How Much Hate?

Frank Bruni wrote in The New York Times this week that Lt. Governor Mark Robinson’s candidacy for governor would raise “the question of how much bigotry and divisiveness Republican and independent voters in North Carolina are willing to endorse, indulge or be persuaded to overlook.” Well, North Carolina elected Jesse Helms (pictured) to the Senate…

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Biden vs. Putin and Republicans

Republicans revered Ronald Reagan for bringing down the Soviet Union, the “evil empire.” But Trump and MAGA Republicans swoon over Czar Putin’s iron-fisted rule, gay-bashing and bare-chested manliness. President Biden armed the Ukrainians and united the free world against Russia’s brutal invasion. Now he is sending Ukraine tanks. Courageous Ukrainians exposed Putin’s military as rotten,…

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Run, Liz, Run

America needs a third party. Liz Cheney should be its nominee for President. She could save America, and the Republican Party, from Donald Trump. We don’t need a centrist third party searching for a mythical middle ground. We need a true, never-Trump conservative party. Trump is no conservative. He’s a divider and a destroyer. Cheney…

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McCain and Trump

Both were part of the Vietnam generation. One served; the other didn’t. One was shot down over North Vietnam, imprisoned for over five years and tortured so brutally he couldn’t even comb his hair. The other had five draft deferments and bone spurs. And spends a lot of time combing his hair. One dedicated his…

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What happened? One word: Race

Hillary Clinton’s book scrolls through a long list of reasons why she lost. But the real reason may boil down to one simple fact: race. Specifically, the fact that the President she wanted to succeed – the President who endorsed her and enthusiastically campaigned for her – was black. Plus the fact that her opponent…

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The Greening of Trump

Harrison Hickman, my genius pollster friend, told me a simple fact about the 2016 presidential election that I had not seen anywhere. The votes that Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, got in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania were enough to swing the election from Hillary Clinton. And make Trump President. Here are the numbers.            …

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Clinton shattered

A new now-it-can-be-told book performs the requisite autopsy on why Hillary Clinton lost. Judging by the reviews, “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign” is the kind of political porn we junkies eat up. No doubt it’s filled with delicious dirt dished out by dueling staffers exacting revenge and blaming each other. Yum! It’s a first stab…

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How did Hillary lose to him?

A Democrat watches Trump and wonders, “How did Hillary lose to this guy?” A political pro wonders, “How did Hillary lose to this guy after running so many more TV ads than he did?” She ran 200,000 ads to his 76,000. Was it Twitter? Comey? Putin? Or was it the ads themselves? A new study…

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Deep Throats

A high-ranking FBI official (Mark Felt, aka Deep Throat) and The Washington Post took down Richard Nixon’s presidency. FBI Director James Comey and the media echo chamber took down Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Now Trump compares American intelligence services with Nazis and declares that the media is the enemy. Where does this lead? A TAPster passes…

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Mark Sanford takes on Trump

You know things are bad when Mark Sanford is the voice of reason. Yes, that Mark Sanford. The congressman from South Carolina. The ex-Governor who gave new meaning to “hiking the Appalachian Trail.” Sanford is back on stage as one of few Republicans unafraid to criticize Trump. He speaks out in a fascinating Politico article…

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