Financial Reform: Obama's Sales Challenge
Jules Witcover

As with Obama's unforeseen challenge of the Great Recession, he has been obliged to spend much of his time in the Oval Office reestablishing effective regulation of Wall Street and the banking/investment industry. And as in health-care reform, the results of the newly enacted legislation -- both positive and negative -- will not become clear for some time to come.

2010 Elections: Obama and Democrats Locked in a Perpetual Campaign
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama and his Democrats are vying with the Republicans to get every possible advantage in the mid-term elections this November. And while voters probably want a break from politics for a couple of months, the politicians are neck-deep in a perpetual campaign

2010 Elections: Democrats Shift to Blame the GOP Strategy
Paul Bedard

In a dramatic strategic shift prompted by recent controversial GOP statements on BP and Wall Street reform, Democrats are now eager to nationalize the fall elections where they plan to make the case that Republicans want to stop President Obama's change agenda and return to the Bush blueprint.

2010 Elections: The Anti-Election of 2010
Jules Witcover

Only three and a half months before the next congressional elections, the only theme in this political pudding is a negative one. So far, it's essentially against President Obama, against Congress, against a stagnant economy and high unemployment.

Obama's Crisis Is GOP's Opportunity
Jonah Goldberg

It wasn't supposed to be like this. The Obama administration came into power with the political winds at its back, the media at its feet and Americans open to major change. The White House even had a slogan: A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

Obama's Anti-Business Policies Are Our Economic Katrina
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

In the midst of a weak economy accompanied by levels of unemployment unprecedented since the Great Depression, it is critical that the government appreciate that confidence is an imperative if the business community is to invest, take risks with start-ups, and altogether get the economy going again to put the millions of unemployed back to productive work

Angry Voters Likely to Blame Democrats
Kenneth T. Walsh

Just about every day, the White House rolls out a new initiative or makes another argument that President Obama and majority Democrats in Congress are moving aggressively to tackle the nation's problems. But there's a problem. The country is past the point that it is impressed with action alone or with Washington happy-talk about how things will be getting better. Americans want results

When Did the Rules Change?
Jonah Goldberg

I'm beginning to wonder if the political moment is much, much, more significant than most of us realize. The rules may have changed in ways no one would have predicted two years ago. And perhaps 10 years from now we'll look back on this moment and it will all seem so obvious.

After Oil Spill Gulf States Want Obama Vacation Visit
Paul Bedard

President Obama is getting vacation advice intended to bolster his image, especially with those upset with his administration's handling of the Gulf oil spill cleanup. On one hand, Gulf tourism officials think he should visit the area to help show it's still a good vacation spot while on the other hand the public wants him there to do some public service

How Facebook is Changing Politics
Jessica Rettig

With extraordinary speed, Facebook has become a centerpiece of the social and political lives of people around the world. In just six and a half years, Facebook has amassed half a billion users, making it what author David Kirkpatrick says is probably the fastest growing company ever in terms of customers. Kirkpatrick recently spoke about how the company is changing politics and institutions

The Palin Effect and the Death of Political Journalism
Robert Schlesinger

Sarah Palin is living the dream. Since the dawn of time, or at least since the 1960s, politicians from both parties, though conservatives in particular, have yearned to block out the press. They have pined for a way to commune with their voters without the pesky media distorting their message. Now, a couple of incipient trends are increasingly making it possible

Hollywood Cool to GOP But Business Doesn't Waffle
Paul Bedard and Danielle Kurtzleben

When it comes to Hollywood's funding of national Republicans, there is little to cheer about, unless you think Chuck Norris and Kelsey Grammer's support of the party are notable. Because unlike the Democratic Party, which receives tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from film, TV, and media stars, the GOP doesn't have many friends in Tinseltown

Jan Schakowsky Leads the Fight for Women
Jessica Rettig

Illinois Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky and her female colleagues in Congress work to make sure that legislation regarding the rights of women are addressed. She recently spoke about the top problems women are confronting around the world and why the government should look to women as leaders and resources

Democrats Use Oil Spill to Spur Environmental Bills
Jessica Rettig

As Hurricane Alex ripped through the Gulf of Mexico, pushing waves of oil onto coastal state shores and postponing cleanup efforts, Congress shored up a few energy-related bills in Washington. While the spill has been a dark cloud for environmentalists, it may provide the political impetus that proponents of long-term conservation and climate change legislation have been looking for

Obama Slow on Global Warming Legislation
Kent Garber

Last summer, the House passed the Waxman-Markey bill, which would cap greenhouse gases. But the Senate stalled, and the Obama administration has been far less aggressive in pursuing a bill than many hoped. But as Eric Pooley documents in his new book, The Climate War, Washington has struggled to act. Pooley discusses his findings

Obama Can Learn From the British on Debt Management
Mary Kate Cary

Obama should prepare the public for what's coming. We heard a lot about the president's debt-reduction commission when it was announced, and nothing since

Mandatory Voting Would Loosen Partisan Gridlock
Jessica Rettig

Political polarization is getting in the way of dealing with the nation's growing debt problem and other urgent issues, says William Galston. One way to loosen the partisan gridlock and facilitate a larger role for political moderates, he says, would be to require voting by all adult U.S. citizens. Galston discusses his proposal

Attorney General Eric Holder's Hypocrisy
Victor Davis Hanson

Attorney General Eric Holder has developed a bad habit of accusing others of acting in bad faith while doing so himself.

Independently Wealthy Candidates: Democracy's Coffin?
Robyn Blumner

Florida has two very rich guys competing for office who are self-funding their campaigns. Neither one of them has held elective office before. There is no better evidence that money animates politics -- in the way that Frankenstein's monster was animated -- than seeing complete unknowns transformed into viable statewide candidates simply by writing their own checks.

Republicans' Aversion to Financial Reform Misguided
Robyn Blumner

You would think financial reform -- after what bankers just put us through -- would be the one thing that Republicans would join in doing. However, GOP party leadership ducked its responsibility by fabricating a different narrative as to what caused the financial crisis. It's time to take on those myths and spell out the real reasons they did not support financial reform

U.S. Trouble With START and Other Treaties
John B. Bellinger III

President Obama has made the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia a priority for Senate ratification, but it is proving a contentious issue. The treaty will likely be approved by the Senate, but Republicans don't want to make it easy for the president. Overall, the pattern of failing to ratify a number of treaties even after winning desired changes undermines U.S. credibility

NAACP vs. Tea Party
Clarence Page

Tea party organizers are outraged that leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are calling their movement racist. But as the old saying goes, we are judged by the company we keep -- as well as the enemies we make

Our Big Mistake
Cal Thomas

There is no shame in making a mistake. Everybody makes plenty in a lifetime, even in elections. Politicians are good at sounding good. The minority party promises to be more honest and ethical than the majority and then when it has gained the trust of people fed up with too much dishonesty and too little ethics, it becomes like the party it replaced.

Our Broken Politics on Full Display
Arianna Huffington

It's a terrible calamity that those in charge never should have allowed to happened, it's doing incalculable damage that will last for generations, and even as the destruction continues to spread, the government seems powerless to stop it.

One Giant Leap (Backward)
Jonah Goldberg

Liberalism is caught in something of a Catch-22. Under Obama, liberals are determined to reinvigorate the reputation of government, to prove that only the state can get important things done. That is why the Gulf oil spill, for instance, is so vexatious for the White House and its liberal supporters. Why can't the government be more nimble, more resourceful?

President Obama's Problem is Simple: The Economy and Jobs
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The hope that fired up the election of Barack Obama has flickered out, leaving a national mood of despair and disappointment. Americans are dispirited over how wrong things are and uncertain they can be made right again

Survey Ranks Obama 15th Best President
Mallie Jane Kim

President Obama ranks 15th out of 44 in a poll of the best and worst presidents while former President George W. Bush earns a place in the bottom five, according to the Siena College Research Institute's recent survey of 238 presidential scholars

Obama Immigration Speech All Words -- No Action
Andres Oppenheimer

Before we get into the things Obama should have said -- but didn't -- in his much-awaited address on immigration, let's give him credit for tackling one of the hottest issues in America today and for doing it in a balanced way.

Obama Immigration Reform: Tell It to Us Straight
Mary Sanchez

The fact is that immigration reform has about as much chance of passing this year as General Stanley McChrystal has at getting his job back. It's not happening. And it shouldn't happen. Not while the country is reeling economically and politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, must contend with upcoming November elections

Obama's Unclear Path to Immigration Reform
Edward Alden

The Obama administration has two choices on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. It can try to find a legislative path for pushing a bill through with little or no Republican support, as it did on healthcare and, to a lesser extent, on the pending financial reform legislation. Or it can try to change the terms of the debate in a way that makes bipartisan legislation more plausible

Obama's Border Talk -- Little Action
Clarence Page

In grappling with the thorny issue of immigration 'this administration will not just kick the can down the road,' says President Barack Obama -- after almost a year and a half of kicking that can down the road

Liz Cheney: Obama Too Inexperienced on Foreign Policy
Paul Bedard

Liz Cheney, fast becoming the conservative's leading voice on foreign policy, is stepping up her assault on the Obama administration, charging that the president and his team are apologizing when they should be raising an iron fist.

Even a Few Words Matter
Victor Davis Hanson

Sometimes deterrence against aggression is lost with just a few unfortunate words or a relatively minor gesture. The Obama administration has made a number of seemingly insignificant remarks and gestures -- many well-intended and reasoned -- that might be interpreted as a new U.S. indifference to aggression

Short Voter Memories
Jules Witcover

In all the teeth-gnashing over President Obama's handling of the Gulf oil leak crisis, the country would do well to consider old standup comic Henny Youngman's reply to the question, 'How's your wife?' His answer, for younger, unacquainted readers: 'Compared to what?'

Packed Agenda Could Stall Immigration Reform
Alex Kingsbury

In his first major speech on immigration reform since taking office, President Obama called for a 'practical, common sense approach' to dealing with one of the highest-voltage third rails in American politics. While thin on specifics, he outlined a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the United States

Do We Need a White House Press Corps?
Ana Marie Cox

The glamour and historic nature of the Obama White House have turned covering it into a growth industry in terms of both the number of journalists on the beat and the number of items they produce

How Ronald Reagan Won and Other Lessons From the Cold War
Mallie Jane Kim

Ten years before President Ronald Reagan stood in Berlin to demand, 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!' communism's demise was in no way assured. Decades of proxy wars saw communist and capitalist powers bargaining and competing for footholds around the world

2010 Elections: Bill Clinton In Demand on Campaign Trail
Kenneth T. Walsh

Bill Clinton is enjoying a renaissance. Demand for the former president on the campaign trail is burgeoning as Democrats look for someone with star power to give them a boost in this fall's midterm elections

The New Frontier: 'Covering' Conservatives
Jonah Goldberg

There has been a lot of news in the past few weeks or so. But for a few days at the end of June, Beltway pundits were consumed with the ballad of David Weigel, a blogger for The Washington Post, briefly assigned to cover the 'conservative beat.' And just what is the conservative beat?

GOP Has Sizable Enthusiasm and Turnout Advantage
Paul Bedard

The much-talked about GOP enthusiasm edge over Democrats is turning into a sizable voter turnout advantage, one even bigger than in 1994 when conservatives shocked Washington and took control of the House and Senate. Republicans by a huge margin think their party will do better in the fall elections than the Democrats and they are ready to make sure it happens

Michael Steele's Gaffes Don't Impact RNC Fundraising
Paul Bedard

Republican election committees are seeing a funding revival, fired by voter frustration, anger, and a hope that the conservatives can stage a 1994-style revolt exactly two years after Obama and the Democrats seemed to cement the party's long-term control in Washington

The Fiasco of Michael Steele
Jules Witcover

When one of our two major political parties does not hold the White House and has no clearly identifiable prospective presidential nominee for the next election, it often falls to that party's national chairman to become its temporary leader and spokesman. Thus it is the Republicans' great misfortune, not to say embarrassment, that the national chairman is Michael Steele

10 Factors That Could Shape Kagan's Supreme Court Decisions
Mallie Jane Kim

Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan's Senate confirmation hearings are unlikely to derail her confirmation, experts say. But they are also unlikely to reveal how Kagan would make decisions on the high court if confirmed. But there are a few clues. Here are ten factors that will likely shape Kagan's decisions on the Supreme Court

American Decline Is a State of Mind
Victor Davis Hanson

We are hearing of all sorts of reasons why the United States is doomed to decline. After all, America is piling up deficits at a record rate. The current recession is heading into its third year. Unemployment still hovers at nearly 10 percent. Many think the war in Afghanistan is as good as lost. The largest oil spill in American history has been gushing up from sea for nearly 80 days

When National Strategy Document Is Not the National Strategy
Paul Kennedy

What does it mean when a national government, especially a government that is always at the center of world attention like that of the United States, issues public policy documents that are supposed to explain its defense priorities and its overall global strategy? And what sense does it make to let everyone, including your enemies, know what your concerns and your plans for the future are?

The Afghanistan Paradox
Arianna Huffington

Well, President Obama has succeeded in bringing at least one soldier home from Afghanistan -- welcome back, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Now if he can just hold true to his plan to begin bringing the other 100,000 or so home next year.

The Making of Barack Obama: Honolulu, Harvard, and Hyde Park
Walter Russell Mead

Who is Obama? What does he really believe? How has his quest to find and understand his place in American life shaped him and his vision for the United States? These are the questions that David Remnick, the author of Lenin's Tomb and the editor of The New Yorker, sets out to investigate in The Bridge, an intelligent and searching biography of Obama.

Forget Obama - Fear the Real State Capitalists
Ian Bremmer and Sean West

Since President Obama has taken office, a chief assertion from his critics has been that he is socialist. But there is little evidence that he wants to dramatically revise the U.S. economic system. While imprecise accusations of socialism score political points for the accusers, in listening closer to Obama's critics they seem to actually be accusing him of being a state capitalist

Big Oil, 'Small People'
Clarence Page

Something got lost in translation when BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, a Swede, referred to victims of his company's Gulf of Mexico oil disaster as 'the small people.' 'We care about the small people,' said the Svanberg with all of the robotic passion of Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator

Meet Joe Barton R - Big Oil
Leonard Pitts Jr

OK, let's make sure we have this straight. As much as 2.5 million gallons of BP oil gushes into the Gulf every day. Fragile eco-systems are wrecked, sea life is slimed, fishermen and boaters are facing ruin and BP, we discover, had no real plan for handling this catastrophe. So we should apologize to BP? That was the astonishing, incomprehensible and galling conclusion of Texas Rep. Joe Barton

Joe Barton - Defending the Devil
Jules Witcover

Republicans went bananas when Texas Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP. In one incredible swoop, Barton not only sided with the current No. 1 corporate public enemy. He also reinforced the GOP's collective image as friend and defender of Big Oil, one of the party's most generous and consistent campaign contributors.

The Democrats' Economic Vision Problem
Jonah Goldberg

We are constantly told that the American working man is so much worse off than he used to be. And if you measure income one way, you can make that case. Indeed, the Democratic Party in recent years has become obsessed in looking at the economy only in that one negative way to justify its avocation: giving more stuff to the poor and middle class because they are falling behind. However, ...

World Sees Obama as Incompetent and Amateur
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The reviews of President Obama's performance have been disappointing. He has seemed uncomfortable in the role of leading other nations, and often seems to suggest there is nothing special about America's role in the world. The global community was puzzled over Obama bowing to some of the world's leaders and surprised by his gratuitous criticisms of and apologies for America's foreign policy

Malaise All Over Again, Or: Is This Jimmy Carter's Second Term?
Paul Greenberg

Surely it's just my fallible memory, but I can't recall a presidential address that has fallen as flat as Barack Obama's, at least not since Jimmy Carter gave his (in)famous Malaise speech back in the dismal summer of 1979

Europhobes Know Not What They Fear
Robyn Blumner

President Barack Obama has been maligned as a European socialist so often by his Tea Party critics that one would think he put French-style cafe tables on the White House lawn and took to wearing a beret. Obama's mildly progressive agenda isn't close to that of a European social democracy.

Line-Item Veto Would Upset the Constitutional Balance
Norman Ornstein

A line-item veto would have a noble purpose: enabling a president willing to take the political heat to excise wasteful spending put into the budget by pork-addled lawmakers who can't resist bridges to nowhere. It sounds great -- but is less fulfilling than it appears, and would bring a major cost to our constitutional balance

President Needs Line-item Veto Authority
Ryan Alexander

There is now a proposal before Congress that would give the president the ability to make Congress reconsider spending requests that the White House considers wasteful or duplicative. Commonly referred to as a line-item veto, this bill is different from the 1996 law which the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional

Angry Voters Look for Change
Kenneth T. Walsh

The latest election results sent a clear message: No incumbent is safe. But there is a larger point. Many analysts are debating whether the voters' mood is anti-Washington, anti-incumbent, or anti-government. What appears to be happening is all of the above

The New Conservative Feminist Movement
Mary Kate Cary

We've entered a sort of post-feminist politics, in which nearly 10 million more women than men voted in 2008, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Not only are more women voting and running for office, but most of the new female candidates are Republican.

Why 'Feminism' Should Be Erased from the American Lexicon
Michelle D. Bernard

Why, I ask, do veteran feminists remain lodged in a past that no longer exists? To millions of American women and men, whether conservative, liberal, or libertarian, feminism seems like an outdated part of the American lexicon that most simply cannot identify with

Obama's Big Problems: Oil Spill, Afghanistan and Unemployment
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama spent last week focusing on the massive BP oil leak, but two other big issues are creeping up on him -- Afghanistan and unemployment. Each one could easily have a greater impact on his long-term success or failure than the gusher in the Gulf of Mexico

A Presidency Is Drowning -- in Oil
Paul Greenberg

When it comes to the current crisis in the Gulf, you have to wonder if Barack Obama is focused. President Obama confronts a deceptive kind of crisis that has overtaken him -- and the country -- only slowly, rising like a foul tide that now threatens to wash away his once magic touch, his credibility, his presidency itself

Obama and BP: The Oil Summit
Jules Witcover

It wasn't Ali-Frazier, or Louis-Schmeling or even Dempsey-Tunney. The much-awaited confrontation between President Obama and the BP bigwigs at the White House was more like Grant and Lee at Appomattox. The oil barons handed over their swords in a submissive mea culpa.

Saving Obama From Himself
Victor Davis Hanson

Obama railed that Bush showed 'unconscionable ineptitude.' Obama further charged that Bush's response was 'achingly slow,' a result of 'passive indifference,' and that his team was rife with 'corruption and cronyism.' Those adjectives now apply to Obama himself, as he seems lost amid his own disaster -- eerily in about the same Gulf environs

Overdue Apologies
Robyn Blumner

Apologies are tricky. If they are done because someone is found out they can sound forced and convenient, like the wrongdoer is just sorry for having been caught. But there is also transcendence in a national apology when it is heartfelt and due

When Obama Trades Jobs for a Higher Priority
Liz Wolgemuth

If there's one message that has tolled consistently from the mouth of nearly every White House official over the past two years, it's that 'jobs are our top priority.' But the administration's strict moratorium on deepwater drilling would seem to trade jobs for a higher priority

When Presidents Fire Generals: Lincoln and McClellan
Caitlin Huey-Burns

In the summer of 1861, two very different but equally brilliant leaders formed a partnership that writer John Waugh calls a 'serious failure.' As major general of the Union army, McClellan had an unmatched military mind, but he was unwilling to accept President Lincoln as his boss. Waugh discusses the lessons their relationship holds for contemporary political and military leaders

'Bush Did it' Is Not a Foreign Policy
Victor Davis Hanson

What exactly does Barack Obama wish to accomplish abroad? In interviews and speeches, Obama emphasizes his nontraditional background. Apparently, he hopes that by reminding the world that he is not George W. Bush, America will be better liked. Obama doesn't seem to understand that wanting people to like America is only a means to an end, not a policy in itself

When National Politics and Home-State Economics Collide
Rob Silverblatt

What do a Democrat from Arizona, a Republican from Massachusetts, and a judge from Louisiana have in common? In a nod to home-state economics, all three have recently made moves to upset often-fragile compromises at the national level.

Money Race Could Decide the Midterm Elections
Alex Kingsbury

The election is still several months away, of course, and the vote could yet end either in landslide or photo finish. Still, the so-called money race has often been a strong indicator of which candidate will eventually triumph at the ballot box.

Oil and Gas Industry Gives Big to Members of Congress
Danielle Kurtzleben

The oil and gas industry has contributed more than $7.5 million to members of the 111th Congress thus far in the 2010 election cycle. That makes the industry the 15th most generous out of 80 tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group which compiles campaign finance data.

Charlie Crist May Avoid Fate of Other Party-Switchers
Caitlin Huey-Burns

The fall of party-switchers like Arlen Specter and Parker Griffith signaled to similar candidates that voters don't like to be manipulated, say experts. But recent polls suggest that Republican-turned-independent Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has done a decent job convincing voters that his switch is about policy and not politics

How Small Loans Became Big Business
Clarence Page

It's not really fair to refer to payday lenders as loan sharks. After all, loan sharks don't have lobbyists. Nor do loan sharks advertise with big signs. Yet, in the 35 states where they still operate legally, 'payday lenders' often charge percentage rates that on an annualized basis run high enough to make real sharks drool

Jobs Bill a Tough Call for Democrats
Jessica Rettig

With the unemployment rate stuck at around 9.7 percent, a Senate vote on a bill to extend unemployment benefits and boost job creation should be an easy 'yea,' a way to win points with voters in a tough economy. But this year is different

C-SPAN Now Reaches 100 Million Homes
Paul Bedard

C-SPAN, the little cable company that could when it started 31 years ago by airing boring House and Senate floor action, has become the influential public affairs channel that did.

Financial Reform For the Retail Investor
Rob Silverblatt

It should hardly come as a surprise that one of the more contentious issues in the financial reform debate has assumed the disguise of a seemingly unassuming query: Should broker-dealers be required to act in the best interests of their clients?

Hoover Dam's Big Government Lessons
Zach Miners

The sprawling cities and suburbs of the American West would not exist as they do today without the Hoover Dam, author Michael Hiltzik says. But without the dam, they might also have been spared many problems that have come with decades of population growth.

Where the Buck Stops for Obama
Jules Witcover

President Obama has been obliged by the reality of the oil spill disaster to acknowledge Harry Truman's famous dictum that 'the buck stops' at his desk in the Oval Office. But reality also requires that he not allow the challenge to overwhelm his presidency

Obama's Tough Talk Is a Real Kick
Jonah Goldberg

By now you've heard what President Obama told NBC's Matt Lauer. 'I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar,' Obama told Lauer. 'We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick, right?' Riiiiiiight.

