TV, shrugged…
Read MorePritzker & Sanford
Terry Sanford would applaud his protégé J.B. Pritzker’s fiery, fighting speech to New Hampshire Democrats last weekend – a full-throated denunciation of Trump that electrified the crowd and jolted the political world. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, declared, “It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once. Never before in my life have I called…
Read MoreThe Real Problem…
We’re trapped in a twisted time. The latest Fox News’ poll showed Trump dropping – so did half a dozen other polls last week. That wasn’t a shock. But in the next breath a stumble reared its head: The media pointed at practical but paper-thin explanations for Trump’s decline. Years ago, Arthur Finkelstein, an unusual…
Read MoreThe Wrong Fight
A risky move, landing in court, spurred a brawl – but give Trump credit: He’s outsmarting both Democrats and the press. Defying a judge’s order was a silly mistake. Trump could’ve made his case in court, won, and shipped Kilmar Garcia to an El Salvador prison. Instead charging out on a limb he threw ‘due…
Read MoreWhat Happens If…
Trump’s fighting on a lot of fronts – look at tariffs: If Trump’s right, as he says, he’s leading us into a ‘Golden Age.’ But if he’s wrong we could land in a recession with the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs echoing in our ears. Here’s another fight: The Constitution says Congress decides how much money gets spent…
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