Women Flex Their Political Muscle in 2010
Jessica Rettig

Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, 'A woman is like a tea bag -- you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.' Given the results of last week's primaries, in which both women and the Tea Party movement had big wins in heated races, one must wonder whether the former first lady could somehow foresee the politics of 2010

You've Come a Long Way, Baby Or Have You?
Mary Sanchez

In light of this years primary election results, some may be tempted to call 2010 the political year of the woman. Don't be so sure. Ladies, we have not come far enough

2010 Elections: Cloudy Tea Leaves
Jules Witcover

The late House Speaker Tip O'Neill's admonition that all politics is local is still worth listening to, based on the latest primary results that many predicted would clarify the outlook for November's supposedly pivotal midterm elections

2010 Elections Will Turn on Jobs and the Economy
Kent Garber

Over the past year, Republicans had been optimistic that the slow rebound of the economy would do them well in November. That may hold true. But the narrative is in flux. After the economy grew three quarters in a row at the start of the year, many economists declared the recession over. But slow growth may be just as problematic for Democrats as no growth

2010 Elections: Republicans Worry They Could Squander 2010 Opportunity
Paul Bedard

The political grass can hardly get greener for Republicans. President Obama's approval rating continues its downward spiral; Americans are angry about government spending and debt; fears of job losses and foreclosures continue to dominate the headlines. Picking up the 40 seats needed to take the majority in the House should be a breeze. But Republicans aren't so relaxed

Why Classified Secrets Should Be Kept From the Public
Alex Kingsbury

In his latest book, 'Necessary Secrets: National Security, the Media, and the Rule of Law', Schoenfeld traces the tense history between the news media and the government over disclosures of classified information

BP Gulf Oil Spill Could Spur Energy Bill
Kent Garber

It wasn't until the massive Gulf oil spill that President Obama began pushing publicly once again for an energy and climate bill. The public, it seems, is with him: Several recent polls have shown that, in the aftermath of the spill, a strong majority of Americans support action to tackle carbon pollution and to spur more renewable energy

2010 Elections: Obama's Campaign Trail Power Failure
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama's influence on the campaign trail seems to be shrinking. He has stumped for Democratic candidates in major races over the past few months, only to have his choices lose. It appears that voters have turned off the president's megaphone, or they just aren't paying much attention to it any more

Senate Challenge to EPA Climate Change Authority
Kent Garber

For several months now, the Environmental Protection Agency has been making steady progress writing rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. But Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski wants to hit the brakes. She's scheduled a vote in the Senate on a resolution that would essentially strip the EPA of its authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other gases linked to climate change

Have Tea Parties Peaked?
Clarence Page

Tea party supporters -- the movement is too proudly unstructured to have card-carrying 'members' -- had better savor this moment. They've had an exciting ride so far, but their political life probably won't get any better than this

Can Technology Forge New Relationship Between Government and Public
Arianna Huffington

Watching the news, it's easy to conclude that 'Yes We Can' has been replaced with, 'Actually, On Second Thought ... We Probably Can't.' We can't plug the damn hole, we can't get rid of too-big-to-fail banks, we can't pass an adequate foreclosures bill, we can't pass an adequate jobs bill. Nevertheless, there are reasons for optimism even when it comes to the way our government is being run

5 Reasons Obama Is the Same as Presidents Bush and Clinton
Paul Bedard

Elected in a euphoric wave of hope and change for the future, President Obama's recent stumblings over the Gulf oil disaster, efforts to influence Democratic races and hiccups in stopping domestic terrorism have even his friends thinking he's no different than any other president.

Jobs Are Number One Issue for Young Voters
Jessica Rettig

Rock the Vote first made waves back when Bill Clinton won the 1992 presidential election. Though it now represents a new generation, the nonpartisan organization's mission -- getting young voters to the polls -- is stronger than ever. Rock the Vote President Heather Smith discusses the influence of young voters and why politicians should pay attention in 2010

The Next Rand Pauls
Robert Schlesinger

The country's anti-establishment mood is well documented. Primary voters in both parties are starting to look like torch-bearing background players in a movie with a title like It Came From Washington. They are unusually resistant this year to having candidates foisted upon them who bear the insidious mark of the establishment.

Bobby Jindal: GOP's 'Obama' vs. the Real One
Clarence Page

Don't count Bobby Jindal out. The Louisiana governor, who was touted as 'the Republican Obama' before his first big national speech flopped, is rising again, strong enough this time to go toe-to-toe with the real President Obama.

Sinking 'Climate Change'
Cal Thomas

Three modern myths have been sold to the American people: the promise of a transparent administration (President Obama); the promise of a more ethical Congress (Speaker Pelosi); and the myth of 'global warming,' or climate change

BP Gulf Oil Spill: No-Win Situation for President Obama
Kenneth T. Walsh

Some think the government should take over the response to BP's oil spill. This is a no-win situation for Obama, as it would be for any president. The nation's leader tends to get the blame when things go wrong, whether he deserves it or not, and that applies to economic and social distress, wars, and environmental catastrophes

Obama's Katrina - The Politics of It Is Oily
Paul Greenberg

If you missed President Obama's news conference, here's a succinct summary: It was about the BP oil spill. And it's mainly somebody else's fault. Whose? BP's or the previous administration's. Or it's the fault of unnnamed 'federal agencies' he really has nothing to do with, or the 'culture' of the oil industry and government regulation thereof. This he called taking responsibility

Stuck in the Oil Spill
Jules Witcover

Like those oil-besmirched pelicans thrashing about in misery in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama finds himself now politically engulfed in the worst environmental disaster in American history. The gigantic British Petroleum oil spill has compromised his ability to deal with all the other serious challenges of his presidency

Who Runs America's Response to the Oil Blowout?
William Pfaff

The conduct of Barack Obama in the BP affair, and all that preceded it, has become to this writer all but incomprehensible. In Washington, above all, the priorities of national interest and the self-preservative instincts of presidents and presidential administrations cannot have fundamentally changed

Opportunity in the Oil Spill
Jules Witcover

What took President Obama so long to start trying to make lemonade out of the lemon that is the horrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?

Why Supreme Court 'Originalists' Are Wrong About Constitution
Zach Miners

While the U.S. Constitution was signed in 1787 as the final word on all legal matters, there's a lot of room for debate when interpreting it for contemporary times. In his new book, The Living Constitution, David Strauss examines how the understanding of the Constitution needs to evolve, as it has, while still providing the anchor for American jurisprudence. Strauss discusses his views

Colombia Vote Showed Social Media's Limits
Andres Oppenheimer

The crushing defeat of Colombia's opposition candidate Antanas Mockus -- who had a record following on Facebook -- in Colombia's first-round elections confirms what I have long suspected: The political and business impact of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube has been widely overrated.

America Has Two Sets of Rules
Arianna Huffington

The bracing reality that America has two sets of rules -- one for the corporate class and another for the middle class -- has never been more indisputable. The middle class, by and large, plays by the rules, then watches as its jobs disappear -- and the Senate takes a break instead of extending unemployment benefits. The corporate class games the system

Sweet Deal for the Auto Dealers
Robyn Blumner

Car dealers, with their opaque pricing system and trade-in and financing tricks, make their customers feel like pigeons. The No. 1 consumer complaint received by the Better Business Bureau and other consumer agencies is on abusive financial practices by auto dealers, according to the Center for Responsible Lending

Sarah Palin and the Stalker Next Door
Leonard Pitts Jr.

We do not know if that was Sarah Palin's initial response to the news that a journalist writing a book about her had rented the house next to hers in Wasilla, Alaska. But who could blame her if it was?

The War on Terror: Stopping Orwell's Nightmare
Robert C. Koehler

With the war on terror in its ninth year and disappearing from even the pretense of national debate, let alone outrage and protest, and with the President of Hope prosecuting it so quietly most of us no longer notice, we could be at an eerie national transition point, beyond which war is no longer controversial or a big deal but just the way things are

Sticking to the Iraq Withdrawal Timetable
Jules Witcover

While President Obama grapples with his proper role in dealing with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, his administration is pressing on with the fight against terrorism, seeking to pivot from seven years in Iraq to the growing challenge in Afghanistan and new threats at home.

Get Government Off Our Backs ... But Not Yet
Carl Hiaasen

It's fashionable to be mad at the government, but many folks are unclear about how to join the movement. The first step is to master the idiom of outrage. It's not just government, it's Big Government. Huge, clunky, intrusive, exorbitant -- that's Uncle Sam. Get off our backs, get out of our lives and let go of our wallets!

Political Fallout of the BP Gulf Oil Spill
Jules Witcover

The economy of the Gulf of Mexico Coast is not the only matter in peril as a result of the gigantic offshore oil spill there. As President Obama's latest news conference performance showed, his leadership and celebrated reputation for coolness under fire are in jeopardy as well

Obama's BP Gulf Oil Spill Nightmare
Jules Witcover

Obama's agenda of change at home has also been sidetracked by the nation's economic morass, and now by the despoiling of the Gulf Coast by a huge offshore oil spill running rampant. The latest man-made disaster is beginning to take on the dimensions of political damage to him that Hurricane Katrina imposed on former President Bush, haunting his presidency through its last days

11 Hot House and Senate Races in 2010 Midterm Elections
Anna Mulrine

Conventional wisdom suggests that Republicans will gain seats in the upcoming November elections. And the GOP has history on its side, as the president's party typically loses ground in the midterms. They also have near-term momentum as reflected by Obama's soft poll numbers. Here's a rundown of 11 Senate and House races whose outcomes will signal the election's partisan tenor

Sex, Lies, and the Character Issue in the Midterm Elections
Kenneth T. Walsh

The character issue is back, leaving voters wondering anew if their leaders can be trusted and intensifying the anti-incumbent mood across the country. Two recent incidents have underscored the doubts shared by many Americans about the political establishment and raised familiar questions about whether Washington is populated by phonies, hypocrites, and liars

Why Political Polarization Might be Good for America
Jessica Rettig

For better or worse, the political middle ground in Washington is gone, says author Alan Abramowitz, and elected officials find themselves appealing more frequently to their party's activists. Abramowitz recently spoke about the causes of Washington gridlock and why polarization may actually be good for democracy

Primaries Show Anti-Incumbent Wave May Be Overblown
Jessica Rettig

Nobody in the country is eager to side with the establishment these days, but a connection to Washington isn't necessarily the political death sentence that many had believed it would be. Still, with their old political bunkers largely torn down by voter discontent nationwide, incumbents and beltway veterans will certainly have to fight the hard fight in the coming months

2010 Elections: 5 Reasons Primary Results Good for Republicans
Mary Kate Cary

Here are my 5 Reasons Why the Primaries are Good for Republicans

2010 Elections: 5 Reasons Primary Results Good for Democrats
Robert Schlesinger

Here are my 5 Reasons Why the Primaries are Good for Democrats

Russ Feingold Pushes Line Item Veto for Obama
Caitlin Huey-Burns

President Obama asked Congress to give the executive branch new powers to cut pork-barrel projects from appropriations bills in an effort to rein in government spending. And Senator Russ Feingold said he will push the Senate to pass the president's proposal this year

Nancy Pelosi Will Lead America to National Ruin
Jan Larimer

Thanks largely to deficit spending pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, America's budget deficit today equates to nearly 10 percent of our GDP

What Financial Reform Means For Consumers
Ben Baden

Congress will work to merge the different language in the House and Senate bills. Both bills establish a new consumer financial protection agency to serve as a government watchdog that enforces rules to protect people from predatory practices. Here is what we know about how the bill will affect consumers going forward.

House Democrats Trying to Pass Bill to Increase Technology Funding
Kent Garber

As the United States emerges from a recession, members of Congress are debating how to keep the country economically competitive amid challenges from China, India, and other nations. To that end, House Democrats have been trying to pass a big bill to boost spending on science and technology, only to see their efforts repeatedly stalled by partisan wrangling

Obama and Congress Question Cozy Relationship With Oil Companies
Kent Garber

'Cozy relationship' is one of those phrases Washington loves. During the financial crisis, there were allegations of cozy relationships between bankers and the government regulators who were supposed to be policing them. It's a similar story with the oil companies. There has been a cozy relationship between the oil companies and the federal agency that permits them to drill

Oil Spill and Kagan Show Obama's Pragmatic Streak
Kenneth T. Walsh

Sometimes an event comes along that provides special insight into a president's values, his leadership, and his goals. That's now happening with President Obama, only it's not just one event but three of them.

New GOP 'Contract With America' to Debut in September
Paul Bedard

The new GOP agenda fashioned after the 1994 House Republican 'Contract with America' is expected to be revealed in September and include legislative proposals, unlike the original version, according to those working on the project unveiled

Government Regulation of Salt Would Violate Constitution
John Tate

The problem of overconsumption derives more from personal choice than from sodium intake under circumstances beyond one's control

Why the FDA Should Regulate Salt in Foods
Michael Jacobson

Scientists have known for decades that high-sodium diets tend to raise blood pressure, and that high blood pressure causes heart attacks and strokes

Obama's New Security Strategy Looks Much Like the Old One
William Pfaff

The 'new' American national security strategy emphasizes cooperation with allies and the solicitation of help from other governments, replacing the Bush administration's aggressive unilateralism and its demand that others declare themselves either for the United States or against it. However the overall goals and framework of national policy, as expressed in the speech, were largely unchanged

Our Chief Confessor
Victor Davis Hanson

The first duty of national leaders is to worry about the self-interest of their own countries; utopian internationalism can come later. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, despite her soaring European Union rhetoric, is relearning that lesson. Barack Obama should take note

In a Welfare State How Much Is 'Enough'?
Jonah Goldberg

The flames from Greece's debt crisis protests have cast new light on the perils of our own overspending and overborrowing. California is imploding. Public sector unions across the country are swallowing budgets. In California alone, pension costs have gone up 2,000 percent in a decade. At the national level, ObamaCare has done little to fix America's long-term entitlement mess

Financial Reform: Win for Wall Street - Cold Shoulder for Main Street
Arianna Huffington

The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 will do no such thing. First, it doesn't do enough to rein in Wall Street. It doesn't end too-big-to-fail banks, doesn't create a Glass-Steagall style firewall between commercial and investment banking, keeps taxpayers on the hook for future bailouts and leaves open dangerous loopholes in the regulation of derivatives

Joe Biden's Brussels Spout
Jonah Goldberg

'Joe Biden': With the exception of 'broken teleprompter' these are the scariest two words in the White House communications shop. One advantage Biden has over Obama is he can always claim he was 'just being Joe' whenever he says something controversial

Rand Paul's Civil Rights Act Comments Revisited
Jonah Goldberg

Rand Paul's not going to lose because of his reservations about some aspects of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He's from Kentucky, a very red state. And contrary to what you might suspect from reading the national media, not only has he not made repealing the law the centerpiece of his campaign, he has no desire to do so if elected.

The Tea Party War on Common Sense
Clarence Page

After he won the late Ted Kennedy's seat and broke the Democrats' lock on the Senate, Scott Brown was hailed a hero by his backers in the anti-tax tea party movement. But that was then. More recently tea party pots have been boiling with rage against the Massachusetts Republican

The GOP 'Listening Tour'
Cal Thomas

Hillary Clinton did it and it worked for her when she ran for the Senate in New York, so now Republicans will give it a go. It's the listening tour, except unlike Hillary, who traveled from town to town, Republicans plan to stay in one place and invite you to come to them.

Do Great Leaders Make History or Are They Carried Along by the Tides of Change
Paul Kennedy

Are Great Leaders really all that decisive in altering the tides and currents of world affairs? This is a general question which has attracted attention from historians, philosophers and political scientists for over 2,000 years, and rightly so, because it is about the causality of changes over time. What, after all, changes the course of history?

The Learning Curve of Peace
Robert C. Koehler

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to H.R. 808, the bill to create a cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peace. It was first introduced by Dennis Kucinich in 2001, and reintroduced in every session of Congress thereafter. It has some 70 co-sponsors in the House right now but remains a long way from passage, or even congressional debate

Financial Reform's Uncertain Promise
Sebastian Mallaby

Politically, the Senate's financial reform bill is a victory for President Barack Obama. Substantively, the Senate bill could be significant or insignificant, depending on how it is implemented. Its main provisions are likely to mitigate financial risk without solving the threat posed to the ultimate insurers of the system -- governments and taxpayers.

Election Day: The Calm Between Two Storms
Paul Greenberg

Election Day is a holiday, the best kind of holiday, the quiet kind. Mainly because for one blessed day the election itself seems to stop. There is a pause in the roaring flood of jabber and accusations and talking points and all the synthetic indignation and righteous counter-attacks and general blah-blah-blah that goes with the whole, all-too-democratic process

Election Day: The Morning After
Paul Greenberg

Now it's all over but the shouting and demands for a recount. Primaries across the country have sounded the raucous overture for this year's production of 'The Midterms, 2010.' Once again the high old time and low ordeal that is a political campaign has been concluded with a maximum of passion and a minimum of civilized discourse. Democracy marches on, perhaps over a cliff

How the Tea Party Brings Back the 1960s
Clarence Page

In the 1960s children of the baby boom sparked a new social-political movement to take on the Establishment. Almost a half-century later, many members of that same generation can be found in a new uprising, the 'tea party' conservatives. The two movements have obvious differences, but I am most fascinated by how much they have in common

The Republicans' Tea Party Problem
Robert Schlesinger

Parties must cater to their base voters. But the urgency with which the GOP is doing it makes it look like a party in a perpetual primary-race mentality. The GOP establishment, haunted by the specter of a Tea Party-driven urge to purge, seems to continually need to demonstrate its worthiness. The problem for Republicans is that Tea Party ideological certitude could keep the GOP on the fringe

2010 Elections: A Warning to Incumbents
Jules Witcover

Incumbents of both parties took beatings in congressional primary elections, dashing a bit of cold water on the Republican Party's expectations for a takeover of one or both houses of Congress in November. If the message was 'throw the rascals out,' it was a nonpartisan one. Other reasons for the purges, however, were obvious in individual primaries

Specter and Critz Results Send Mixed Messages for Democrats
Caitlin Huey-Burns

Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter is the latest causality at the hands of frustrated voters targeting incumbents. Specter lost to two-term Rep. Joe Sestak in the Democratic primary. Analysts say that Sestak's campaign commercial, showing footage of Specter saying he switched parties to get reelected, drove the candidacy of five-term Republican turned Democrat to the grave

2010 Elections: Violating a Cardinal Rule of Politics
Jules Witcover

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal -- the front-running Democratic candidate for the U.S Senate seat being vacated by veteran Christopher Dodd -- is learning the hard way that when you're in the spotlight, as the traditional oath in court puts it, you'd better tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

The Crippling Price of Public Employee Unions
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The American public feels it is drowning in red ink. It is dismayed and even outraged at the burgeoning national deficits, unbalanced state and local budgets. There is a mounting sense that taxpayers are being taken for an expensive ride by public sector unions. The extraordinary benefits the unions have secured for their members are going to be harder and harder to pay.

Obama: Over the Rainbows
Jonah Goldberg

'Falling Down' (1993) was one of the worst political films of the last 20 years, but it had one memorable line. A stunned Michael Douglas asks, 'I'm the bad guy? ... How did that happen?' Barack Obama should be asking himself something similar these days. He came into office promising rainbows and puppies for everyone and has, like Pizza Hut during a blizzard, failed to deliver.

Left Right and Wrong
Jonah Goldberg

We are taught to believe that ideology is the enemy of free thought. But that's not right. Ideology is a mere checklist of principles and priorities. The real enemy of clear thinking is the script. We think the world is supposed to go by a familiar plot. And when the facts conflict with the script, we edit the facts.

Rand Paul: Radical Rookie
Clarence Page

I'm disappointed to hear that Rand Paul is not named after Ayn Rand. It would have made sense for his famously libertarian dad, Ron Paul, to name young Rand after the famous ultralibertarian author. It would also be ironic, now that victory in Kentucky's Republican Senate primary has transformed young Rand's Randian libertarianism from a guiding light into a stumbling block

BP Oil Spill: And a Child Shall Lead Them
Carl Hiaasen

British Petroleum announced today that it has fired its top engineer for safety design and replaced him with Jody McNamara, age 12, a sixth-grade honors student at the Dwight Eisenhower Middle School in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Texas State Board of Education: Textbook Wars
Cal Thomas

One war that always attracts public attention is the war over textbook content. Shaping how the next generation thinks is as much about politics and the way one views the world as it is about education. The Texas State Board of Education adopted new social study and history curricula. The vote is important because Texas is the second-largest textbook buyer and influences textbook content

A Crack in the School-Choice Dike
Cal Thomas

Few organizations are as consistently liberal as the Anti-Defamation League. Which makes it remarkable that the executive committee of ADL's Philadelphia chapter voted overwhelmingly in favor of endorsing vouchers to allow children in underperforming schools in poor neighborhoods to escape to schools that would give them a safer environment in which to learn and, thus, a better education

To the Graduates
Cal Thomas

It's been many years since I was asked to deliver a commencement address, so I've had a lot of time to think about what I might say. This would be my abridged speech to the Class of 2010

Toxic Talk: Poison in the Air
Bill Press

The political atmosphere has been toxic. 'Throwing around phrases like 'socialists' and 'Soviet-style takeover,' 'fascists' and 'right-wing nut' -- that may grab headlines,' President Obama recently told graduates of the University of Michigan, 'but it also undermines democracy.' The ugly rhetoric that has replaced legitimate debate is the very phenomenon I explore in my new book

Congress Looks for Answers After Gulf Oil Spill
Kent Garber

Answers about the severity of the spill will depend on what happens in the next days and weeks. So far, the news isn't good. BP reported some -- but largely limited -- progress controlling the leak, saying that it had capped one of three breaks in the well, about 5,000 feet below the surface, using remote-controlled robots

Gulf Oil Spill Has High Stakes for Obama
Kenneth T. Walsh

As President Obama is learning, natural disasters can be make-or-break moments for any administration. The critics jump on any misstep as evidence of ineptitude or negligence. The news media, especially the 24-hour cable networks, amplify every trend, especially the bad ones. Amid the din, the public looks for signs that the president has the right stuff and can handle himself well in a crisis

Why Republicans Will Win in the 2010 Elections
Jessica Rettig

In 2006, R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. noticed the fatigue of Republicans in Congress after years of what he regards as bipartisan binging on big-government spending and unnecessary federal programs. Now, eyeing the opportunities to shake up Congress in the mid-term elections, Tyrrell says it's time for Republican leaders to sober up and return to conservative fundamentals

Hot Races to Watch This Fall
Anna Mulrine

Conventional wisdom suggests that Republicans will gain seats in the upcoming November elections. And the GOP has history on its side, as the president's party typically loses ground in the midterms. What follows is a rundown of 11 Senate and House races whose outcomes will signal the election's partisan tenor.

Top Fundraising Senate Campaigns
Caitlin Huey-Burns

The 2010 midterm elections are just beginning to heat up, but fundraising has been going strong for a long time. The Federal Election Commission recently released the top 50 senate campaigns in terms of fundraising in 2009. Here is the FEC's list of the top 50 senate campaigns in 2009

Top Fundraising House Campaigns
Caitlin Huey-Burns

With less than six months to go before the midterm elections, campaigns are fundraising tirelessly and have been for the past year. And some campaigns had a good leg up from fundraising efforts last year. The Federal Election Commission recently released the top 50 House campaigns in terms of fundraising in 2009. Here is the FEC's list of the top 50 house campaigns in 2009

Self-Funded Candidates Make Waves in 2010 Senate Election Races
Kent Garber

Self-spending has become a big part of recent campaigns, and this year's congressional midterms will continue the trend, according to recent campaign filings with the Federal Elections Commission. Leading the pack are Linda McMahon running as a Republican for the seat being vacated by Chris Dodd and Carly Fiorina running as a Republican in California against Barbara Boxer

Female Corporate Executives Shaking Things up in Political Races
Johanna Neuman

In the past, most women candidates worked their way laboriously up the political ladder, beginning in the back rooms of campaign offices addressing envelopes or answering the phones, running for the local school board or city council. But now, a vanguard group of powerful businesswomen who excelled in corporate America present themselves in the political arena running for Congress

Voters See Debt Crisis. Why Doesn't Washington?
Mary Kate Cary

It should come as no surprise that politicians spend even as families have to cut their budgets. That's because to an elected official, the biggest 'toxic asset' on the books these days is the federal budget deficit. No one wants to touch it. For years, both parties engaged in pandering, finger-pointing, and overheated rhetoric on the subject of taxes, spending, and the national debt

Democrats Game Plan: Play Offense
Kenneth T. Walsh

It's all on the line for both parties in the midterm elections this fall, but there is a special challenge for Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Kaine needs to defend his party's majorities in the House and Senate amid a storm of anti-incumbent anger, and his answer is to mount an aggressive offense against the Republicans

Can Obama Save Democratic Party
Kenneth T. Walsh

Barack Obama's name won't be on the ballot this November, but the midterm elections are still likely to be a referendum on his presidency. Republican candidates are zeroing in on Obama with harsh critiques of his policies, including his controversial new healthcare law, federal intervention in the economy, and the massive run-up of the national debt

Money Could Decide 2010 Midterm Elections
Alex Kingsbury

Even before the sour economy forced many households to cut back, only a tiny fraction of Americans gave money to political candidates. But the impact on the political process of those who do give is enormous. It's part of a trend that looks to continue and even exacerbate the outsized influence of the few wealthy enough to contribute large sums to those seeking office in the November elections

First Lady's Popularity Could Give Boost to Administration's Agenda
Kenneth T. Walsh

Michelle Obama is widely considered one of her husband's biggest political assets. Like most first ladies, she has developed a strong following around the country, and 71 percent of Americans think she is doing a good job. She still prompts intense media attention and public interest in everything she does, and she is sure to lend her name and charisma to the administration's agenda

Pure Parties Are Losing Parties
Edward Gresser

I watched Chris Chocola's address to the Conservative Political Action Committee. He mixed a suggestion of bright prospects for Republicans this fall with an attack on the GOP of last fall and blamed the party's 2006 and 2008 defeats not on the record of conservatives in government at the time but on a supposed drift away from conservatism. His solution was a purified party

Clear Principles Win Elections
Chris Chocola

The political choice between ideological purity and 'big tent' coalition building is inherently false. Success requires both. Just as businesses need a long-term vision and attention to minute detail and football teams need hulking linemen and fleet-footed receivers, political majorities need moderates and ideologues.

Obama's Political Dream Team
Kenneth T. Walsh

No president stands alone. Behind the scenes there is always a cadre of advisers who develop policy, formulate strategy, provide moral support, and, if the confidants are savvy and brave enough, tell the president when he's on the wrong track. President Obama's inner circle is modest in size but vital to his presidency. Here's a look at some of President Obama's key aides

Tea Party Movement Could Help or Hurt Republicans
Joshua Kucera

Over the last year, the 'Tea Party' movement has come out of nowhere to capture the imagination of many Americans (28 percent called themselves Tea Party supporters in a recent Gallup poll) and startle many others with its sometimes overheated rhetoric. But what is the Tea Party? The closer you look, the more confusing the picture becomes

Mapping a New GOP Majority
Peter Roff

The 2010 census results will lead to a reshuffling of the seats in the House of Representatives. And the 2010 elections will in many cases determine who will have the authority to draw the new congressional map, which, in turn, will shape the political battlefield until the next census. The GOP is poised to emerge with its strongest hand in decades. Here's why

Elena Kagan: Obama's Pragmatic Court Choice
Jules Witcover

President Obama's nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court is another disappointment to many liberals. They hoped he'd pick a fire-breathing lefty as a counter to the Court's unreluctant dragon on the right, Antonin Scalia. Instead, Obama has chosen a person who appears to be a political mirror image of himself

10 Things You Didn't Know About Elena Kagan
Jessica Rettig

Greece: Model of Socialistic Excess
Ross Mackenzie

Greece is one of the poorest kids on the European bloc. It also is one of the most carelessly socialistic, which largely explains why it is so poor. The birthplace of democracy, today it is a model of socialistic excess. Unable to reduce its debt by inflating its own currency, Greece has had to call upon other EU countries to bail it out.

Afghanistan: Papering Over Afghan Woes
Jules Witcover

That was quite an official lovefest that President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai put on recently in an effort assure American and Afghanistan audiences that harmony reigns in spite of their recent contentious relationship.

Slipping a Mickey to California Democrats
Jonah Goldberg

The biggest favor I could do for Mickey Kaus -- the blogger turned California Democratic Senate candidate -- would be to denounce him with a full-throated blast of right-wing dragon fire. But, I can't do it. I just like and admire the guy too much.

The Robert Bennett Message
Jonah Goldberg

Senator Robert Bennett, an honorable and sincere politician, was brought down by the rank and file of the Utah Republican Party. Bennett, visibly shaken by his loss, seemed as stunned as anybody that he didn't pass muster with his own party. In every way, he represented the establishment within the GOP. And, ultimately, that's why Bennett lost.

I've Been Thinking About Women in Government
Andy Rooney

President Obama named Elena Kagan the new Supreme Court nominee. It's taken a long time, but the reluctance to appointing women to high government offices seems to be a thing of the past. It's my opinion -- which I reveal reluctantly -- that there are things men do better than women and things women do better than men. However, I don't think there's any difference when it comes to judges

Why Politicians Should Lie
Jessica Rettig

Politicians get a bad rap for their sometimes elusive relationship with the truth. Yet Martin Jay says there are times when lying may be the right thing to do. After compiling the arguments of political philosophers through the ages, Jay, concludes that the American public should focus less on whether politicians are being truthful and more on the outcomes of their policies

President Obama's Michigan Speech
Cal Thomas

In his commencement address to University of Michigan graduates, President Obama has returned to a theme he used effectively during the 2008 campaign: politics is too divisive; name-calling isn't helpful; labeling people doesn't solve problems.

Goldman Sachs Testimony Boost for Financial Reform
Jessica Rettig

The characters were prepped and suited, props were set prominently in place and cameras went live. The 11-hour showdown between senators and top officials of Goldman Sachs may not have quite lived up its billing, but it was dramatic political theater. And it did produce political fallout: Senate Republicans dropped opposition to opening debate on financial regulatory reform legislation

A Culture of Criminality on Wall Street
Robyn Blumner

As the financial reform bill wends its way through the Senate, one has to wonder whether lawmakers understand the true nature of the massive fraud that was perpetrated on this country. They should be listening to William Black.

Obama and Democrats Face Trouble in November Elections
Kenneth T. Walsh

On the surface, things seem to be improving the Democrats. Republicans finally allowed debate to proceed on financial industry reform. Consumer confidence is picking up and first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped. But there are plenty of problems ahead for the Democrats, especially a powerful anti-incumbent mood based on anxiety about the economy

Democrats Say Election Is Not Referendum on Obama
Kenneth T. Walsh

Political strategists in Washington are debating whether the November elections will be a referendum on President Obama and the Democratic majority. If so, chances are that the 'in party' will take huge hits, and perhaps lose its majority in Congress. If voters don't make it a referendum, the Democrats may limit the losses that a party in power usually suffers in midterm balloting

Soldier-Citizens to the Rescue?
Victor Davis Hanson

Usually a handful of ex-soldiers seek political office every election cycle. But well over 20 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are running this fall for Congress alone. Almost all are riding a wave of public anger at incumbents over a profligate government and dishonest Wall Street -- and a general feeling that the current Democratic remedy has proven as bad as the recent Republican disease

Republicans Prepare to Attack Obama for Oil Spill Response
Paul Bedard

With President Obama now facing his own Hurricane Katrina moment in the Gulf of Mexico, Republicans are relieved that for once the White House can't blame the disaster on the usual suspect: Former President Bush.

Politics, Always Politics
Paul Greenberg

Always aware of the how easily disasters can be politicized, our secretary of homeland insecurity has been heard from. In a kind of pre-emptive political strike, Janet Napolitano has denounced any comparison between the huge oil spill now approaching the Gulf Coast and Katrina, when the levees in New Orleans broke with terrifying results

Obama's Online Buzz Is Coming Back
Paul Bedard

President Obama has got his Internet buzz mojo back. Our monthly Zeta Interactive review of political buzz on the web, which last month had him at low of 51 percent, has jumped to 55 percent and probably because he was leading the fight against Goldman Sachs, the most buzzed about issue last month.

Despite Oil Spill and Terror Threat Obama Holds His Own
Paul Bedard

Another week and two brand new potential catastrophes for President Obama -- the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and the attempted terror bombing in Times Square

David Obey's Retirement Boost for GOP Candidates
Jessica Rettig

After 25 lifetime election wins and 41 years serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Wisconsin Democratic Rep. David Obey announced that his time on Capitol Hill will be over at the end of this year's session. The vacancy left by Obey, the House's third-most-senior member, will mark yet another political challenge to the Democrats as they face the upcoming midterm elections

Still the Optimist
Paul Greenberg

It is difficult now to conjure up the semi-hysterical atmosphere hovering over the American economy this time last year. All was lost, the end was near. Or at least nearish. Every day brought another harbinger of doom

Living with Risk is the Cost of Freedom
Leonard Pitts Jr.

We always seem surprised, always persist in believing the unbelievable: terrorism happens in other places, it doesn't happen in the United States. So the close call wherein a would-be terrorist left a crude car bomb in Times Square that luckily, blessedly, failed to explode, will eventually recede, leaving room for a new round of shocked indignation next time the reminder comes

Naysaying Anti-Terrorism Success
Jules Witcover

Some people in politics seem unable to accept good news. Take, for example, how House Minority Leader John Boehner greeted the arrest of the man accused of the Times Square car bombing plot

Sounds of Insecurity
Cal Thomas

After recent events, somehow gold doesn't seem to offer the kind of security we need. First, there was the attempted terrorist bombing in Times Square. Next came something that did produce chaos in our markets: a 1,000-point swing in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Then, the problem with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

The Death of the Tea Party Movement
Bill Press

Farewell to the Tea Party. It was fun while it lasted. It certainly got a lot of undue media attention. But it died a premature, yet welcome, death. Ironically, what killed the Tea Party was not opposition from either the Republican or Democratic Party. The Tea Party committed suicide, rendered irrelevant by a succession of current events

Life in the Age of 'Much Worse Than We Thought It Would Be'
Arianna Huffington

What was just a troubling oil spill is now, according to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, 'a very grave scenario,' and 'potentially . . . very catastrophic.' In other words, it's much worse that we thought it would be. Has there been a crisis in the last decade that turned out to be better than we thought it was going to be?

How Government Can Make the American Public Happy
Zach Miners

Political leanings can have a lot to do with how someone feels about government and the policies it enacts. But to what extent does an individual's overall happiness spring from government actions. n his new book, The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being, Derek Bok attempts to answer that question, among others

The Elephant's Tin Ear
Jules Witcover

Some wise sage once observed that the only saving thing about repeatedly beating your head against the wall is that it feels good when you stop. It's a lesson the Senate Republicans and their leader, Mitch McConnell, should have learned. For three straight days, the dour McConnell held his minority in lockstep, preventing financial industry reform legislation from reaching the Senate floor

Sarah Palin Headed to NRA Convention
Paul Bedard

After former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin urged a 'Don't Retreat, Instead -- RELOAD!' strategy to her fellow Tea Party and anti-Washington fans on Twitter last month, she was slapped by liberals and Democrats for using deplorable gun imagery. But Palin is not about to holster her rhetorical sidearm.

Charlie Crist, Dan Coats and the Republican Purge Movement
Robert Schlesinger

The conservative outrage movement, whose most visible face is the Tea Party crowd, got to put another notch in their muskets last week. They drove Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to concede the GOP Senate primary to right-wing favorite Marco Rubio, announcing plans to run as an independent instead

On Inclusiveness GOP Just Cannot Win
Jonah Goldberg

The GOP is less inclusive than ever! It seems that no matter whom the GOP includes, it's always the wrong kind of inclusiveness. Even more recently, we've been told that the GOP needs to get serious about governing and be willing to make tough choices

Energy - Climate Bill Stalled in the Senate
Kent Garber

For all the hype that had been building around the energy, climate change bill in Washington, there's still very little known about its contents, and its political future seems to have grown even murkier in recent days as the giant oil spill down in the Gulf of Mexico has again raised questions about the environmental costs of offshore drilling.

Census Reports Less Backlash Than Expected
Jessica Rettig

It's halftime in the 2010 Census, and the anticipated backlash doesn't seem to have materialized. Seventy-two percent of households returned their forms by mail, a better-than-expected response rate. However, as census workers begin their house visits on May 1, the count's endgame success depends on whether remaining households are willing to open their doors to census takers.

Congress Had a Role in the Financial Crisis
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

Corn and hogs in the Midwest seem a long way from condos in Florida. There is, in fact, a direct link and it's one worth contemplating in light of the pursuit of Goldman Sachs by Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

White House Expects Battle Over Supreme Court Nominee
Kenneth T. Walsh

Washington is bracing for another epic battle over President Obama's next nomination to the Supreme Court, which should come in the next few weeks. The trigger was Justice John Paul Stevens's recent announcement that he is retiring, opening up a 'liberal' seat on the court and prompting all sides to begin preparations for what will surely be trench warfare

How to Prepare Obama's Supreme Court Nominee
Jessica Rettig

As speculation over who President Obama will choose to replace Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens heats up, the likely truth, according to lawyer and former White House deputy counsel under George W. Bush, Bill Burck, is that the president has already had a nominee ready for some time. Bill Burck offers an opinion on what makes the ideal Supreme Court candidate

Jeb Bush Leads Fight for Immigration Reform
Paul Bedard

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and two of his brother's former administration aides are taking the lead to push Washington to consider a new comprehensive and compassionate immigration reform, the kind former President Bush failed to deliver on.

Why Don't They Come Legally? They Can't
Andres Oppenheimer

After my last column criticizing Arizona's xenophobic immigration law, I got an avalanche of readers' comments. Most of them were angry anti-immigrant tirades, but some made important points that deserve an answer.

Shame on Arizona
Leonard Pitts Jr.

In 2006, President George W. Bush supported a proposal that would've required undocumented immigrants to take English classes and pay fines and back taxes in exchange for guest worker status and, eventually, citizenship. But Bush was shouted down by angry people carrying 'Go back to Mexico!' signs.

States' Rights (and Wrongs)
Jonah Goldberg

Let's throw it all back to the states. Arizona can be an illegal-immigrant-free zone and New York can hold an open house for everyone. The same goes for health care. States that want universal health care can provide it. Other states can let the market rule. The feds would still enforce basic civil rights and provide for the common defense, but beyond that, let freedom reign

School Competition Restores Hope
Robyn Blumner

Every year around this time, my hope for our nation is renewed. I may despair that Oklahoma just set the cause of women's bodily autonomy back 40 years and Arizona has made brown skin a basis for police interrogation, but then I judge the annual We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution competition, and my hope springs up like daffodils in the sun

Blame Those Dogged Liberals
Leonard Pitts Jr.

I'm here to parse the incantation of one word: liberal. Conservatives have done an astonishing job of rendering that word a synonym for a kind of birth defect that leaves one effete and nonsensical, even as they made 'conservative' interchangeable with the healthy patriotism of the common folk. If you didn't know better, you'd never know liberals fought to end segregation and child labor

BP Oil Spill Calamity: Having to Play Defense
Jules Witcover

For a politician who got elected promising change, Barack Obama increasingly finds himself having to deal with what's already happened. The chief culprit no longer George W. Bush, or even Wall Street. Now it's British Petroleum. While still trying to undo the damage of Iraq and the recklessness of banking tycoons, Obama is now confronted with the worst environmental calamity

Drill, Baby, Drill? Make BP Pay
Clarence Page

How about that for luck? President Barack Obama makes a big concession to the 'Drill, baby, drill' crowd by opening up more offshore lands to drilling and it blows up in his face. Or, at least, one offshore rig did.

Gulf Spill Can Kill Our Tourist Season
Carl Hiaasen

It turns out that oil is gushing from that blown-out rig off the Louisiana coast at a flow of at least 5,000 barrels a day, five times more than BP first estimated.

Brits Borrowing from American Political Playbook
Jules Witcover

Our British cousins have borrowed one of our most popular political institutions by holding a series of televised debates among their three candidates for prime minister. It appears to have been a success, at least in heightening public interest in the race.

Guns vs. Butter 2010
Arianna Huffington

We hear endless talk in Washington about belt-tightening and deficit reduction, but hardly a word about whether the $161 billion being spent this year to fight unnecessary wars of choice in Afghanistan and Iraq might be better spent helping embattled Americans here at home.

Obama Edge on Financial Reform
Jules Witcover

As the Senate gears up to debate and vote on reform of the financial industry, the Democrats find themselves in a much more advantageous position than they were in the health-care fight they barely managed to win.

Resisting Wall Street Reform
Jules Witcover

In the approaching Senate vote on Wall Street financial reform, the Republicans who marched in lockstep against President Obama's health care legislation have a much less comfortable political decision to make.

Time to Break up the Big Banks
Jesse Jackson

Amid a flood of revelations about Wall Street fraud and corruption -- from mortgage brokers peddling loans they knew couldn't be paid back, to rating agencies dressing up junk with AAA ratings, to Goldman Sachs creating and selling a security designed to fail. The major question is whether the Senate will step up and vote to break up the big banks

Obama Criticism of Arizona Immigration Law Ignores Federal Incompetence
Bonnie Erbe

Not so fast, Mr. President. I'm not saying I support the Arizona immigration legislation, but I have two points to make about President Obama's claim that federal legislation is needed and that Arizona's bill is misguided

Arizona's Illegal Immigration Catch
Clarence Page

Congratulations, Arizona. If your new 'reasonable suspicion' immigration ID-check law was intended to get Washington's attention, it has succeeded. It also has raised my reasonable suspicion that the immigration debate has been hijacked by wingnuts.

Open Season on Latinos in Arizona
Mary Sanchez

Arizona has never needed Sen. John McCain more -- the 'maverick' version of years gone by, that is. The man who understood the inherent evil of demonizing groups of people. The McCain who stood up to strident voices, understanding that fear-based, reactionary sentiments must never be codified into punitive laws

Arizona Takes Off Its 'Rainbow Shades'
Cal Thomas

Arizona has decided that if the federal government will not live up to its responsibility to control the border, it will. Governor Jan Brewer correctly noted that the new law 'represents another tool for our state to use as we work to solve a crisis we did not create and the federal government has refused to fix.'

Arizona's Ugly but Necessary Immigration Law
Jonah Goldberg

Matt Lauer noted that Arizona's new immigration bill has the support of 70 percent of Arizonans. 'But get this,' Lauer added, '53 percent of those same people said they worry it could lead to civil rights violations.' Lauer and other commentators seem to think that there's something of a contradiction here

What Obama Can Learn From Bush
Paul Bedard

John Graham -- a former Bush budget office aide and a dean at Indiana University -- in his new book, Bush On The Home Front, charts 43's string of domestic successes with Democrats and also suggests some paths for President Obama to follow as he struggles with partisanship.

Obama's Promise to Work With Foreign Governments
Kenneth T. Walsh

During his 2008 campaign, President Obama promised to work more closely with U.S. allies around the world and to end the perceived go-it-alone attitude of his predecessor, George W. Bush. It's now clear that Obama was quite serious about these pledges, and the latest evidence came when he convened a 47-nation nuclear security summit in Washington

Hoyer Sees Election Trouble for House Democrats
Paul Bedard

Nationally-recognized election prognosticator Charlie Cook isn't the only one who sees the majority for House Democrats slipping away. Today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer agreed, but said that he and others will mount a strong campaign to try and convince the public that better times are right around the corner

Voter Anger Could Doom Democrats in Fall Elections
Bonnie Erbe

A new Pew Research Center poll shows anger might be the dominant emotion voters have at the polls this November, and that the party in power may feel massive repercussions as a result. Here's why

Midterm Congressional Elections: Replicating Obama 2008
Jules Witcover

Midterm congressional elections, with no White House occupant on the ballot, are crapshoots for the party in control of the Oval Office. Voter turnout falls off sharply and presidential coattails are either non-existent or of questionable value. Until recent weeks, the Democrats' prospects for retaining control of the House and Senate in November were widely viewed as slim

Fran Hawthorne Discusses 'The Overloaded Liberal'
Zach Miners

Fran Hawthorne, a self-professed liberal, found herself arguing over the selling points of Whole Foods. Her friend praised the food chain's organic, green products, but Hawthorne criticized the company for being against unions and for leading to the closures of small local stores. Fran recently discusses the difficulties of living ethically in a time of heightened political awareness

Obama Should Not Appoint Another Appeals Judge to Supreme Court
Robert Schlesinger

The U.S. Supreme Court, historically a mix of professional backgrounds, has become an appellate judges-only club. Former constitutional law professor Barack Obama noted this in his run for the presidency. He should start to correct it with his next court selection, after failing to do so with Sonia Sotomayor, who came from the federal appeals court.

Presidents and Wars: Of Laureates and Cowboys
Victor Davis Hanson

In matters of war being liberal is a great advantage for a president. The media and cultural elite give Democratic presidents a pass that would rarely be extended to Republicans. Perhaps the double standard occurs because they believe a progressive president goes to war only reluctantly -- even though most of our bloodiest conflicts have been fought under Democratic presidents

Come November, 'The Fire Next Time'?
Ross Mackenzie

Further on the teapartiers. How do you know when you're part of a revolutionary movement? A possible partial answer: When they -- critics, opponents, the nameless they who seem to rule -- start trying to define you, as opposed to letting you define yourself

Slick Willie Is Back and He's After the Tea Party
Paul Greenberg

Add one more name to the list of politicians past and present who are champions of civility -- for the other guy. Recently, Bill Clinton gave a series of interviews in which he warned against the kind of rhetoric that demonizes the country's leaders. No doubt the lecture was well received. After all, who could be against civility?

Timing of Tea Party's Rise is Telling
Leonard Pitts Jr.

The numbers are in. Thanks to a new CBS News / New York Times poll, we now have a statistical picture of the 'tea party' movement. There are few surprises.

Tea Parties a Delayed Bush Backlash
Jonah Goldberg

One of the more widespread anti-tea party arguments goes like this: Republicans didn't protest very much when Bush ran up deficits and expanded government, so when Obama does the same thing (albeit on a far grander scale), Republican complaints can't be sincere.

The Starving Armenians
Paul Greenberg

They were the first victims of one genocide among so many in the 20th century, but it's not diplomatic to say so. The Turkish government might be offended. So the Obama administration pulled out the usual stops the other day, urging the House Foreign Affairs Committee to shelve a resolution taking note of the Armenian massacres during the First World War

Capitalism vs. Capitalists
Jonah Goldberg

For Willi Schlamm 'The trouble with socialism is socialism. The trouble with capitalism is capitalists.' Schlamm's point is still relevant, even though the kind of socialism we're dealing with is less doctrinaire. But it also distorts the issue somewhat. One might just as easily say that the problem with socialism is capitalists, too.

Independent Charlie Crist Will Be Fun to Watch
Carl Hiaasen

It's inevitable: Charlie Crist, independent candidate for the U.S. Senate. You've never seen such fuming, whining and grinding of capped teeth. And that's not from voters -- that's from Republican leaders, who are pitching a hissy fit. They want the governor to shut up and go away, but he's not playing ball

Prayer and State
Cal Thomas

If one tries hard enough and is clever enough, one can find a federal judge to rule on just about anything. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group of atheists and agnostics based in Madison, Wis., filed a lawsuit asking Judge Barbara Crabb to order the government to cease from its annual National Day of Prayer proclamation

Obama Aims to Escape Washington Bubble
Kenneth T. Walsh

White House aides said Obama's trip to Prague had advantages beyond finalizing the historic arms-control pact. It freed the president from the hyper-partisanship in Washington. And that's more important than ever for a president who was critical of the capital in his campaign and who increasingly realizes that it's vital for him to escape from the Washington 'bubble'

Obama America's World Leader
Jules Witcover

What a difference a legislative victory, the passage of a couple of weeks, and a bold and well-orchestrated foreign-policy initiative can make. Barack Obama, earlier widely consigned to a one-term presidency as last rites were being prematurely recited over his health-care reform hopes, has suddenly been politically resurrected

West Virginia Mining Disaster and Financial Crisis Have Same Root Cause
Arianna Huffington

Officials say it's too soon to pinpoint the exact cause of the tragic explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia that took the lives of 29 miners, but we certainly know enough to identify the root cause -- a badly broken regulatory system

Congressional Pig Book: Pigs at the Trough
Cal Thomas

The annual ritual of rendering unto Caesar on April 15 brings with it the always-useful 'Congressional Pig Book.' Compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), the 'Pig Book' lists some of the more outrageous spending indulged in by our 'public servants' in pursuit of the only bipartisan activities still practiced in Washington: spending and re-election.

Five Reasons Harry Reid Can Win Reelection
Paul Bedard

Republicans are already measuring the drapes in Nevada Sen. Harry Reid's office, convinced that the polls are right in showing that the Senate majority leader is going to lose in the November elections. But the the way polls have been done is faulty and combined with the complicated Nevada ballot, Reid stands a good chance of victory

Clarence Thomas for President or Budget Boss
Paul Bedard

Conservatives and Tea Party activists struggling to find a tight-fisted, frugal presidential candidate should stop looking inside the House and Senate and gaze across the street to the Supreme Court. That's where one of the most consistent budget tightwads and federal contract cops resides: Justice Clarence Thomas

Replacing Justice Stevens
Jules Witcover

Of all nine Justices on the Supreme Court, the one President Obama can least afford to see leaving will be doing just that -- John Paul Stevens, who will reach age 90 next week. One might reasonably conclude that, at 90, retirement from the very taxing duties of the court is long overdue. However, ...

Empathy and the Supreme Court
Jonah Goldberg

Let's skip the bouts over which party is more hypocritical for switching its views on Supreme Court nominees. Democrats now insist that decency and precedent require Republicans to green-light anyone President Obama nominates to replace John Paul Stevens, and Republicans insist that there's nothing wrong with adopting the tactics advocated by Democrats when George W. Bush was in office

America Needs a Proud Liberal on the Supreme Court
Bill Press

What difference does it make who's on the Supreme Court? All the difference in the world. And few have ever made more difference than John Paul Stevens. A Republican, appointed by Republican Richard Nixon to a federal appeals court and by Republican Gerald Ford to the Supreme Court, Stevens became the most consistent, dependable and fearless liberal voice on the court. Why the change?

Fear Factor: Swine Flu, Nuclear Weapons, Reacting to Doom
Alex Kingsbury

A child of the early Cold War, Robert Muthnow says he's always had an interest in how society copes with the fear of its own extinction. His new book offers some surprising insights into how humans think about themselves and their capacity to face peril. Muthnow recently chatted about science, existential threats, and his own fears

Women Leading and Stirring Tea Party Movement
Mary Kate Cary

A recent poll shows that a majority of self-identified Tea Partyers are women. The poll reported that while only 19 percent of American voters generally trust government to do the right thing almost all of the time or most of the time, that number drops to only 4 percent among the Tea Partyers. I bet much of that distrustful 96 percent are the moms who deal with government red tape

Watch What Obama Says Not What He Does on Cap and Trade Off-Shore Drilling
Bradley A. Blakeman

President Obama's strategy in governing is a very simple one: He wants the public to pay attention to what he says but pay no mind to what he does. Let's match what the president has said on major issues to what he has done or what he would like to do

Media Cheers Obama Ignores Tea Party Movement
Paul Bedard

Big media, especially the TV networks, seem to be going out of their way to diss the conservative-leaning Tea Party movement as they work overtime to cheer on the Obama administration whose Gallup job approval rating has dropped to 43 percent, say conservative media critics

Tea Party and the Press: The Inconvenience of Truth
Ross Mackenzie

Let's talk Tea Party and the press. Protest is the essence of America. It formed the nation. To say people attending these rallies are loons is to say the same of those who dumped tea into Boston Harbor to protest British taxes. Yet to read the mainline press, many tea partiers are nothing good -- racists, fascists, gun nuts, gay-bashers, militant separatists

Tea Parties Bust and Believe Stereotypes
Clarence Page

I attended the Tea Party movement's Tax Day rally near the White House in the way that Mick Jagger in an old Rolling Stones tune 'went down to the demonstration to get my fair share of abuse.' Yet I am happy to report that I was not abused

Tea Party Protesting the Protestors
Cal Thomas

Protest can be patriotic, and no one should be thought less of an American because that person opposes the policies of a particular administration. But now, we hear nothing about protest being patriotic. Instead, we hear from the left that it is dangerous

Republicans Doing Banks' Bidding
Robyn Blumner

Disingenuousness, not governance, is what the Republican Party is selling these days. Republican leaders have concluded that denying Democrats any legislative victories is more important than America's future. And they'll peddle any fear-mongering falsehood to rally supporters to their side.

To John McCain's Integrity: Rest in Peace
Leonard Pitts Jr.

We are gathered here today to pay our final respects to John McCain's integrity. It died recently -- turned a triple somersault, stiffened like an exclamation point, fell to the floor with its tongue hanging out -- when the senator told Newsweek magazine, 'I never considered myself a maverick.'

How Much Taxation Is Enough
Jonah Goldberg

Congratulations! April 9th was your last day working for the man -- at least for this year. The Tax Foundation calculates that Tax Freedom Day for 2010 is April 9, which means that Americans spent nearly 100 days working just to pay their taxes. If Democrats have their way, Tax Freedom Day will keep getting later and later.

Obama & Democrats Face Brighter Political Future
Kenneth T. Walsh

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi had a credo: 'Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing.' His motto was focused on sports, but it also provides a valuable insight into the way Washington operates, and explains why President Obama's political fortunes are currently on the upswing. Here's why

Internet Was Buzzing About Healthcare But Obama Buzz Dropped
Paul Bedard

Obamamania on the Internet is starting to fade. Once the most buzzed subject ever in political stories, his star has faded to a near all-time low, though his healthcare plan dominated the political traffic in March, according to Zeta Interactive, the digital marketing firm that logs political buzz searches.

United States - 5 Ways to Keep America Great
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

Altogether Americans are a little sadder. Everyone seems to be talking about decline and recession, about an aging America that no longer leads the world and is falling behind a rejuvenated China. Worry has always preceded reform in America. We have had periods of decline and loss of confidence. But America has always bounced back. And, there is a developing consensus on what we have to do

Rise of Political Extremism and the Decline of Decency
Jessica Rettig

With Barack Obama's election in 2008, voters sent a clear message about breaking from polarized politics, says John Avlon. Yet, Avlon says that just over a year into Obama's presidency, partisanship is worse than ever, and the extremes of the political spectrum are gaining more power. He recently chatted with us about the rise of the extremes and restoring decency in American politics

Why Democrats Should Try Bipartisanship
Marc Dunkelman

Few Republicans have any intention of working with Obama & Democrats constructively. So why continue to reach out? What was the point of waiting the summer for Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Mike Enzi to help craft a bill they later refused to endorse? What is the upside of negotiating with Republican senators who voted against the fiscal commission bill they coauthored?

Justice Gives up Bungled Abramoff-Related Lobbying Case
Paul Bedard

The bungling Justice Department Abramoff lobbying prosecution of an ex-Bushie and conservative pundit ended on a startling note when federal lawyers agreed to drop its five-count felony indictment in exchange for a guilty plea by Horace Cooper to a simple misdemeanor

Obama's Climate Czar Working Toward National Energy Policy
Brian Kelly

Carol Browner spearheads energy and climate policy at the White House, two issues that will surely dominate policymaking at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in the next few months. In a recent interview Carol Browner spoke about the regulation of carbon, climate change, and the challenges of putting in place a national energy strategy.

Obama: Gold Standard of Manners
Paul Bedard

President Obama might not be up to everybody's standards when it comes to his politics or policies, but you've got to agree, at least he conducts himself with style and grace. So says Anna Post, the great-great-granddaughter of the world's queen of etiquette, Emily Post

Obama's Offshore Oil Decision Has Political Dimension
Kent Garber

Obama's off-shore oil drilling decision has multiple motivations. On one level, he is acknowledging that the United States requires oil for transportation and will continue to for some time. But there is a political dimension, too. Obama wants to pass a major climate and energy bill soon, and a bipartisan group of senators is expected to unveil one later this month

Ongoing Melodrama of Victims and Oppressors
Victor Davis Hanson

If recent poll numbers are correct, many Americans find that life in the real world is a lot more complicated than the near-constant us vs. them rhetoric about bad-guy insurers, surgery-hungry doctors, reckless financiers, greedy bankers, heartless corporations and tight-fisted employers who con and hurt the blameless good guys now in need of Mr. Obama's all-knowing benevolent government help

Nuclear Roulette: The Obama Doctrine
Paul Greenberg

Nuclear strategy can be as vague as it is dangerous. The good news is that the new Obama Doctrine turns out to be a lot vaguer than first, unreliable reports indicated. The administration may talk of restricting the use of nuclear weapons to those cases in which nukes are used against us, but it has left a loophole in its Nuclear Posture Review.

Pivot to Foreign Policy: American-Russian Cooperation
Jules Witcover

The United States' new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia marks a sharp pivot from domestic to foreign policy, and in some ways a welcome one. Beyond characterizing the treaty signing as a tangible 'resetting' of the American-Russian relationship

Republicans Need a Plan B for Health Care
Cal Thomas

Should Republicans succeed in their attempt to get the new health care legislation overturned on constitutional grounds, what then? No one wants to see the current chaos of selective health insurance and rising treatment costs continue. The best course for opponents of the law is not only to fight for its repeal, but also have a plan ready to take its place.

Obamacare: The Eye of the Storm
Paul Greenberg

There were some big doings in the nation's capital the other celebratory day. A new health-care bill had been passed at last. Whatever its official title, its unofficial one in the headlines was Landmark Health Care Bill. A festive signing was held in the White House with souvenir pens all around. The president couldn't get through his remarks without being interrupted by standing ovations

Health Care Bill - Aroused Vox Populi
Jules Witcover

In the aftermath of the stormy fight over health-care reform, the clamor has continued and heads are beginning to roll. The latest and most notable casualty is Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, leader of the anti-abortion forces in the late debate, who will not seek reelection in November.

Michael Steele: GOP Leadership Dilemma
Jules Witcover

Republican leaders convinced they can ride to victory in the fall elections on public disapproval of the Obama health-care reforms can't afford any internal distractions. For that reason, they need to deal with the political headache that is Republican National Chairman Michael Steele.

Michael Steele fights GOP Culture Gap
Clarence Page

Michael Steele's image has taken a beating in recent days over a set of issues, including a controversial outing for young Republican donors at a West Hollywood nightclub that was charged to the RNC. An air-clearing news conference might help Steele, if the gaffe-prone chairman can keep his foot out of his mouth.

If We Europeanize Europe Is in Trouble
Jonah Goldberg

America is on its way to becoming another European country. Now, by that I do not mean that we're moving our tectonic plate off the coast of France or anything. But rather, that a century-long dream of American progressives is finally looking like it might become a reality. The recently passed health-care legislation is the cornerstone of the Europeanization of America

The Next Injustice - Supreme Court Nominations
Cal Thomas

Wouldn't it be nice if once, just once, a liberal Democrat president nominated to the Supreme Court someone he believed reflected his views of the Constitution only to see that justice swing to the right after he was confirmed? That hasn't happened since John F. Kennedy. Republican presidents have had less success in naming reliably conservative jurists to the court.

Democrats and Obama Go on Attack
Kenneth T. Walsh

Democrats are rejuvenated by the enactment of the health care bill. This changed the political landscape by showing that the Democratic majority in Congress could get things done by working with the administration. The newly combative Democrats' goal between now and November will be to attack Republicans not only for opposing the bill but for seeking to roll back key benefits in the new law.

Clash of the Titans: President Vs. Supreme Court
Robert Schlesinger

The battle that's brewing between the executive branch and the judiciary is really unlike anything we've seen since the 1930s. You have an economic crisis. You have a progressive president with large majorities, for the time being, in both houses of Congress. You have a conservative majority Supreme Court that's made clear that it's not at all shy about issuing sweeping rulings

Carville to Democrats: Pray Now to Avoid Disaster in November
Paul Bedard

The election environment has turned so ugly for Democrats that one of their most celebrated election advisers -- James Carville -- is suggesting days of prayer and pure luck to hold off a fall disaster.

Simple measure could be top weapon against global warming
William O'Keefe and Bill Shireman

Both major political parties have received major wake-up calls: the GOP last November and Democrats last month. Sound bite politics, it's clear, do not make for sound policy. And voters are catching on. Now, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle must stop stonewalling and start solving problems. One problem we can solve together is the climate change risk

Jim DeMint, Blanche Lincoln and Perils of Progressive Purity Politics
Robert Schlesinger

Meet Senators Jim DeMint, Republican gadfly of South Carolina, and Blanche Lincoln, Democratic punching bag from Arkansas. For different reasons, they may well represent the new shape of politics in America

Sean Hannity Names Obama's 15 Most Radical Aides
Paul Bedard

Fox New Channel's conservative megaphone Sean Hannity has had it up to here with Barack Obama, the president's 'like-minded miscreants,' and even talk of a third party filled with Tea Party activists. For proof, just look at his new book, Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama's Radical Agenda.

Case for Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour in 2012 Presidential Race
Cameron Lynch

Spend a few minutes with GOP politicos and the dialogue inevitably shifts to the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. These conversations follow a predictable script: Romney front-runner, Pawlenty really nice guy, What is Sarah Palin going to do? Recently, a veteran GOP operative looked me straight in the eye and proclaimed: Barbour Haley is my candidate

The Road to Bipartisan Financial Reform
Rob Silverblatt

Fresh off their healthcare victory, Democrats in Congress are looking to leverage their momentum to push through an overhaul of the financial system. But like healthcare, financial regulation is a partisan minefield, and deep fault lines continue to emerge. There are some early signs of compromise, but even the proposals billed as 'middle of the road' have attracted fierce attacks

Tea Party Will Test GOP's Cat-Herding Skills
Robyn Blumner

I am not in the habit of quoting Newt Gingrich approvingly. The former House speaker hasn't changed much since he was the bulldog and bullhorn of the Republican Party in the 1990s, throwing every wrench he could into Bill Clinton's presidency. But in a recent interview, Gingrich did say something about the tea party that rang true.

Angry but Engaged Electorate
Jules Witcover

The battle cry of the old movie 'Network' -- 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore' -- seems to be the reigning public attitude in the wake of the long partisan standoff in Congress, at least according to the latest USA Today and Gallup Polls. Approval of both major parties has dropped

Obama on the Rebound
Jules Witcover

It's obviously much too early for President Obama to claim victory over the Republican congressional and other party leaders in their concerted effort to make him a one-term president. But he is already aggressively moving to capitalize on his success in achieving sweeping health care reform.

Obama's Self-Vindication
Jules Witcover

It's said that hindsight has 20-20 vision, and that's certainly the case in recognizing that President Obama made the right call in deciding to fight rather than switch in the recent health-care reform battle.

GOP Tactical Contradiction
Jules Witcover

All through the last months of the fight over heath-care reform, President Obama was bombarded with one particular Republican complaint -- that he was wasting Congress's time on it when he should have been focusing on job creation. Yet now that the health-care reform bill has been signed by the president, what are the Republican leaders committing themselves to?

Obama: The Same Old Drill
Jonah Goldberg

Too little, too late, too clever and for the wrong reasons. That's a good way to describe President Obama's decision to allow a little offshore drilling. Of course, most of the environmentalist base of the Democratic Party sees it the other way around: too much, too soon

The Hostility Follies
Jonah Goldberg

Apparently there's a self-proclaimed militia leader named Mike Vanderboegh. Vanderboegh recently called on his fellow 'sons of liberty' to break the windows of Democrats to protest health-care reform. Let's start with the obvious: Vanderboegh is an idiot, and anyone who followed his advice is an idiot, too. Equally wrong, the reaction to Vanderboegh and his alleged ilk

Definition of Political 'Freakout'
Jonah Goldberg

President Obama and the Democratic Congress extended the major provisions of the Patriot Act for yet another year last month, and while the ACLU worked the fax machines, it'd be a stretch to say that any of the usual suspects made much of a fuss about that. No, the real point of this trip down memory lane is to put the conservative reaction to the health-care bill in some context

We Must Respect Families and Small Business
Jesse Jackson

Repeal and replace has become the battle cry of Sarah Palin and Republican senators after the passage of health care reform. They're rousing fears, threatening that health insurance costs will go up. As if everyone would keep their insurance at the same costs if there were no reform. Think again. Health care costs went up 131 percent over the last decade; inflation was only 28 percent

In GOP a Black Comeback
Clarence Page

President Barack Obama's election has inspired a record number of African-American candidates to run for Congress this year. What's surprising is that they're running as Republicans.

Right's Anger Could Backfire
Clarence Page

Why, I wondered, is there so much viciousness in the backlash against a bill designed to expand health insurance coverage to the uninsured? Are people that angry over a safety net to those who worry about their current coverage being taken away -- including many of those who probably are protesting against it?

What Would Newt Gingrich Do
Cal Thomas

The leader of the last Republican revolution, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, ponders the future and likes what he sees. The intensity and commitment by the tea partiers to 'throw the bums' out, seems to him as strong as the 1994 revolution that swept Democrats from power and gave Republicans an opportunity Gingrich readily admits they squandered

Newt Gingrich Interview
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas Interviews Newt Gingrich on current political issues including the recently passed health care reform bill

Drill, Baby, Drill! Obama Embraces Offshore Drilling
Bill Press

Obama was really on a roll. He had, by far, the best week of his presidency: signed health care bill, announced agreement on a new START treaty with Russia, flew off to rally the troops in Afghanistan, then returned home to sign the reconciliation bill on health care and totally revamp the student loan program. Then, what does he do? Lift the 1981 moratorium on offshore drilling

Standing Up for Life or Something Else
Mitch Albom

'Baby killer.' If there were two words Bart Stupak never expected to hear, those were the two. 'Baby killer' shouted at him in front of Congress. In front of the world.

Al-Qaeda has Lost the Battle. But has it Won the War?
Chris Thomas

In retrospect, 9/11 seems to have become an even more iconic day then we thought. Tactically, it was of course the most catastrophic attack ever on US soil. On the surface we have viewed 9/11 as a geopolitical event. But in longer range terms, and with the benefit of hindsight, it may be fair to ask: Has al-Qaeda achieved its strategic aim of bringing down the United States as a world power?

Time to Act on a Bleak Fiscal Future
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

There is gridlock in Congress, and it is most troubling in the Senate. Senators are supposed to take a long view of the national interest. Then there's the unproductive partisanship from the wing nuts on both sides whose venom spews continuously in the news media. They would be mildly entertaining were it not that America is in the grip of a severe financial crisis.

Founding Fathers Would Like Reconciliation Not Filibuster
Susan Liss and Mimi Marziani

The threat of the filibuster -- and the need for a super-majority vote to cut off debate -- has ground government to a halt. The increasing use of this old Senate stalling tactic has changed all expectations about how Congress can, and should, work. For nearly all of the country's history, it was assumed that major legislation would need a majority, not a super-majority, to pass the Senate.

Massa Resignation Complicated for Both Parties
Anna Mulrine

Politics is not a bad profession, Ronald Reagan liked to say: Succeed, and the rewards are many. Disgrace yourself, and you can always write a book. Literary agents are no doubt lining up to chat with Rep. Eric Massa, who resigned amid bizarre and increasingly creepy allegations of harassing both male staffers and Navy compatriots

Obama: Is It Go Easy or Go for Broke, Mr. President?
Victor Davis Hanson

Will the methods used to pass 'Obamacare,' which many polls deemed unpopular leading up to this weekend's vote, become the model formula for a new damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead progressive agenda? We will learn soon on a variety of issues. Obama may well try again for a comprehensive cap-and-trade bill to reduce carbon inputs.

Obama's Resurrection
Jules Witcover

Dismissing advice to trim back his health-care ambitions and pivot sharply to tackling the nation's stubbornly high unemployment rate, the president beat the odds. He demonstrated his toughness, determination and leadership in winning the reforms, while clearing the decks for the next fight.

Dan Coats: Once More Unto the Breach
Cal Thomas

Given the toxic nature of Washington and especially after the crushing defeat of Republicans by the congressional Democrat majority, why would anyone want to be part of this, especially one who has been there before? It is the first question I put to Dan Coats, a Republican from Indiana, who is running for his old Senate seat. Coats served four terms in the House and almost two in the Senate

Democrats & Political B-A-L-O-N-E-Y!
Cal Thomas

Pork is the preferred metaphor in Washington for misspending. However, pork took a backseat to baloney, which was present in abundance as President Obama and House Democrats tried to convince the public -- and themselves -- that their takeover of one-sixth of the economy is going to improve health insurance and the availability of medical treatment.

'Dotcom' Turns 25: Predictions for What Comes Next
Arianna Huffington

March 15th marked the 25th anniversary of the Internet designation 'dot-com.' To commemorate the occasion, VeriSign hosted a conference this week in Washington. I took part, along with Bill Clinton, Fareed Zakaria, Aneesh Chopra, Mo Rocca, Fred Wilson, Kara Swisher and many others. I was on was asked to 'gaze into the crystal ball' and predict 'the next game-changing dot-com breakthroughs' and what 'the next generation of dot-com might hold in store.'

Obama's Healthcare Focus Is Misguided
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

By initiating yet another public debate on healthcare instead of focusing on jobs and the economy, the Obama administration has once again gone off message. Almost every poll shows that the economy is, far and away, the major personal worry for most Americans. Unemployment is the singular issue that they feel demands bold, unrelenting, and detailed attention.

Obama Gets High Scores on Leadership Report Card
Paul Bedard

He's been scored on his popularity, his speaking style, and even his basketball moves. But after a year into office, Barack Obama is getting one of the most important report cards of all: on his leadership qualities. And with the exception of an incomplete grade on political skill as he continues to pursue a victory on his top agenda item -- healthcare reform -- he's virtually a 4.0 student

Obama: Another Partisan Push for Another 'Comprehensive Reform'?
Victor Davis Hanson

The Obama administration may trump the health-care debate with another divisive issue -- 'comprehensive reform' on immigration -- that is surely just as 'politically unpopular.' After the polarizing cap-and-trade bill and the blood-on-the-floor fight over health-care reform, tackling illegal immigration right now would be a political nightmare.

Why Earmark Reform Has Not Changed Much in Congress
Matthew Bandyk

Shortly after an ethics investigation concluded that several members of Congress did not trade earmarks for campaign cash, both parties in the House announced new moratoria on earmarks in spending bills. While the changes announced by Congress substantially alter the earmarking process, they do little to change Congress's ability to pursue pork barrel spending.

Who Would Be Best Governor of California
Rob Silverblatt

At first glance, this contest has all the trappings of a reality television show. But the business in question is the California state government. And the two competitors, Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, are the candidates in the Republican gubernatorial primary. They are looking to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is prevented by term limits from seeking re-election.

Democrats Release GOP 'Hypocrite' List After Rangel & Massa Ethics Charges
Paul Bedard

House Democrats, armed with a thick docket of Republican ethics cases, are putting the GOP leadership on notice: Throw mud at them and they'll pitch rocks at a Republican glass house.

Democrats Losing Support of Blue-Collar Voters
Kenneth T. Walsh

Nearly 50 percent of likely voters may be ready to cast a protest vote against the Democrats on the economy, and that number could exceed 70 percent among white blue-collar men, according to a new survey by Democracy Corps

Grover Norquist says Republican Party has no Leader
Kenneth T. Walsh

These are heady times for antitax activist Grover Norquist, the cerebral and energetic president of Americans for Tax Reform. The morale of conservatives is rising, and leaders on the right such as Norquist have high hopes of making big gains in the midterm elections this November. In a recent interview, Norquist talked about ...

Obama's Reset Reset Foreign Policy
Victor Davis Hanson

Almost every element of Barack Obama's once-heralded new 'reset' foreign policy of a year ago has either been reset or likely soon will be.

A Democratic Reality Check
Jules Witcover

When Barack Obama campaigned in 2008 to bring about change in Washington, he talked about both policy and process -- substantive reforms arrived through civility and bipartisanship. It's turning out for him so far that the two are mutually exclusive.

The Real Patriots
Robyn Blumner

Keep America Safe is a conservative advocacy group run by Liz Cheney, daughter of the former vice president. Its reason for being is to push out material that traduces the Obama administration's approach to fighting terrorism. The organization wants Americans to believe that Obama's decisions to return the nation to the rule of law endangers national security.

The Gitmo Distraction
Robert C. Koehler

America's charade of change comes complete with national 'debate' and a slight readjustment of the center to accommodate the Bush Lite policies of the Obama presidency. And nowhere does this scenario hold sway more than in regard to the treatment of detainees in the war on terror and the continued existence of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

Things I Don't Believe
Paul Greenberg

The daily news continues to prove a bountiful source of theories, explanations, assumptions and assertions that I don't believe for a minute.

Don't Know Much About History and Don't Wanna
Mary Sanchez

This an illustrative lesson in just how treacherous the waters will become as the nation seeks to standardize what is taught in America's public schools. The Texas board's deliberations about social studies have been unabashedly political.

Dennis Kucinich: A Relevant Outsider
Jules Witcover

Over the last two presidential cycles, Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio has been a fly in his party's soup. Not content with seeking its nomination himself as the longest of long shots, he has been Dennis the Menace by constantly reminding its other members of their failure to live up to what they profess to believe in.

On Our Co-Equal Branches
Jules Witcover

When George Orwell wrote in 'Animal Farm' that 'all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others,' he could have had the three American branches of government in mind. That Orwellianism is suggested by Chief Justice John Roberts' recent comment on President Obama's first State of the Union message, in which the president criticized a Supreme Court decision.

An Engaged Vice President
Jules Witcover

For many years, it was an axiom in American politics that vice presidents, like small children at an elegant dinner party, should be seen but not heard, or even not seen at all. That notion has steadily been eroded in recent years

Reading Tea Party Leaves
Jonah Goldberg

The case against the tea party movement is constantly evolving. If you read the Op-Ed pages these days, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the GOP and the conservative movement have been taken over by know-nothing mobs, anti-intellectual demagogues and pitchfork-wielding bigots.

'Undercover Boss' Most Subversive Show on TV
Arianna Huffington

Is reality TV finally living up to its name? Most of what we are served up under that rubric is actually the furthest thing from reality. Enter 'Undercover Boss,' the new CBS reality show in which corporate CEOs don disguises and spend a few days experiencing what it's like to be a low-level worker at their companies.

Republican Fundraising Tactics: Be Very Afraid
Leonard Pitts Jr.

There is little that is surprising about the Republican National Committee fundraising document that offers strategies to get donors to part with their money. Donors can, it says, be persuaded to give by appealing to their egos, by offering them tchotchkes, or by promising them access. And some, the small donors can be persuaded if you play to their fears.

Tea Party Movement: Crazy and Incoherent
Leonard Pitts Jr.

'At some point, you have to use the word 'crazy.' ' It will not surprise you to hear that the speaker is referring to extremists within the tea party movement. What might surprise you is that the speaker is Erick Erickson, editor in chief of RedState, a prominent conservative blog.

On Presidential Jawboning
Jules Witcover

It finally appears to be dawning on President Obama that, if he wants not only to get health-care reform but also to save himself from the fate of a one-term presidency, he must shift from conciliator to tough party leader, and quickly. The obvious model for him is Lyndon B. Johnson

The Return of Jerry Brown
Jules Witcover

One of the most intriguing political stories this year is taking place in California, which once basked in the reputation of being the nation's political trendsetter. But this time the story involves a throwback to earlier days, with the formal declaration that onetime boy wonder Jerry Brown will seek to regain the governorship after an absence of a quarter of a century

Big Business Is, Simply, Vampiric
Jonah Goldberg

It turns out that's what most big businesses and fat cats do: back the winner. And that's probably the best explanation for why the Republicans are getting more money from Wall Street these days. Everyone agrees that the GOP is poised to make huge gains in the House and Senate, conceivably taking one or both chambers.

Credit Where Credit Isn't Due
Jonah Goldberg

When the Obama administration starts taking credit for success in Iraq, you know things have changed for the better. Now, of course, it is a grotesque distortion of logic and even political decency for the White House to be taking credit for victory in Iraq.

A Knife in Obama's Back?
Jonah Goldberg

The president is surrounded by acolytes of the Cult of Obama. They consider him to be a 'transformational figure' who need not sully himself with the usual rules of politics. The president agrees, rejecting suggestions that he recalibrate his Olympian ambitions.

Senator Bunning's Screwball
Jesse Jackson

The dysfunction of the Senate has now reached cruel depths. One Republican senator, Kentucky's Jim Bunning employed his power of obstruction to block a 30-day extension of unemployment benefits, aid for COBRA health insurance payments and a range of other key programs. In this case, Bunning ended unemployment insurance extensions for millions of unemployed.

Senator Jim Bunning: GOP's Gift to Democrats
Clarence Page

Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky stood up courageously to stop Congress from committing a very popular move: sending unemployment checks to thousands of jobless Americans. Democrats could hardly believe their good fortune. It was one of those congressional moments that tells you everything you need to know about why Washington doesn't seem to work these days

GOP Offer Even a Liberal Couldn't Refuse
Carl Hiaasen

It must be like a bad dream for Marco Rubio. He goes to bed as the golden boy of the New Right, and wakes up as just another phony with a $134 haircut. And all because he didn't keep track of whose American Express card he was waving around while he was Florida's speaker of the House.

Nancy Pelosi: Draining the Swamp?
Cal Thomas

Before Nancy Pelosi became speaker of the House, she promised during the Bush administration that if voters allowed Democrats to regain a congressional majority Democrats would establish 'the most ethical Congress in history.' Pelosi pledged to 'drain the swamp' of corruption in Washington. Not only has the swamp not been drained, Democrats have begun treating it as a hot tub.

Losing Our Independence
Cal Thomas

As more Americans, especially the unemployed, come to rely on government to take care of them, we risk losing our independence. The Washington Times reports American reliance on government is at an all-time high. This is not our Founders' America. We seem to have declined from a 'can-do' spirit, to 'can't do' -- at least without government -- and soon, unless we change our ways, 'won't do.'

Nuclear Warfare and the American Presidency
Anna Mulrine

The invention of the nuclear bomb was a scientific triumph, but it also marked the beginning of an increasingly imperial American presidency that has subverted the Constitution and kept secrets from citizens. It has worked not to protect national security but to retain power. So argues author Garry Wills in his new book.

Leaders Must Deal With National Debt or Future Generations Will Pay
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The only gleam of hope in this dark scene is that Democrats and Republicans have agreed to take part in a bipartisan commission to tackle the deficit. Established by President Obama's executive order (weeks after its rejection on a Senate vote), the commission has no executive power, but it does have two good men as cochairs

Democrats Threaten Reconciliation After Healthcare Summit
Kenneth T. Walsh

Not only did Obama's healthcare summit illustrate the deep divisions between Democrats and Republicans, it also showed that healthcare legislation is hanging by a thread. The administration might try a scaled back bill or might still push for a comprehensive measure by means of 'reconciliation.'

Democrats Use GOP to Build Case for Reconciliation
Paul Bedard

Forget all that talk that President Obama and the Democrats had no plans to use the legislative tactic of 'reconciliation' to force through healthcare reform with a simple one-vote majority in the Senate. Not only do the Democrats plan to use it, but the party is swiftly trying to educate the public on why it's not such a rare procedure.

Why Senate Filibuster Rules Must be Changed
Tom Harkin

What was never intended was that a supermajority would be needed to enact legislation or confirm nominees. As James Madison noted in rejecting such a requirement: 'It would no longer be the majority that would rule, the power would be transferred to the minority.' Unfortunately, because of the filibuster, Madison's warning has become a reality.

Defending the Filibuster: It Helps Save Us From Bad Ideas
Lindsey Graham

I understand the true purpose and meaning of the filibuster. It is the tool that makes the minority voice in the Senate relevant. The filibuster slows down good and bad ideas. In a nation increasingly defined by 'my way or the highway' politics, the filibuster requires legislators to build political bridges.

Some Democrats Hope for Republican Filibusters
Anna Mulrine

As frustration with a stalled Senate grows on Capitol Hill Democrats are stepping up calls for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to invite Republicans to make good on their threats to block upcoming legislation by forcing them to actually filibuster the bills.

Obama's Real Problem: Many American's don't Think he's Governed Effectively
Kenneth T. Walsh

The real problem for Obama is not his ideology or his alleged isolation. It's that too many Americans don't think he has governed effectively on the issues that matter most, even though his party controls the House, the Senate, and the executive branch. What he needs is a significant victory to show that he can overcome the status quo and deliver on his promise of change

Bipartisanship Broken Despite Obama's Efforts, but There's Hope
Marc Dunkelman

For all of President Obama's attempts to work collaboratively across the aisle, Republicans have remained largely dogged in their opposition to Obama's agenda. But tempting as it may be to blame the GOP's leadership, something else is at work. The ground which once fertilized bipartisan cooperation has grown fallow. To chart our way back, we need to understand the root cause.

Obama's Partisan Problem
Reader Comments

In my opinion, Obama is a pragmatic deal-maker and the primary problem is he's been pulled too far left by radical House leadership and ideological, partisan legislation. The best thing that could happen for Obama and the country is if the Republicans took back the House in 2010.

Obama's First Year in Perspective
Reader Comments

I voted for the other guy but I was tempted to vote for Obama because he promised change. In the end, I decided he was too inexperienced and too liberal for my tastes. I was shocked he made healthcare his signature issue with the economy in the tank. Even if he did a miraculous job with healthcare, it wasn't going to right the economy.

Alan Simpson on Bipartisanship and the Deficit Commission
Mary Kate Cary

Alan Simpson, who served as U.S. senator from Wyoming from 1979 until 1997 and was the Republican whip from 1985 to 1995. Recently, President Obama named him cochair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Obama has charged this commission with recommending changes for balancing the federal budget by 2015 and publishing its report by the end of 2010. Here's Simpson's take

Republicans Closer to Winning House-Senate Majority
Paul Bedard

The fall political scene just got prettier for Republicans. Election predictor Larry Sabato, of the University of Virginia, is now suggesting that Republicans could win another 37 seats, four shy of full control, and Senate Republicans some seven new seats, just three seats shy of parity with Democrats.

Sarah Palin's Mixed Messages On Being a GOP Leader
Kenneth T. Walsh

Sarah Palin continues to delight her fans, unsettle her adversaries, and perplex independent voters who aren't sure what to make of her. Through it all, the former Alaska governor remains one of the most polarizing politicians in the country, which is saying a lot, given how divided and hostile the political world has become.

Sarah Palin's Road Show
Paul Greenberg

Sarah Palin was presented with a souvenir of Arkansas -- a .44 magnum. Welcome, Miss Sarah, to another part of the country where folks hold on to their religion and their guns. The former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, should have been right at home, and certainly acted like it. Sarah Palin not only knew where she was but more important knows who she is.

Tea Party Wants Palin in 2012
Paul Bedard

Finally a report that tells Washington what it really wants to know: Who are the tea party movement members. Not so shockingly, they are Republican leaning fiscal hawks who don't want a third party and prefer Sarah Palin for president in 2012. A group called the Sam Adams Alliance has surveyed them to find out what motivates the 'Tea Partiers.'

Obama Creates Commission to Shrink Deficit
Alex Kingsbury

There's an old maxim in Washington that when politicians are either unable or unwilling to tackle a problem directly, they appoint a commission to give the issue more intensive study. So it was last week when President Obama created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

Obama: Too Little, Too Late, Too Cynical
Victor Davis Hanson

President Obama not that long ago ran on the theme of fiscal sobriety. During the 2008 campaign, he took advantage of the public anger over the Bush deficits that had climbed to an aggregate of $2.5 trillion over eight years. Now, though, he looks to trump Bush's eight-year record of red ink in his first two years.

Bipartisanship at Last?
Jules Witcover

After more than a year of Republicans saying 'No' to President Obama, are we seeing a crack in GOP solidarity against his plea for bipartisan cooperation? The president in his health-care reform 'summit' took note of a 'glimpse' of bipartisanship in the Senate's passage of a $15-billion jobs creation bill by a 70-28 vote, with 13 Republicans supporting it.

Reconciliation, Partisanship, and Health Reform
Reader Comments

Both sides are guilty of unyielding partisanship. The extremes on both sides disgust me. I see frightening extremes on both sides, perhaps even unbridled hatred on the right with such statements as 'I hope he fails.' The Democrats need to listen to the valid concerns of the more moderate Republicans.

It Happens Every Six Years
Paul Greenberg

Every six years, a great change takes place in those Southern senators who are usually go-along-to-get-along Democrats. Instead of voting with the liberals, they're suddenly transformed into conservatives.

Go West, Industry Hunters
Paul Greenberg

Thank you, Oregon voters, for doing your best to boost the fortunes of all the rest of us. For whatever reason, Oregon has just raised its taxes, and how, on its employers, investors and rich folks in general. You know, the people who employ the rest of us, who invest in things like power plants and wind turbines and widget factories.

We the People Take Backseat to Corporate Money
Leonard Pitts Jr.

Count me among the mystified by January's Supreme Court decision to sweep away decades of established law limiting the amount of money corporations can inject into political campaigns. The court ruled that corporations enjoy the same right to free speech as people do thus raising the very real specter that our next president will be sponsored, not elected

All the free speech big money can buy
Carl Hiaasen

Despite the public's epidemic disgust with politicians, now would be a splendid time to run for office in this country. That's because the U.S. Supreme Court has made it infinitely easier for candidates to sell themselves to special interests, who in return will peddle those candidates to voters.

The Republican Second Coming
Cal Thomas

When Republicans regain a majority in the House and Senate -- either this fall, as seems increasingly likely, or in the election following -- they must learn from their previous mistakes when they last held power.

Better Here Than There
Jonah Goldberg

Like butterflies always looking for a prettier flower, these intellectuals keep flitting to the next 'proof' of America's shortcomings. For some, like New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, the prettiest flower out there right now is China. For others, it's France or Canada. For the truly demented, it's Cuba.

Obama's Hesitant Embrace of Human Rights
Kenneth Roth

In a series of speeches around the world, carefully tailored for each audience, President Obama has set forth a compelling vision, emphasizing that respect for human rights is not only right but also broadly beneficial for the United States and the world. The challenge facing his administration is translating that rhetoric into policy and practice.

Partisan Politics: O'Neill and Reagan - Model for Breaking Partisan Gridlock
Paul Bedard

Bipartisanship in politics is never easy to find, even when the president has majorities in Congress as Obama does. Just ask allies of Ronald Reagan, who arrived with an Obama-size agenda and a split Congress. There were fights galore. House Speaker Tip O'Neill made sure of that. But there were also successful deals because the friendship Reagan and O'Neill built trumped partisanship.

Beware of 'Comprehensive' Anything
Victor Davis Hanson

Before envisioning dramatic change, the Roman emperor Augustus is said to have warned, 'Make haste slowly.' Augustus was eager for transformation, but also knew he had to deal with Roman tradition and special interests. President Obama should heed Augustus' advice. Rather than trying to tackle healthcare reform all at once, Obama would be better off advocating incremental changes.

President Obama Subjecting Himself to Questions in Variety of Ways
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama finally held a news conference last week after a hiatus of seven months, the longest gap in a decade. But his aides say Obama is in no hurry to engage with the White House press corps again anytime soon. Actually, Obama isn't shielding himself from scrutiny; he is subjecting himself to more questions in a variety of ways to keep him in greater contact

President Obama's Dangerous Game of Politics
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

President Obama speaks to a country that is in a mood of pessimism and deflation. Gone is much of the hope and enthusiasm that greeted Obama in the early days of his presidency. The nation came together to derail a threatening Great Depression with strong support for the stimulus package. But Obama squandered this political momentum by pursuing agendas inconsistent with the country's focus.

President Obama's GOP Meeting
Reader Comments

President Obama's visit to the GOP meeting should be repeated. However, I'd like to see another way. Washington State publishes a voters' pamphlet with statements for each proposed action, statements against, then rebuttals of each. Our political climate is rife with statements and accusations without direct, point-by-point rebuttal.

John Yoo Defends 'Torture Memo' - Blasts Bush Administration
Alex Kingsbury

John Yoo's book Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power is getting good reviews. But Yoo is perhaps more accustomed to criticism, since he coauthored some of the controversial Bush administration memos regarding the use of torture to interrogate suspected terrorists. Yoo, spoke about the history of presidential power and how to handle suspected terrorists in the following interview

Conservatives Unveil New Action Manifesto
Paul Bedard

More than 80 big-shot conservative leaders and grass-roots activists, moving to seize the momentum in the movement, have drawn up a manifesto aimed at linking the new trends of center-right politics to the roots of conservatism first proposed in 1960 by William F. Buckley Jr.

What You Can Learn From Sarah Palin
Robert Pagliarini

'Sarah Palin is an idiot.' 'Sarah Palin is stupid.' These comments, and many others not fit to print, are what I've been hearing lately. Why? She had notes written on her hand during a question-and-answer session at the recent Tea Party convention. Is Palin dumb? I think she's a genius.

Sarah Palin's Talking Points
Reader Comments

This is not liberals against Sarah Palin. This is intelligent people including conservative Republicans against Palin. Many Republicans criticized her lack of knowledge and intelligence during the presidential campaign. Palin hurt the GOP. Why would anyone think she has a chance of becoming anything more than a talk show host. Palin would be fabulous on QVC or Celebrity Apprentice

Do the Country a Favor, Sarah Palin, and Run for President
Leonard Pitts Jr.

I believe a Palin candidacy would force upon this country a desperately needed moment of truth. It would require us to finally decide what kind of America we want to be. Mrs. Palin, you are an avatar of the shameless hypocrisy and cognitive disconnection that have driven our politics for the last decade, a process of stupidification creeping like kudzu over our national life.

Bill Clinton: As Long as You're Healthy
Paul Greenberg

Nobody who's ever been in a political campaign with or against Bill Cinton, or watched him raise funds to clean up after disasters around the world, or just watched him playing hearts, could have any doubts about his having heart.

 

Senator Evan Bayh
(c) Dan Wasserman

Senator Evan Bayh: Bye-Bye Bayh
Jules Witcover

Indiana's Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, who was on Barack Obama's short list to be his running mate in 2008, has sent him a delayed and very surprising thank-you note for the compliment.

Democrats: Pick an Excuse, Any Excuse
Jonah Goldberg

IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR! This is pretty much how Democrats sound these days. None of their problems are their fault. For the first time, more than half of voters think President Obama doesn't deserve to be re-elected. Almost three out of four Americans believe that the stimulus was wasted.

Cheney-Biden Debate
(c) Scott Stantis

The Cheney-Biden Debate
Jules Witcover

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is determined to salvage his own political legacy by continuing the argument over torture, or what he prefers to call enhanced interrogation techniques. It has now evolved into a verbal, televised mano-a-mano with his successor, Vice President Joe Biden.

John Brennan Politics and National Security
Jonah Goldberg

The fight deputy national security advisor John Brennan is asking for is a classic D.C. slugfest, with charges of partisanship and insinuations of unpatriotism. To some it seems like American politics at its worst. It's certainly not American politics at its best, but maybe it's not so bad either.

Who is Rashad Hussain?
Cal Thomas

President Obama's appointment of Rashad Hussain, his deputy associate counsel, as special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, charged with safeguarding and protecting "the interests of the Muslim world," should be of serious concern to Congress and the American public.

Joe Biden: Plagiarizing Iraq War
Cal Thomas

Vice President Biden is involved in a serious act of plagiarism. He is trying to take credit for progress in the Iraq war, which he, then-Senator Barack Obama and many Democrats opposed, calling it a failure.

Can Simplicity and Innovation Overcome Complexity and Cynicism?
Arianna Huffington

In his opening remarks at the recent TED conference, TED curator Chris Anderson met the zeitgeist head on, talking about his rage at the fact that every idea about how to deal with our big problems is crushed on a wall of cynicism and complexity.

The Tea Party 600: Canaries in the Political Coal Mine
Arianna Huffington

There is much to mock about the Tea Party convention: the low turnout, Tom Tancredo's repulsive immigrant bashing, a conspiracy-drenched documentary claiming the financial crisis was deliberately engineered by radical 1960s ideologues bent on bringing down capitalism, and, of course, Sarah Palin's keynote lite. But it would be a huge mistake to dismiss the movement that led to the event.

Singing 'Kumbaya' on Health Care Reform
Bill Press

President Obama has summoned Democratic and Republican leaders for a half-day meeting on Feb. 25 to iron out their differences and produce a bipartisan health care reform bill. Now, as a Democrat and big Obama supporter, I know I'm supposed to bounce up and down with glee. But, pardon my lack of excitement, I think the whole thing's a waste of time ...

Planned Bipartisan Summit Just an Infomercial in Disguise
Jonah Goldberg

President Obama has invited congressional Republicans to sit down and talk through health care at a 'bipartisan summit' on Feb. 25. Some think it's a little late for such a conversation. After all, the Democrats have built health care policy from the ground up. So Obama invites Republicans to debate the blueprints. Oh, and he wants to debate them, not change them.

Bipartisan Healthcare Summit: You've Got to Give a Little
Cal Thomas

At first it seemed like a great idea. President Obama, fresh from good reviews for his appearance at the House Republican retreat two weeks ago, invited Republican leaders to Blair House in Washington for negotiations on a health insurance reform bill. But the essence of negotiation is in its definition

Politicians Unlearned Lessons
Cal Thomas

The problem for New Jersey and other states -- and Washington -- is that governments are run by politicians whose main focus is their re-election. In this pursuit they don't want to say 'no' to anyone's request for an earmark, a project, a program, or an 'entitlement.' The result has been a growing addiction by too many people to government instead of reliance on self.

Obama's Troubles Mirror Clinton's in 1994
Kenneth T. Walsh

Healthcare is stalled on Capitol Hill. Democrats have rising doubts about Obama's larger agenda. Republicans are united in opposition. The public is worried about break-the-bank government activism. Congressional incumbents are concerned about growing voter anger toward Washington. Democratic prospects in the midterm elections look bleak. All in all, it amounts to a presidency in trouble.

Obama Can't Change Crazy Voters Or Crazy Politicians
Robert Schlesinger

Changing the tone of politics is fine. But in the meantime, the noise machine needs to be fed, and the base is hungry for its red meat. In fact, the ironies of contemporary politics is that the groups that rail loudest and longest about changing Washington's political culture -- the activists and true believers who make up each party -- are a big part of that culture's intractability.

Obama Won't Abandon Blame Bush Strategy
Kenneth T. Walsh

The White House has no plans to give up on its blame-Bush strategy. A White House adviser says that George W. Bush and his policies created 'the hole we're in,' and President Obama will keep reminding the country of the economic 'mess' he inherited.

Obama's Blame Game Redux
Reader Comments

It's hard for me to understand why Mr. Obama would continue blaming Mr. Bush when in fact the Democrats were in control of the House and Senate the last four years of Mr. Bush's tenure. If anyone should take the blame, it is the American people. We kept voting these people in.

Rejuvenating the Presidency
Reader Comments

A shotgun works in the right venue. It does not work in politics and governance. Government needs to identify 10 national issues that have real importance to the country's citizens, not politicians.

Student Loan Industry Lobbyists March on Washington
Ulrich Boser

In an effort to prevent the Senate from passing a reform bill that would make college affordable for all, the student loan industry has mounted a massive lobbying campaign to keep its vast government subsidies. Loan giant Sallie Mae alone currently has more than 20 lobbyists blanketing the Hill, trying to sink an effort to reduce college costs and take the middle man out of student lending.

Obama's Budget Gives a Boost to Science
Kent Garber

The Obama administration budget request would significantly increase spending across many of the government's science agencies, from the National Science Foundation to the Department of Energy's Office of Science, even as other federal agencies tighten their belts. It's a deliberate move that speaks to a long-term strategy.

Partisan Rancor Follows Terrorism Announcement
Alex Kingsbury

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, CIA boss Leon Panetta, and FBI Director Robert Mueller all said that they were 'certain' that mounting an attack against the U.S. homeland in the next three to six months was a top al Qaeda priority

How a Presidency Fails: Not with a Bang
Paul Greenberg

The smoother President Obama's presentations, the emptier his policies seem. The economic recovery is still fighting to regain its wind. The president's foreign policy doesn't seem like a policy at all but a series of disconnected gestures. And the greater the gaps between his words and actions, the more his political standard twists slowly in the wind.

The Trouble With Elitist Theories
Victor Davis Hanson

What's behind the Tea Party protests, low approval ratings for Congress, distrust of the media and unease with experts in the Obama administration? In short, a growing anger at the sermonizing and condescension by many of America's elites.

Palin for President - Heaven Help Us
Robyn Blumner

Since Sarah Palin won't rule out running for the presidency in 2012, her performance recently at the Tea Party convention in Nashville deserves more scrutiny. Voters may have to soon evaluate her as a future leader of our nation and defender of the free world. Which makes her strikingly vapid answers to the softball questions thrown her way all the more frightening.

Citizen Sarah Palin
Jules Witcover

After weeks of working the book-promotion circuit, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin seems to be getting down to the serious business of selling herself as a viable presidential nominee for the Republican Party in 2012. Now that she has shed the confining requirement of running a state government, Citizen Sarah has hit the political talk circuit full blast.

Unafraid of Pundit Sarah Palin
Clarence Page

Conservative Sarah Palin fans ask me why the liberal media are so afraid of the former Alaska governor. I, for one, am unafraid. Quite the opposite. As an unrepentant pundit, I am delighted that the former Republican vice presidential candidate refuses to rule out running for the presidency. I am also relieved that, so far, she does not appear to have a ghost's chance of actually winning.

Political Partisanship: Accentuating the Negative
Jules Witcover

With the possible exception of Nancy Reagan's pitch to America's youth to 'just say no' to mind-bending drugs, simply being against something in politics has seldom yielded much in the way of positive results.

5 Ways New Media Are Changing Politics
Mary Kate Cary

The magnitude of technological change over the past 10 years has been astonishing; the next 10 will surely be more so. New social media are already changing the way organizations attract supporters. Plus, Most Americans have a cellphone and access to a computer these days, and many of us have moved to a much more digital existence.

Obama Appeals for Civility in Government
Leonard Pitts Jr.

One could argue that Obama's speech in Baltimore -- two days after his State of the Union address -- tells us much about Obama's intentions and ambitions. Obama's speech before a gathering of GOP representatives and the freewheeling, unscripted Q&A that followed, spoke volumes about how he proposes to make his initiatives reality through civil negotiation, compromise and consensus.

The President and the Republicans
Cal Thomas

President Obama was right to converse with congressional Republicans in Baltimore. Cynics may label it as political theater, but I suspect the public appreciated the give-and-take.

Obama's Presidency Lacks a Strong Narrative
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama gave a solid State of the Union address, emphasizing the government's role in creating jobs and strengthening the economy. And there were some impressive rhetorical flourishes. But President Obama failed to accomplish what should have been his main goal: clarifying his vision and rationale

Obama Appears Blinded by His Own Ideological Biases
Jonah Goldberg

It's clear from interviews that Obama is fond of the notion that he is above ideological squabbles and is a clear-eyed appraiser of facts and adjudicator of political disagreements. Obama has described himself as a 'pragmatist' countless times. The evidence offered rests almost entirely on two contentions: He has annoyed some members of his ideological base, and because he says so.

Obama's Re-engagement
Jules Witcover

Obama's Post State of the Union Campaign
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama's State of the Union address wasn't just a rhetorical exercise to describe his agenda for 2010. It was also the kickoff of a full-fledged campaign to stake out the high ground in his fight with congressional Republicans and prove to stressed-out Americans that he will make job creation his top priority.

Breaking Down Obama's Budget
Rob Silverblatt

Perhaps the most obvious of financial truisms is that there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all national budget. And with the economic forecast looking more incoherent than ever, it's also the most problematic of truisms for President Barack Obama and his $3.8 trillion spending plan for 2011

Obama's Federal Budget Looking Backward and Ahead
Jules Witcover

The new Obama budget is a two-headed creature that looks in opposite directions -- back at the deep hole created by fiscal irresponsibility and ahead with wishful thinking toward desirable social gains.

A Failure to Register
Jesse Jackson

Obama's plan -- a clear concession to Republicans -- focuses on tax cuts and small business loans. In return, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell scorns the president's program. He rails about deficits, but doesn't object to adding to them. He wants to extend tax cuts for the wealthy, opposes taxing the banks to repay the TARP funds and wants Obama to focus solely on other tax cuts.

Barney Frank - Forward to the Past
Paul Greenberg

Some things still surprise. Barney Frank, for example. He's just come out for disbanding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Yes, that Barney Frank chairman of the House Financial Committee and the moving force behind Fannie and Freddie, whose bad loans led to the housing market meltdown.

Partisan Stimulus Poisoned the Well
Jonah Goldberg

If there's a single event for which Obama himself is to blame, one decision that explains his predicament, it is his mishandling of the stimulus at the dawn of his administration. Obama made a rookie mistake outsourcing his first major domestic policy decision to Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the Old Bulls of the Democratic Party, and that blunder has done lasting damage to his presidency.

Reading the Economic Tea Leaves
Jules Witcover

On the weekend when the first National Tea Party Convention was held in Nashville, plenty of political tea leaves were being read by economists around the country, with mixed interpretations.

Hollywood Has Seen the Enemy ...
Jonah Goldberg

I do love movies and I'm fascinated by what they say about American life. Of course, movies don't always reflect or articulate what moviegoers are thinking. Often they merely express what Hollywood thinks Americans are thinking or what Hollywood thinks they should believe.

Our Census Reflects our Confusion
Clarence Page

It is time to take another census, as we Americans do every 10 years, which means it is time again to argue about the census. If the census is designed to take a snapshot of our nation, the initial reaction looks like a family feud.

Obama: Soft on Terror?
Bill Press

It feels like Groundhog Day today. Not in Punxsutawney, Pa., but in Washington, D.C., where every day is Groundhog Day and Republicans, several of whom actually resemble furry little mammals, begin every day by accusing President Obama of being 'soft on terror.'

Glenn Beck Goes After Me, But Forgets His Show is on Video and Lies About Things He 'Never, Never' Said
Arianna Huffington

Following up on my back and forth with Roger Ailes on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday, Glenn Beck went on his radio show and attacked what I'd said about him -- and, in the process, ended up spewing a lot more misinformation.

Obama's Job No. 1: Create Jobs & Strengthen the Economy
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama promised to make creating jobs and strengthening the economy his top priorities in 2010. In his 71-minute State of the Union address, a mostly somber but confident Obama argued that 'again, we are tested, and again, we must answer history's call.'

The State of the President
Paul Greenberg

Obama's State of the Union address was pre-eminently a time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. So what was it the president said? What lasting impression did he leave after addressing an increasingly uneasy Congress -- and an increasingly divided nation -- for an hour and 10 minutes? Can you recall his message? Could you recall it the next morning?

Obama Courts Small-Business Owners
Rob Silverblatt

President Barack Obama assumed a decidedly populist tone in his State of the Union Address as he called for a multilayered safety net for the country's ailing small businesses. In a speech peppered with references to individual letters from Americans and examples from various cities across the country, Obama promised infusions of cash and tax credits for small-business owners

Prosperity Isn't Coming Without Structural Rebalancing
Robyn Blumner

President Barack Obama did a fine job with his first State of the Union address. His basic theses were: The middle-class is suffering. We must create more jobs. Banks have to pay more. Democrats and Republicans should get along. Nice. But to reignite a constituency for a progressive vision, Obama should be talking in broader strokes.

Obama's Policies are Becoming More Populist
Kenneth T. Walsh

Enter Barack Obama, born-again populist. Reacting to his political setbacks and the rising distress of Middle America, the president has begun to shift from projecting reasonableness and accommodation in favor of a more confrontational stance toward special interests.

Internet Buzz on Obama Drops After State of the Union Address
Paul Bedard

The blog reviews of President Obama's first State of the Union speech are in, and they're not good. The president's speech drove his online buzz down 2 percentage points, with bloggers especially harsh on his approach to unemployment and terrorism.

Top Advisers Sent Obama on Wrong Track
Kenneth T. Walsh

The long knives are out for some key administration officials as concern deepens among Democrats that members of President Obama's inner circle have pulled him off track. The criticism centers on three administration powerhouses: White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and White House economics adviser Larry Summers

Obama's Post-Partisan Pipedream
Jules Witcover

While President Obama continues to plead for an end to partisanship, the outlook in the wake of his State of the Union Address seems bleaker than ever. The Republicans in the Senate were given their 41st vote to sustain their legislative stonewall by the election of conservative Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Now they have all the votes they need to make the filibuster not simply a threat.

Obama: A More Realistic President
Jules Witcover

Barack Obama has revealed himself, in his State of the Union address, as one who understands the political realities shaped in the first year and adjusting to them. The principal reality is the unacceptable unemployment rate that has fired public impatience and anger. Obama accordingly elevated job creation as his top priority, replacing the drive for health-care reform.

Obama Letting It Ride on a Bad Bet
Jonah Goldberg

For all the talk of how he needed to 'pivot' to the center, the Obama we saw was the same Obama who ran for president and the same Obama we've seen over the last year. His White House is so deep in their own bunker, they could sustain a Dresden-style carpet bombing without even hearing the dishware rattle.

Obama's Popularity Plunge
Reader Comments

Sadly, the basic attacks and criticisms that were part of the campaign arguments in 2008 against Barack Obama as president are all becoming self-evident. I think President Obama is a good man; he is just not up to the job and has surrounded himself with people who do not act in the basic interest of America.

Duped President's Wasted Foreign-Policy Year
William Pfaff

President Obama's foreign policy failure has astonished the international public and left in despair those Americans who can scarcely believe that a whole year has been irresponsibly wasted. By now, there is little or no hope of recovering that promise of national and international reform that had pervaded Western society a year ago

Obama - Trashing the Job Makers
Victor Davis Hanson

A year ago Obama inherited a recession brought on by the collapse of the housing bubble. The crash was made worse by recklessness on Wall Street. Job losses followed, and in response, Obama pushed through an epic stimulus bill. Yet despite the stimulus, unemployment soared from 7.6 percent to 10 percent. Now, an embarrassed administration continues to cite jobs saved, rather than jobs lost

Obama: On Being a One-Term President
Jules Witcover

Nothing seems more fanciful than President Obama's observation in an ABC News interview with Diane Sawyer, 'I'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.' The implication of the one-term remark, however, is that Obama is willing to throw self-serving politics to the winds to achieve his major goals, which would really be a quite remarkable change in Washington politics.

Death of Democracy
(c) Don Wright

Controversial Supreme Court Decision Expected to Reshape Financing of Elections
Alex Kingsbury

In one of the most contentious rulings in recent Supreme Court history, the high court overturned decades of legal precedent that limited how corporations, unions, and other organizations can participate in the political process. The 5-to-4 decision is all but certain to dramatically reshape the conduct of elections in the United States, campaign finance experts say.

Why Wall Street Won't Buy Candidates
Rob Silverblatt

Large investment banks are irked by President Obama's plans to tax them. Corporations across the country are concerned about the implications of healthcare reform. And throughout Wall Street, businesses are expressing fear about the potential for a new regulatory regime. As a result of the Supreme Court's decision, they can all now put their money where their mouths are. But will they?

Supreme Court Decision: The Source of Corporate Power
Robert C. Koehler

The 5-4 decision in the long-awaited Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission case overturns restrictions on corporate spending to influence election results, giving entities with millions (in some cases, billions) of dollars at their disposal unlimited license to electioneer for the candidate with the friendliest attitude toward their interests.

Supreme Court Decision: Quotes of the Day
Paul Greenberg

The court may actually be getting back to protecting the First Amendment: free speech in a free country. No matter who is exercising the right to it -- even corporations, politicians and labor unions. And no matter when they choose to exercise it. Let 'em all have their say. As the founders surely intended.

Supreme Court Decision: How Corporations Became 'Persons'
Clarence Page

When is a corporation like a freed slave? When it is trying to win human rights in a case before the Supreme Court. This may sound odd, but that's the historical background that led up to the Supreme Court's recent decision to open the floodgates on political spending by corporations, unions and other narrow interests.

Supreme Court Decision: Corporate Personhood
Cal Thomas

Among the interesting arguments in the 5-4 Supreme Court decision (Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission) granting corporations First Amendment protections when making campaign contributions was the majority's decision to effectively treat corporations as persons

Obama Vs. the Supreme Court
Reader Comments

Supreme Court justices have a history of building castles of legal cards to suit their own agendas. However, the Supreme Court is not entitled to throw out the means by which we defend ourselves from coercive tactics heavily funded by special interests and at variance to the public good

The Power of the Unconscious on Terrorism, Race and Politics
Jessica Rettig

From suicide bombers to the average American voter, most humans believe their decisions are based on sound judgment and core values. Yet, according to Washington Post columnist Shankar Vedantam, much of everyday decision making is rooted in assumptions that lie outside the realm of awareness.

Bring Democracy to the Senate
Bill Press

Among other priorities in his State of the Union address, President Obama vowed to change the way Washington works. Here's one good place to start: get rid of the filibuster. It's undemocratic, and it invites gross, mindless partisanship -- especially the way it's employed by today's Senate Republicans to block any legislation or nomination coming out of the White House.

How the Filibuster Changed and Brought Tyranny of the Minority
Robert Schlesinger

To observe the moribund Democrats and gleeful Republicans in the wake of Scott Brown's Massachusetts miracle, one would think that the number of Democrats in the Senate had already dipped to 49, rather than 59. And that's actually not too far off base. In American politics, 60 is the new 50.

Trouble Keeps Coming for Reid & Democrats
Anna Mulrine

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has never been one for finely crafted turns of phrase. Reid had made statements before that prompted colleagues to shake their heads. Even more problematic for the man in charge of corralling Senate votes is Massachusetts Republican candidate Scott Brown's election victory last week, ending the Democrats' filibuster-proof majority.

State of the Union Obama's Chance to Reset His Presidency
Kenneth T. Walsh

When President Obama addresses Congress and the nation, he will command the nation's attention for one of the most important speeches of his career. His State of the Union address provides the opportunity to set priorities for 2010, offer insights into whether he will adopt a fight or flight strategy in dealing with his adversaries and an opportunity to get out of a political trough.

Why Neither Ronald Reagan Nor United States Won the Cold War
Alex Kingsbury

Ronald Reagan never claimed to have bested the Soviet Union and won the Cold War. Indeed, the very idea that a winner of the decades-long rivalry between the superpowers emerged was a political formulation. The notion that the United States forced the collapse of the Soviet Union and vanquished communism is not only a myth but a dangerous canard, Jack Matlock says in his new book ...

Time for Obama to Look at Terrorism Differently
Jonah Goldberg

It is always dangerous to mistake your ideological preferences for shrewd political strategy, but that is precisely what President Obama and his advisors have done with the war on terror.

How to Fix Government and Make Democracy Work Again
Robert Schlesinger

A Democratic operative of 30 years, including working as a pollster and strategist for President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 2000, Douglas Schoen has been part of the political system's inner workings. It's broken, he writes in The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy From the Grass Roots to the White House , and he knows what to do about it. A recent interview ...

Hope Has Been a Bust; It's Time for Hope 2.0
Arianna Huffington

It's become painfully obvious that elected officials are not going to save us. The 2008 election was all about 'Hope.' But Hope is simply not cutting it. What we need is Hope 2.0: the realization that our system is too broken to be fixed by politicians, however well intentioned -- that change is going to have to come from outside Washington.

The Source of America's Imperial Presidency
William Pfaff

The imposingly versatile Garry Wills, Northwestern University historian, political polemicist, sometime philosopher, theologian and church historian, has a new book inspired by liberal disappointment with President Barack Obama, blaming his faults as well as other American presidential disorders on the atom bomb.

Madness, Madness ... Political Madness
Paul Greenberg

A country that can sneer at Sarah Palin but take Joe Biden seriously. That's how screwed-up we are. God save us from our precious elite. They salivate on Pavlovian cue from NPR, the New York Times, the New Yorker, New York Review of Books or whatever is today's arbiter of intellectual fashion. No class is more easily guided than our conforming nonconformists.

 

President Obama

Our Philosopher-King Obama
Victor Davis Hanson

A technocracy -- many Ivy-League-educated and without much experience outside academia and government -- pushes legislation most people do not want but is nevertheless judged to be good for them. Take the Obama proposal for health care. How about energy policy? Why, then, does the Obama administration persist with such apparently unpopular agendas?

Obama Looks for a Rebound
Clarence Page

In an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Obama appeared to get the message: He admitted that his administration got so busy that it lost touch and left the public with 'a feeling of remoteness and detachment.' Gee, do ya think? What a difference a year makes.

Obama's Failed Bipartisan Efforts
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama took office pledging to end the rancor that was contaminating official Washington. A year later, it's clear that his effort has failed, just as it fizzled when George W. Bush said he would end the capital's divisions in 2001, when Bill Clinton promised to work with the opposition in 1993, and when George H. W. Bush pledged to create the 'age of the offered hand' in 1989.

The Incredible Deflation of Barack Obama
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The air is seeping out of the Obama balloon. He has fallen to below 50 percent in the poll approval ratings, a decline punctuated by his party's shocking loss in the Massachusetts special election. Why?

Despite Falling Poll Numbers Obama Would Beat Cheney
Paul Bedard

The news isn't very good on President Obama's first-year anniversary. But as Obama mulls what to do to make sure his own 2012 re-election isn't in jeopardy, pollster John Zogby is giving him a little present.

Feeling the Heat Obama Pours Kool-Aid
Jonah Goldberg

Denial, arrogance and self-pity are ingredients for a pretty toxic cocktail. And yet it seems that the occupants of the White House bunker, shell-shocked by Scott Brown, are coping by mixing all three with a little Kool-Aid. In an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, the president offered his nuanced analysis of the Bay State Gotterdammerung and his first year in office.

2010 Elections - GOP's 10 Most Wanted List
Paul Bedard

Bad polls for Obama and the Democrats has the GOP smelling blood in the political pool. Already, some are predicting major Republican gains when the 2010 elections take place. But there are several high-profile politicians the Republicans are targeting for election defeat or just embarrassment. To help follow the action, here's the GOP's Top 10 Most Wanted List

Why Voters Are So Angry and Incumbents Are So Scared
Marc Dunkelman

After his first year in office, President Obama has had what historians will likely consider a banner year. Obama's administration has managed to pull the nation back from economic free fall, is close to reforming healthcare and is making substantial progress re-orienting Washington's approach to education. Despite these accomplishments, voters appear to remain frustrated.

Some Democrats Wary of 2010 Election Prospects
Anna Mulrine

In a tough election year, retiring is a time-honored, blame-free way for embattled incumbents to bow out of potentially losing races. But as Congress returns to the business of legislating this month, even Democratic Party stalwarts are already warily eying the midterm elections as they face increasingly worrying poll figures

We the People & Political Lessons Learned
Cal Thomas

Chief among the lessons learned from Scott Brown's victory is that the voting public doesn't like arrogance. Democrats were taught that lesson in 1994. But Republicans quickly became what they replaced, believing that voters had given them a license to do whatever they wished.

Scott Brown Victory Not a Referendum on Healthcare
Kent Garber

There is clearly tension among Democrats about how to move forward following the loss of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat to Republican Scott Brown. Some have suggested slowing down and re-evaluating; others, noting how much progress has been made toward a bill, have said just the opposite. With Brown's victory, the Democrats now hold only 59 seats in the Senate.

Scott Brown: Another Tea Party
Paul Greenberg

Those folks in Massachusetts have a way of starting revolutions, and they're still at it. The Spirit of '76 seemed to morph into a new Spirit of '10 as Scott Brown, an obscure state senator, up there prepared to become a U.S. one. And, at least for 24 hours, the very emblem of American independence.

Ted Kennedy Deserved Better
Bill Press

No matter what right-wing commentators claim, one thing for sure: This special Senate election was not a referendum on President Obama. Nor was it a protest against health care reform. No, Democrat Martha Coakley lost the Massachusetts Senate race for two reasons.

Scott Brown Lesson for Democrats: Recapture Change
Brad Bannon

The Brown Out in Massachusetts was a disaster for Democrats and party leaders shouldn't pretend otherwise. Whenever a catastrophe like this occurs, there's plenty of blame to spread around. Martha Coakley's campaign was not nearly as effective as Scott Brown's. The White House failed to present an agenda. My message to Democrats is get over it and look forward and not backward.

So Long, ObamaCare? Scott Brown and Massachusetts Earthquake
Ross Mackenzie

Who could have imagined a month ago, when polls had Martha Coakley leading Scott Brown by more than 20 points, that a massive earthquake was in store not only in Haiti -- but also in Massachusetts? Haiti's was a staggering blow to a country that has suffered vastly too much. Massachusetts quake caused no loss of life but it devastated the nation's ideological landscape.

Scott Brown: Brown-Out Threatens Legislative Progress
Robyn Blumner

No matter what the voters of Massachusetts were or weren't saying by electing Republican Scott Brown to the Senate, the Democrats have reason to feel like a Mack truck ran over their last 'Yes We Can' sign. That this could happen a year after President Barack Obama took office with such hopes and popularity indicates that voters have memories about as long as a tweet

Scott Brown: Some Wakeup Call
Jules Witcover

More than a mere dash of water in the face, Scott Brown's election and the Republican capture of Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts was more like a two-by-four smash upside the head of the Democratic Party.

Pat Robertson & Rush Limbaugh: Absence of Conscience
Leonard Pitts Jr.

As Haiti reeled and staggered, two icons of conservatism offered their analyses of the earthquake that devastated Haiti. Pat Robertson opined that Haiti's woes stem from the deal with the devil two centuries ago. Rush Limbaugh suggests the relief effort would 'play right into' Obama's hands. It left me wondering whether conservatism has a conscience, whether conservatism has a soul.

Supreme Court Blindness: Unlimited Campaign Contributions
Jules Witcover

The Supreme Court has ignored precedent and inserted itself into politics, paving the way for an intensified campaign money arms race. That is the ramification of its 5-4 decision opening the floodgates to unlimited campaign contribution spending by corporate America. It brushes aside the 1947 protections in campaign finance law

Bob McDonnell Virginia's New Governor: New GOP Dawn
Cal Thomas

After several weeks of heavy snow and sub-freezing temperatures, the sun came out and the snow began to melt in Richmond last Saturday for the inauguration of Republican Bob McDonnell as Virginia's new governor. McDonnell is not your stereotypical Republican.

Book of the Year -- 'Game Change!'
Liz Smith

If you want to refresh yourself on Barack Obama's talents at organizing and leading and inspiring, you must sit down right now and read the book of the moment -- 'Game Change' by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. There, laid out for all to follow, is the story of Obama's incredible rise to the top and how he overcame the forces of intolerance and old-fashioned thinking.

Senator Scott Brown
(c) Dana Summers

Scott Brown - Democrats Feel Heat Over Lost Kennedy Seat
Jonah Goldberg

It should be of more than passing interest that 'Ted Kennedy's seat' in the Senate went to Republican Scott Brown. And not just any Republican, but an actual conservative, as opposed to some me-too Republican

 

Harry Reid
(c) Matt Wuerker

GOP Mining Old Stories on Harry Reid and Race
Paul Bedard

Moving fast to take advantage of the highly controversial words about Barack Obama's race from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Republicans are mining past Democratic comments decrying GOP race statements in a bid to build a case for Harry Reid to step down from his leadership post

 

When Conservative Felonies Become Liberal Misdemeanors
Victor Davis Hanson

Why in matters of stupid behavior do liberals get second and third chances from the media and general public not accorded to their conservative counterparts? We're seeing it now in the national reaction to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's reported racial gaffe. Compare how he's being treated to what happened to Trent Lott in 2002.

Harry Reid Was Right
Leonard Pitts Jr.

Somebody please tell Harry Reid there are no Negroes in America. There haven't been since the late 1960s, which is when black people arrived and drove that term out of favor. The person who uses it without irony, as Harry Reid did, paints himself as a geezer out of touch with the last 40 years.

Harry Reid - Playing Race-Card Gotcha
Jonah Goldberg

Harry Reid deserves the grief. Just last month, Reid insinuated that fellow senators standing in the way of Obamacare were carrying on the tradition of the racists who stood in the way of civil rights in the 1960s. That he's been caught talking like one of those racists is a delicious irony. But irony is one thing. Scalp-hunting is another

Harry Reid - The Tin Ear in Politics
Jules Witcover

The latest prominent qualifier for membership in the Tin Ear Club is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for his comments that Barack Obama in the Senate was 'light-skinned' and 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted one.'

Harry Reid's 'Negro' Problem
Clarence Page

To all those kind-hearted folks who want to protect my feelings as an African American from the insult that Sen. Harry Reid allegedly has heaped upon me: Thanks, but no thanks.

Harry Reid is No Trent Lott
Bill Press

Senate Majority Leader Reid should have known better than to expect his off-the-record comments about Barack Obama to stay off the record. Instead, they exploded in his face as one of the juiciest tidbits served up by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in their new book, Game Change.

Obama - Battle of the Political Gurus
Jules Witcover

Ever since Barack Obama assumed the presidency a year ago, his administration's marching orders have been to seek bipartisanship. A substantial part of his instructions has been to look ahead, not back, in striving to move the country in that direction.

Need for Presidents to Look Tough Isn't Getting U.S. Anywhere
William Pfaff

President Barack Obama is said to feel he is in trouble politically because his enemies in Congress and among the Washington journalists who decide what the 'mood' of Washington is on any given day say he is not tough enough.

Terrorism: Obama's Main Political Vulnerability
Kenneth T. Walsh

Terrorism has suddenly emerged as the main political vulnerability of President Obama and the Democrats as the new year begins. The trigger was the attempted December 25 bombing of an American jetliner en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, which appalled many people and raised new questions about airline safety.

Obama's Obstacles
Reader Comments

President Obama has a rough road ahead of him. We are all hurting right now as a nation, but we have to allow the president enough time to do his job.

Obama - Obama's Second-Year Blues
Jules Witcover

Already faced with the task of dragging the Democratic-controlled Congress across the finish line in his first-year struggle to enact sweeping health-care insurance reform, the shattering earthquake in Haiti has heaped more woe on his plate.

Obama - A Change We Can Celebrate
Leonard Pitts Jr.

One year after that icy Washington day when Aretha Franklin sang and John Roberts muffed his lines and Barack Obama raised his hand and swore the oath that made him president of the United States, it turns out something fundamental has changed

'Shadow Elite' Explains Why Washington No Longer Works
Arianna Huffington

I recently read a great book by Janine Wedel called 'Shadow Elite: How the World's New Power Brokers Undermine Democracy, Government, and the Free Market.' It's a gripping, disquieting book that exposes and explains why it's been so hard to bring about any real change in the United States. As Janine Wedel writes in 'Shadow Elite,' a new 'transnational' class of elites has taken over our country

Global Political-Risk Outlook for 2010
Ian Bremmer and David Gordon

The biggest risk for 2010 comes from the point at which these trends converge: U.S.-China relations, Iran, European Fiscal Divergence, U.S. Financial Regulation, Japan ... Our top 10 geopolitical concerns for 2010 and their impact on the world

Transformation of Obama: Surprise Us Mr. President
Paul Greenberg

What a difference a year makes. And how differently the country begins to see Barack Obama, the shining hope as a presidential candidate, now that he's President Obama. And acting like any other president who'd rather make the big decisions behind closed doors with only his cronies present.

2010 Brings Bigger Problems for Obama
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama thought he had problems in 2009. But 2010 could be tougher. One reason is that an issue that had seemed dormant -- terrorism -- suddenly erupted again when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to blow up an airplane over Detroit on Christmas Day. The attempt failed, but the incident showed that the terrorist threat remains real ...

A Year of Mixed Results for Obama
Kenneth T. Walsh

Obama's year started with soaring optimism and the promise of change. 2009 ended with some significant achievements but also a large helping of disappointment. And through it all, President Obama has governed in a somewhat paradoxical way that many voters didn't expect when they elected him

10 Keys to an Obama Comeback
Paul Bedard

It happened to Ronald Reagan. Ditto for Bill Clinton. And now President Obama has ended his first year in office plummeting in the polls on the heels of a bad economy. So can Obama come back as Reagan and Clinton did?

2010 Elections & Short Voter Memories
Jules Witcover

One of the first political themes of the new year is the speculation that President Obama after less than a year in office is already on the skids, and that his Democratic Party is doomed to major defeats in next November's congressional elections.

2010 Elections: What GOP Can Learn From Pizza Chain
Jonah Goldberg

This is one of those rare moments when the conventional wisdom in Washington is right. The Democrats are poised to have a bad year; the only argument is over how bad it will be. And that question rests on whether or not the Republican Party crafts an agenda voters will support.

United States The Corporate State of America
Paul Greenberg

Can anybody be surprised at the latest development in the saga of U.S.A., Inc.? The government now has advanced GMAC, the financial arm of Government Motors, formerly General Motors, another $3.8 billion in cash, acquiring a majority stake in that lending agency, which is laden with debt itself.

Ronald Reagan and the Ascendency of Conservatism
Robert Schlesinger

Until the votes were cast, the 1980 election was too close to call, with polls showing President Jimmy Carter leading Republican challenger Ronald Reagan. The former actor won comfortably, marking the conservative political ascendancy. Craig Shirley recently chatted with Robert Schlesinger about pivotal elections, today's GOP, and how close Reagan came to losing.

For Liberalism It's Hangover Time
Jonah Goldberg

A year ago this month, the air over American liberalism was thick with champagne corks. Barack Obama, the newly elected president, was poised to be inaugurated, and he in turn would inaugurate the long-prophesized new progressive era. A year later, the champagne corks are hardly flying, and if this is to be morning in America for American liberalism, it seems to have come with a pretty nasty hangover.

2010 Political Predictions: Sarah Palin Fades, Jeb Bush Returns
Paul Bedard

Heck, just two years ago, who even thought Barack Obama would be president? So we went to a few outsiders and contrarians for their predictions about the major political events that could occur in 2010.

Northwest Flight 253: Questions Must Be Asked But Not These
Leonard Pitts Jr

On Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a student from Nigeria, tried to blow up a jetliner bound for Detroit. He failed due to some defect in his explosives and the quick reflexes of passengers who subdued him. As you might expect, this close call has some of us asking hard, but necessary questions

Northwest Flight 253: Cheney vs. Obama in Renewed Terrorism Fight
Kenneth T. Walsh

Republicans are attacking President Obama for being weak on national security in the wake of the attempted bombing on Christmas Day of a Northwest Airlines jetliner en route to Detroit. And the Democrats are fighting back with a vengeance. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is leading the charge for the GOP

Northwest Flight 253: Where Does the Buck Stop
Jules Witcover

President Obama's pro-forma acceptance of responsibility for the latest failure to connect the dots in national security acknowledges Harry Truman's famous declaration that the buck always stops at the desk in the Oval Office

Northwest Flight 253: Obama's Wakeup Call
Jules Witcover

Nearly eight years after a failure to connect the dots contributed to the worst terrorist act against the United States in history, we're back to the same explanation -- or alibi -- for the close call in that flight approaching Detroit on Christmas Day.

Northwest Flight 253: A No-Fly List? Count Me In
Jonah Goldberg

The current debate over the underwear bomber is important and necessary, but it is detached from basic reality. To listen to the experts, the only relevant choice is between privacy and security. But people already understand that privacy is something you have to compromise to fly.

Terrorism: A War by Any Other Name
Cal Thomas

Suppose Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the Christmas Day underwear bomber, had succeeded and blown up Northwest Airlines flight 253, killing nearly 300 people on board and perhaps others on the ground? Would the response of the Obama administration have been different?

Before Boarding Plane Remove All Clothing
Bill Press

Welcome to the Friendly Skies. Now take off all your clothes. In the wake of the failed terrorist attempt over Detroit on Christmas Day, it may not be long before those scary words greet you upon arriving at the airport, just before you step into the full-body scan machine.

Lapse of Estate Tax Raises Doubts About Democrats
Alex Kingsbury

As tax season gets underway, congressional Democrats are facing criticism for their failure to renew the estate tax. The tax, a levy on the wealthiest Americans, expired on the first of the year because Democrats were unable to find support for even a temporary continuation of the tax while they debated a longer-term solution.

Evaluating Estate Tax
Reader Comments

It's easy to promote tax increases when you have over a billion dollars. For the average citizen being crushed by the burden of taxes, there is no relief in sight. It has been the politicians that have destroyed the future of what was the greatest country on the planet. Zero accountability, zero integrity and zero leadership.

Democrats Hiding Healthcare Details
Reader Comments

Having secret meetings about legislation that will affect every American is unconscionable. Also it makes just one more lie to what Obama promised about transparency

Thomas Fleming discusses Intimate Lives of Founding Fathers
Jessica Rettig

Tired of hearing about Tiger Woods and Mark Sanford? Historian Thomas Fleming has a few new names to add to the list of America's most famous playboys, including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington. Fleming exposes the little-known tales of the country's early figures in his latest book, The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers.

Question No U.S. Official Dare Ask: Overseas Bases a Mistake
William Pfaff

Has it been a terrible, and by now all but irreversible, error for the United States to have built a system of more than 700 military bases and stations girdling the world? Does it provoke war rather than provide security?

2010: Our Year of Decision
Victor Davis Hanson

Sometimes long-festering problems collide -- and explode -- in a single memorable year. We can go as far back as the fifth century B.C. to see this phenomenon -- and we may see it again in 2010. Events may come to a head and overwhelm the existing American-led global order

Death to the Death Penalty
Robyn Blumner

People tend to have hardened views about the death penalty. Me, I'm opposed to it and always have been. But I ask the indulgence of those of you who favor the death penalty to give this a read and see what you think.

Why 2010 Congressional Elections Won't Repeat 1994
Robert Schlesinger

You remember 1994. Voters were dissatisfied with a young Democratic president who had run as a centrist but governed as too much of a liberal. The electorate was worried about burgeoning deficits and soured on the president's attempt at healthcare reform. GOP victories in in Virginia and New Jersey were portents of things to come. The parallels are striking, but don't get carried away -- There are a number of important differences.

 

Critics Say Obama Lacks Emotion
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama is a cool customer. He doesn't seem to get really angry, depressed, or frustrated or to lose control of his emotions. And that's the problem. To some of his supporters, Obama is presiding over a passionless presidency. He seems too cerebral and personally disengaged from the problems of everyday Americans.

Dick Cheney's War on Obama
Jules Witcover

Former vice presidents in recent memory have done one of two things -- run for president or fade quietly into the sunset. Dick Cheney is doing neither of them. Instead, as a private citizen he has roared like a caged lion against President Obama. His wrath is aimed at ...

Meet the Real Barack Obama: Inside Obama's Brain
Jessica Rettig

According to Sasha Abramsky's latest book, Inside Obama's Brain, the president is too complex to be pigeonholed. Based on interviews with people who have known Obama throughout his career -- friends, neighbors, colleagues -- Abramsky paints a private portrait of the public icon, one that highlights just how multifaceted the man can be.

Obama Has Failed His Words
Jonah Goldberg

On his own terms, President Obama is a failure. Candidate Obama argued that his soaring rhetoric was more than 'just words'; it was a way out of the poisonous, partisan gridlock of yesteryear. The great irony of it all is that President Obama the outsider hasn't changed the way Washington works; he's worked Washington in a way that only an outsider with no respect for the place would dare.

Resolved: Tell the Truth
Cal Thomas

Congress might resolve to tell the truth in 2010. Most members probably know what truth is, but they cannot speak it for fear of offending groups that traffic in lies and fund their re-election campaigns. Lies usually raise more money than the truth. Which brings me to health care reform. Here's some memorable quotes from the 25-day health care debate. And there are some whoppers.

Senate Health Care Bill: Leave No Special Interest Behind
Arianna Huffington

The Health care bill took another step toward passage, prompting fresh rounds of public celebrations. Unfortunately, there are three faulty premises at work. First, that those who oppose the bill do so because it's not perfect. Second, that the bill is good. Third is the premise that this is as good a bill as we can get right now, and we can always go back and improve it later.

Jesus the Socialist
Cal Thomas

Apparently not content with his congressional majority that wishes to force Americans on a long march to health care disaster, President Obama has invoked the name of Jesus to broadcast his gospel of spreading the wealth around.

Year of Living Quotably: Quirky Quotes 2009
Clarence Page

You can tell a lot about a year from its great quotations. In the age of ubiquitous cell phone, surveillance and reality-TV show cameras, this was the year of living famously. Our cup of quirky quotes runneth over. A sampling:

2009: The Things I Want to Forget
Arianna Huffington

For some, the end of the year is a time to think back on all the memorable moments from the previous 12 months. I prefer to continue my contrarian tradition of performing a mental cleanse, removing from my internal hard drive all the things that should no longer be cluttering my mind. Here then is a list of the things I'd like to forget, circa 2009 ...

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend vs. Catholic Church on Health Reform
Bonnie Erbe

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is urging progressive Catholics to reject an aggressive power grab by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The conference is vehemently opposed to healthcare reform unless the final version contains a considerable expansion of anti-abortion verbiage. The group has lobbied heavily for an amendment to force private insurers to stop providing coverage for abortions if they want to participate in government plans

End of a Woeful Decade
Jules Witcover

Any way you slice it, the decade from 2000 through 2009 was on the whole about as bad a stretch for Americans as many of us have endured in our lifetimes

Northwest Flight 253: Targeting the Prime Enemy
Jules Witcover

The news of another foiled suicide attack on an American airliner in flight has triggered a new political headache for President Obama, on top of his already overloaded plate of challenges

New View of Ronald Reagan and End of the Cold War
Jules Witcover

Ever since Ronald Reagan left the White House in 1989, it has been debated whether he was indeed responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union, or whether it just happened after his watch. In 'The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War,' author James Mann makes a persuasive case that Ronald Reagan actually played a part, intentionally or otherwise, in the Soviet Union's disintegration.

Avatar and the Faith Instinct
Jonah Goldberg

Avatar has been subjected to a sustained assault from many on the right as an apologia for pantheism. These criticisms hit the mark, but Avatar is not meant to be controversial and aimed at pleasing a wide audience. After all, we live in an age in which it's the norm to speak glowingly of spirituality but derisively of traditional religion.

I Survived the GOP Purity Test
Mary Kate Cary

Certainly, the media jumped on reports of a proposed Republican National Committee 'purity test' as only the latest example of GOP extremism. However, the actual content of the 10-point 'purity test' is pretty mainstream. So what is so outrageous ...

Obama Presidency
(c) M. Ryder

Top 10 Political Scandals of 2009
Paul Bedard

It might not have reached the heights of the Watergate and Lewinsky years, but the political scandals of 2009 had something juicy for everybody. Republicans went for sex, Democrats for money, and former Gov. Sarah Palin simply bailed out on Alaska

Socialized Medicine and 'Just War'
Ross Mackenzie

The jobs summit, the economy, Copenhagen and East Anglia, Tiger Woods -- in the news an abundance of the bizarre. And let us not overlook Tareq and Michaele Salahi, that other uncredentialed couple oddly winding up in the White House. Of the many issues before an astonished populace, two issues ... Socialized Medicine and 'Just War' ... stand at the forefront of American politics in 2009

President Obama's Inexperience Is Showing
Kenneth T. Walsh

On Afghanistan, healthcare reform, and more some say President Obama is showing his age. His job-approval rating has dropped about 20 points to 50 percent or lower. And his policies are increasingly unpopular, especially on healthcare legislation, taxes, and controlling the deficit. Just as important, Americans are deeply divided on Afghanistan

Abortion Debate Shows Catholic Bishops' Growing Influence
Dan Gilgoff

In recent weeks, Catholic Bishops have shown impressive political clout. Abortion is hardly the only example of the bishops' impressive political influence on a hot-button issue in recent weeks. These developments mark a newly aggressive political posture

Another Line Crossed
Paul Greenberg

Slowly but with increasing momentum, the great juggernaut of government continues to cross the line between life and death, good and evil, till all is moral murk

Liberals Should Keep Quiet About Obama
Robert Schlesinger

On issues like Afghanistan and healthcare, progressives are becoming increasingly restive as they discover that the spoils of victory are far less satisfying than victory itself. Liberals and Democrats will have chances down the line to judge their leaders, but those pols still deserve some latitude to get things done. A revolt now would limit what can still be achieved. All I am saying is: Give President Obama a chance.

Our Flip-Flopping Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan
Victor Davis Hanson

We don't hear all that much about Iraq these days, do we? The war at one point almost tore apart this country. But Iraq is hardly in the news anymore. So, why the silence?

Obama Administration: The Latest Incoherence
Paul Greenberg

The president and commander-in-chief had pledged to close the brig at Guantanamo by January 22. So what's he going to do with the prisoners there now? Turn them loose? Surely not. Instead, it's been decided to move the prison

The Rock Chunkers: Cast-the-First-Stone Politics
Paul Greenberg

It's cast-the-first-stone time in Washington. It happens every time a war or an economic recovery stalls. That's when the most immediate political need is for a scapegoat on whom to blame the country's troubles -- economic, military or any other kind. And out come the Rock Chunkers all ready to start throwing.

Where's the Old Obama Magic?
Clarence Page

Continuing disturbing trends reported by other recent surveys, a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds President Obama's approval ratings are down, public pessimism is up and faith in the Democratic-run Congress is on life support

How to Earn a Nobel Prize
Paul Greenberg

Not even Barack Obama could have thought he deserved the Peace Prize on the basis of his record, and was candid enough to say so. Yet he earned his Nobel in the very act of collecting it.

Can Obama White House Course-Correct in Time to Avoid Hitting 2010 Iceberg
Arianna Huffington

President Obama gave himself 'a solid B-plus' for his first year in office. But the midterm elections 'report card' is still 11 months away. At the moment, things are not looking great (President's and Democratic Congress' plummeting approval ratings). Luckily for them, there is plenty of time to course-correct. ...

Selling the Afghan War Surge
Jules Witcover

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has served notice that she is not going to ask like-minded Democrats to vote for the $30 billion or more for additional forces. Her message to Obama is clear: It's your surge; you defend it. In practical terms, however, Pelosi's stand is more a personal declaration of independence

Democrats' Joe Lieberman Problem
Jules Witcover

Senator Joe Lieberman's latest declaration of independence from the party that once gave him one of its highest rewards is again paying it back with another display of self-serving egotism.

Traitor Joe Lieberman
Bill Press

It's hard not to question the judgment, motives, and sanity of Joe Lieberman, who has single-handedly derailed any meaningful health care reform legislation.

America Through the Reality Lens
Jonah Goldberg

Culturally, this has been the decade of the reality show. And what do we have to show for it? Not much more than the contestants themselves.

Wars Could Jeopardize Obama's Domestic Agenda
Kenneth T. Walsh

Afghanistan is now President Obama's war, and the immediate question in Washington is whether his military escalation will succeed. But beyond that, it's very possible that Obama's controversial new plan may have the unintended effects of jeopardizing his domestic priorities and making coalition-building in Congress more difficult than ever.

Afghanistan: Questioning Obama's July 2011 Deadline in Afghanistan
Anna Mulrine

On Capitol Hill, there is little question that the funding for 30,000-plus new troops in Afghanistan will come through. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been careful to register their complaints about some of the more controversial components of the strategy

Afghanistan: GOP Questions Obama's Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal Deadline
Anna Mulrine

It was clear in a widely attended Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that one of the most controversial components of President Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan will be the July 2011 date he set for beginning the withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Terror Trials a Risky Move for Obama
Kenneth T. Walsh

It's one of the most explosive decisions of the Obama administration so far -- prosecuting Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other suspected 9/11 terrorists in a civilian court in New York instead of a military tribunal. And it's a risky move both substantively and in political terms.

Obama's Trip to Copenhagen Climate Conference Is a Mistake
Vaughan C. Turekian and Paul J. Saunders

President Barack Obama's decision to attend the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen is a mistake. While apparently hoping to demonstrate his commitment to addressing climate change, the president is more likely to generate unrealistically high expectations for a binding global treaty. If he really wants to combat climate change, Mr. Obama should ...

The Young Presidents: Youth is a Double-Edged Sword for President Obama
Kenneth T. Walsh

Youth has always been a double-edged sword for America's presidents. It tends to inject the White House with fresh ideas and energy, but it can also lead to impetuousness and a disregard for the tried and true. So far, Barack Obama has demonstrated both the positive and the negative sides of the equation.

The Young Presidents: Ulysses S. Grant's Administration Plagued by Scandals
Kenneth T. Walsh

Ulysses S. Grant age 46 when he took office on March 4, 1869, was the youngest president up to that time. He served two terms. 'But his military background was not enough to equip him for the complexities of governing a huge and swiftly growing nation, and historians have judged him a failure as a president,' historian David C. Whitney writes in The American Presidents.

The Young Presidents: Bill Clinton's Lack of Savvy in Washington Showed
Kenneth T. Walsh

Bill Clinton, at 46, was the third-youngest president. He had been governor of Arkansas for 12 years, so he did have executive experience, but he lacked savvy in Washington, and it showed.

The Young Presidents: John F. Kennedy Learned From Early Mistakes
Kenneth T. Walsh

John F. Kennedy is remembered for his vigor and glamour. But he also committed one of the worst blunders of any new president by supporting the invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

The Young Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt Was Ready to Act from Day One
Kenneth T. Walsh

Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest president in history. He was also one of the most innovative, brash, and vigorous. Roosevelt was picked to be William McKinley's vice president because his competitors wanted to bury Roosevelt in a do-nothing, isolated job. But when President McKinley was assassinated in September 1901, Roosevelt at 42 became arguably the most influential man in the world

Why We Should Be Worried That Washington Is the New Job Creator
Matthew Bandyk

While entrepreneurs have usually placed their business development first and foremost, there is some evidence that the increasing role of the federal government has forced many to emphasize lobbying, politicking, and jumping through administrative hurdles.

A Woman's Review of Going Rogue by Sarah Palin
Mary Kate Cary

I want to like Sarah Palin. She's got a houseful of kids, she was one of the nation's few female governors, and she's not my father's GOP. The Republican Party is in dire need of new leadership, and I think a conservative woman would be great. So I want to root for her.

Sarah Palin and the Future of Women in Politics
Robert Schlesinger

The 2008 presidential election measured not only how far women have progressed in politics but also what challenges remain according to Republican strategist and author Leslie Sanchez

Sarah Palin as a Leader for the Christian Right
Dan Gilgoff

Though most of the talk surrounding the release of Going Rogue revolves around how it affects Palin's standing as a political figure, including her chances of winning the White House, should she choose to run, the book is as much poised to heighten Palin's profile as a Christian leader.

Palin's 'Going Rogue' Review
Reader Comments

Going Rogue is a pretty quick read -- interesting when it comes to Sarah's personal life, but snotty the way she comments about the journalists and the campaign people

Sarah Palin: Palinpalooza Meets the Media
Clarence Page

Palin not only interrupted her book tour, dubbed 'Palinpalooza' by colorful headline writers, to speak to a roomful of those darned media, all gussied up in gowns and tuxedos but she black tie, but she held her own

The Real Fat Cat Party
Jonah Goldberg

One of the great frustrations of the libertarian-minded right is how Republicans got stuck being 'the party of big business.' The quotation marks around the term are at least somewhat necessary, because in many respects, it's not true.

White House Gate Crashers: Fame Bakes a New Upper Crust
Clarence Page

This Internet-age reasoning drives the fame junkies of our age, which apparently helps us to understand Michaele and Tareq Salahi, better known far and wide as the White House gate crashers, the couple who sneaked into President Barack Obama's first state dinner.

Obama: How to Create Jobs Without Really Trying
Cal Thomas

President Obama delivered his latest speech on job creation and the economy Tuesday at the liberal Brookings Institution in Washington. As with all of his speeches, this one was loaded with first-person references and blame of the Bush administration for America's economic troubles.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell: New Face for the GOP
Cal Thomas

Virginia's governor-elect, Bob McDonnell, may be the future of the Republican Party, if he can translate his substantial electoral victory into policy victories following his Jan. 16, 2010 inauguration as the state's first GOP governor in eight years.

Interview with Virginia Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas Interviews Virginia Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell

We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
Victor Davis Hanson

High unemployment, the recession and a terrorist resurgence in Afghanistan are bad enough. But there are a number of problems on the horizon that could dwarf President Obama's first-year trials. Why the pessimism? In short, we are doing nothing to prepare for the crises to come.

John McCain's Top 10 Earmark Tweets
Paul Bedard

Top 10 lists are the rage, and now Sen. John McCain, the loudest whistle-blower on federal waste, has come out with his own Top 10 list of costly earmarks and put it out via Twitter.

Democrats Change Tune on Nuclear Energy
Kent Garber

During the 2008 presidential campaign, it was Sen. John McCain, not then Sen. Barack Obama, who touted nuclear power. Obama, for the most part, was noncommittal on the subject. But in the year since being elected, President Obama and congressional Democrats increasingly appear to be embracing nuclear power

Financial Crisis, Enron, Hurricane Katrina Examples of Leadership Gone Wrong
Tamara Lytle

The New Orleans masses who huddled in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, the Enron retirees who lost their life savings, and the laid-off workers buried under the economic ruin of financial companies all live with a simple truth. Just as spectacularly as great leadership can spark success, failed leadership can bring down cities, businesses, and economies

Trouble Brewing for Obama and Democrats in 2010
Kenneth T. Walsh

The news media's mad dash to highlight the inflammatory passages of Sarah Palin's new book, Going Rogue, largely misses the point. Many Americans see her as a vehicle for their anger and disgust at Washington, and the Palin phenomenon is part of a larger trend of turning against the Establishment across the board.

Faith-Based Challenges Show a New Rift in the GOP
Dan Gilgoff

For political analysts, the lesson in Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman's loss last month in a special congressional election in New York is obvious: The right overreached. And yet many conservative activists are encouraged by the outcome of the race, which saw Hoffman take 46 percent of the vote. Here's why ...

David Axelrod on Obama's Presidential Style
Kenneth T. Walsh

Ferocious opposition from congressional Republicans won't deter President Obama from pursuing his ambitious agenda, nor will his adversaries' vitriol darken his sunny disposition. That's the word from David Axelrod, a senior White House adviser and Obama's chief strategist in last year's campaign

How to Play Both Sides of a Politcal Issue
Paul Greenberg

It's got to be about the oldest dodge in the book: When a politician casts a momentous vote on a major issue, and doesn't want to take responsibility for it, the pol minimizes its importance. The folks back home are told it was just a little ol' procedural vote, and they needn't worry their pretty little heads about it.

Only the Latest White House Hoax
Jules Witcover

Americans love a good hoax. That's why the outlandish stunt by those uninvited guests at the latest White House state dinner has amused as well as perplexed viewers rushing to network and cable news and the Internet for more details.

Republican Purity Test
Jules Witcover

The Republican Party that trusted its fortunes to its conservative base last year and paid the price in loss of the White House and Congress is now being pressured by its true believers to dig itself into an even deeper hole.

Washington Home of Intellectual Hypocrisy
Jonah Goldberg

If moral hypocrisy is saying what values people should live by while failing to follow them yourself, intellectual hypocrisy is believing you are smart enough to run other peoples' lives when you can barely run your own

New President, New Congress And the Same Old Mess
Joe Galloway

It is traditional to count our blessings this time of year but given the general state of affairs and Washington's whole lot of talk and no action it's hard to get into the holiday spirit.

On Foreign Policy Front Consider Obama Lucky So Far
Ian Bremmer

Barack Obama has had an exceptionally lucky first year. All newly elected U.S. presidents arrive in office hoping to avoid the unforeseen foreign-policy crises that upend their domestic agendas. President Obama has avoided the foreign-policy blowups that push an administration off balance. His luck isn't likely to last. Here's why ...

Missing Obama's Old Drama
Clarence Page

It's beginning to look a lot like the winter of President Barack Obama's discontent. Among other problems, his slow and steady slide in opinion polls is matching the nation's slow and steady rise in joblessness. That makes Democrats in Congress fearful of their own potential joblessness.

Sarah Palin: Den Mother to an Orphaned Movement
Clarence Page

What? Another Sarah Palin piece. A lot of people say they're tired of hearing about her. They think the media pay too much attention to Sarah Palin. Forget that. I think we need to pay more attention to her.

Will Unemployment Disaster be Obama's Katrina
Arianna Huffington

Just as Katrina exposed critical weaknesses in the priorities and competence of the Bush administration, the unfolding unemployment disaster is threatening to do the same for the Obama White House.

Levi Johnston's 15 Minutes Are Up
Carl Hiaasen

Times are hard, but the pathway to fame in America has never been easier. No talent is required -- you can go on a shooting spree, give birth to octuplets or launch a homemade balloon from your backyard and tell the cops that your little boy is trapped inside. Exhibit A is Levi Johnston, who ascended to stardom by knocking up Sarah Palin's oldest daughter

Obama: Prisoner of the Past
Jules Witcover

For a man who as a presidential candidate campaigned on such an ambitious agenda for the future -- health care for all Americans, a purer environment, a world at peace and all the rest -- he has had to spend much of his time looking back

Obama Wise Not to Rush into Flawed Decision on Afghanistan
Joe Galloway

President Barack Obama has made no decision yet on where we are going and what we are doing in Afghanistan but if the flood of leaks this week is any indicator he has, at least, decided what he is not going to do. He is not going to be rushed into making so important a decision.

Do's and Don'ts for Sarah Palin's Going Rogue Book Tour
Kenneth T. Walsh

The charismatic conservative from the Far North has several goals -- selling her book, solidifying her status on the Republican right as a potential presidential contender in 2012, and changing perceptions among independents that she is intellectually shallow. Strategists for both parties mostly agree on the do's and don'ts for Palin in the next few weeks

Palinophobes Hate First, Ask Questions Later
Jonah Goldberg

Sarah Palin is neither savior (that job has been taken by the current president, or didn't you know?) nor is she satanic. She is a politician, a species of human like the rest of us. As it stands, my sense is that Palin is good for the Republican Party but not necessarily great.

Sarah Palin Looking Loony on Oprah Winfrey
Bonnie Erbe

I've lost interest in Sarah Palin -- a woman who has proven herself time and again to be not ready for prime time. But when she starts to exhibit signs of true lunacy, she gets a bit more interesting.

Sarah Palin: Politics, Patriotism and Sarah Palin
Reader Comments

For those who believe that Palin's brand of patriotism, or politics, or homespun world view represents some remarkably fresh approach to governing, I've got some bad news for you. Palin is much less interested in substantive, meaningful change than she is in glib self-promotion and monetary enrichment.

Sarah Palin Interview with Sean Hannity Fox News Channel: Going Rogue
Paul Bedard

Sarah Palin tells Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity that she thinks the Fort Hood slayings of 13 soldiers was an act of terrorism and that the alleged shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, should have been profiled.

The Sarah Palin Splash
Jules Witcover

She's back!!! That, of course, would be Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, former Republican vice-presidential nominee and continuing political celebrity, demonstrating her attention-grabbing talent if not her intentions for the future.

Political Book of the Year
Jules Witcover

Sarah Palin's cathartic tome may be flying off the shelves, but the best political book in years by far is 'The Audacity to Win,' the inside account of how Barack Obama won the presidency, written by one of the two chief architects of that historic achievement, campaign manager David Plouffe.

Woman's Place Is in the Republican Party
Mary Kate Cary

Only 13 Republican women have ever served in the Senate, and most of them were moderates. That's no accident. Women--especially moderate women--have a great message. They are outsiders in the halls of power. They hold tremendous appeal for independents, and most women have a nonideological way of getting along with others. They're not interested in being like Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh.

Obama Generation Continues to Make Waves
Amanda Ruggeri

When Barack Obama was elected to the White House, it was with the help of those voters so often overlooked by politicians: young adults. More under-30 voters turned out than had in a presidential election since 1992. A full two thirds voted for Obama.

Democrats and Republicans Grapple With Voters Message
Dan Gilgoff

Were the Republican wins in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races a rebuke to the Obama administration at the one-year mark? Depends on whom you ask.

Republicans and Democrats Must Avoid the Urge to Purge
Robert Schlesinger

Who gets to be in the club? That's a question Republicans and Democrats alike have grappled with in recent weeks. Their answers are sure to shape congressional elections in 2010 and beyond.

Buzz Over Obama's Bow to the Emperor of Japan
Reader Comments

Of all the controversies so far this month, perhaps the silliest must be the outrage over President Barack Obama bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito. Coming just months after a similar bow to Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, it is for many an overt sign of Obama's over eagerness to please foreign leaders.

Reagan, Obama and Legacy of the Berlin Wall
Kenneth T. Walsh

The fall of the Berlin Wall was a conclusive sign that the United States and the other Western democracies had finally won the Cold War. In the end, two presidents deserve much of the credit: George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. Twenty years later there are plenty of lessons for President Obama's approach to foreign policy.

Hope From Abroad
Mitch Albom

It seems that, one year after his election, Barack Obama still remains an idea of an ideal in places overseas, including the parts I visited. I was amazed at the uniformity of the admiration of the man, as if it were something any sane person would agree on, no different than saying Shakespeare was a good writer or Mother Teresa had a good heart.

 

2009 Elections

Lessons for Democrats and Republicans From 2009 Elections
Tom Davis

The 2009 off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York's 23d Congressional District offer a small snapshot of the current views and motivations of the American electorate. While there may be a desire to extrapolate the events of Nov. 3, 2009 into a prediction of what will happen on Nov. 2, 2010, that is impossible.

Lesson Republicans Must Learn from Virginia and New Jersey: Finding the right issues
Mary Kate Cary

Election results in Virginia and New Jersey sent a clear message: to win elections these days, you have to win the independent vote and finding the right issues to appeal to an increasingly conservative country

2009 Elections: Referendum on Obama?
Jules Witcover

The great political debate in the wake of two gubernatorial elections and a special House election in upstate New York was whether or not they were a referendum on President Obama. The clear and definitive answer is: yes and no

2009 Elections: The Referendum on Obama That Wasn't
Bill Press

The entire panoply of political pundits, huddled with breathless anchors, providing the same wall-to-wall coverage you expect every four years for a presidential election. On the first anniversary of his winning the presidency, they struggled to offer in-depth analysis of what they all referred to as the national referendum on President Obama

2009 Elections: The End of an Era That Never Began
Jonah Goldberg

Obamaism is on the ropes. Congress is racing to pass health care reform because Nancy Pelosi and Co. know it is losing popularity, and they fear -- rightly -- that moderate Democrats will jump ship after reading the tea leaves of the Virginia and New Jersey blowouts. They also now know, thanks to Corzine's defeat, that Obama's personal popularity is not transferable

Exclusive Interview: President Obama on how he makes tough calls on Afghanistan, Healthcare, Economy, ...
Kenneth T. Walsh

President Obama sat down with Chief White House Correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh to discuss one of the most important and fascinating aspects of his presidency--how he makes decisions in a crisis. He was, as usual, methodical, cerebral, and dispassionate. Excerpts

Barack Obama's Challenges and Why Leadership Really Matters
Brian Kelly

The President is just completing his first year in office, and Barack Obama's presidency is verging on crisis mode. Not a full-blown crisis, to be sure, but an array of bedeviling issues on so many fronts that he might soon set some kind of historical record for facing the most bad-choice / worse-choice decisions

Still No-Drama Obama: Despite Number of Crises President Obama is unflappable
Kenneth T. Walsh

Face to face, President Obama seems even more unflappable, cerebral, and dispassionate than he appears on television. While many Americans admire these traits, they are not an unmitigated asset. Some Obama critics say he is too reserved, and they wish he would show more emotion and fire. A prominent Democratic strategist says this bloodless quality particularly bothers liberal activists.

How Obama handles everything from healthcare to the war in Afghanistan could define his presidency
Kenneth T. Walsh

Since his election, Obama has been forced by circumstances to deal with one calamity after another. He is the rare president whose fate was to be plunged immediately into a vast maelstrom of bad news, and for week after seemingly endless week, he never got a breather. There was the financial meltdown that almost paralyzed the economy

Obama Slower Than Bush to Confirm Justices
Alex Kingsbury

More than 10 months into President Obama's term in office, he and the Democratic-controlled Senate have been notably slow to confirm judges to the nation's courts, particularly when compared with recent administrations. To date, the president has made some 26 lower court nominations, yet only four have been confirmed by the Senate.

Obama's Partisan Balancing Act on Afghanistan
Kenneth T. Walsh

A time bomb for centrists, and the whole country, is the war in Afghanistan. Former Vice President Dick Cheney and other critics argue that President Obama should have immediately approved the request of his senior military commander, General Stanley McChrystal, for 40,000 more troops.

Obama's Honeymoon is Over: Many Questioning him on the Economy and Afghanistan
Kenneth T. Walsh

In his first few weeks, the new president took aggressive action. Initially, 70 percent of Americans approved of the job he was doing, and his favorability ratings, which measure how much Americans like him, were even higher. As usual with modern presidents, however, the honeymoon did not last. A year later, much of Obama's initial luster has faded. His job approval ratings now hover at just over 50 percent, polarization in Washington is as bad as ever, and much of his agenda has stalled on Capitol Hill

Bush's Bad Speeches and Karl Rove's Disappointing Genius: Matt Latimer discusses Speech-less
Robert Schlesinger

The growing frequency of presidential speeches has necessitated staffs of White House writers to help presidents craft their messages. For Matt Latimer, writing speeches for President George W. Bush during the last two years of his administration was an exercise in disillusionment, as he recounts in his book Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor

Fox - White House Media War is Killing News
Anthony Rudel

When members of the Obama administration announced that they did not consider Fox a real news network, they were actually bringing attention to what has become the sad reality of real news gathering in this country: It's disappearing faster than contestants on Survivor

The War Obama Can't Win
Bill Press

No matter how many more troops he sends into battle, President Obama must understand that this is one war he can't win. No, I'm not talking about the war between American troops and the Taliban. I'm talking about the war between the White House and Fox News.

Obama Hopes to Paint Fox News Coverage as Biased. It's a Risky Strategy
Peter Roff

The news side of Fox, very likely having been tougher on Obama than its broadcast and cable competitors, has made itself a target for White House scorn. By arguing that Fox has an agenda, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs seems to believe he will, for a time at least, create a shield to deflect questions other news organizations might raise about things Fox reports. He is following in the footsteps of Nixon Press Secretary Ron Ziegler which is a risky strategy

Sarah Palin Book: Feminists Jealous of Sarah's Rise
Paul Bedard

Talk about timing. With former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin readying the release of her own 432-page campaign tell-all, Going Rogue: An American Life, now would be the perfect time to pop out another Palin book, and that's exactly what Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti has done with The Persecution of Sarah Palin

Dear Sarah: Keep Up the Great Writing
Carl Hiaasen

Thank you for turning in the manuscript so quickly. I thought only Stephen King could crank out 400 pages in four months! Seriously, there's some terrific material here, and all of us are thrilled to be publishing your life story. Before we move ahead, the fact-checking department has asked me to pass along a few notes and comments that may require some revisions on your part.

Nobel Peace Prize: Mixed Signals, Or 'Blessed Are The Cheesemakers'
Paul Kennedy

On hearing the surprising news of President Obama's award of the Nobel Peace Prize, I could only wonder at the Norwegian award committee's own very long track record of sending out mixed messages about its intentions and reasoning. There was always a great irony in the original founding of the Peace Prize, since Alfred Nobel made his fortune through the invention and production of dynamite.

Dick Cheney's Blurred Memory
Jules Witcover

Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and a cooperative judge, the 28-page summary of the FBI's 2004 interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney on the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson has finally come to light. It shows him to have done the political imitation of a rope-a-doping Mohammed Ali

Viewing the Cost of War
Jules Witcover

President Obama's middle-of-the-night visit to Dover Air Force Base to view the return of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan was a dignified recognition of their sacrifice. But it also was a reminder to him of the human stakes in his long deliberations on the course to take in the war triggered by the 9/11 terrorist attacks of eight years ago.

True Conservatives Just Want a Turn
Jonah Goldberg

If there's one thing liberal pundits are experts on these days it's the sorry state of conservatism. The airwaves and op-ed pages brim with more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger lamentations on the GOP's failure to get with President Obama's program, the party's inevitable demographic demise and its thralldom to the demonic deities of the right -- Limbaugh, Beck, Palin.

Can Civility in Politics Be Lost If It Was Never Found
Jonah Goldberg

Apparently, like Cupid with his arrow or a pixie with fairy dust, some magical sprite used to enchant America's political combatants, ensuring that all public discourse was full of beg-your-pardons and please-and-thank-yous. But we have offended our little leprechaun. He's taken his Lucky Charms and gone home, leaving Americans angry, cranky and rude.

The Best Politicians Money Can Buy
Carl Hiaasen

What's wrong with our American political system is that politicians can cuddle up to any big-talking hustler with a fat checkbook, and then scuttle for cover when he gets busted.

The Hate America Party
Bill Press

Today, the Republican agenda is clear. If it's good for America, they're against it. If it's bad for America, they're for it. You think I'm kidding? Just check out their recent record.

Obama One Year Later: The Audacity of Winning vs. The Timidity of Governing
Arianna Huffington

Plouffe's book arrives at a crossroads moment for the administration -- exactly one year after the election, and one year before the 2010 midterms. A lot has happened in that year, as the audacity of winning has given way to the timidity of governing.

Barack Obama Is Doing My Job; Why America Needs Him to Do His
Arianna Huffington

When it comes to dealing with Wall Street, President Obama seems to have traded in his position as our economy's commander in chief for a different role: pundit in chief. He and his top advisers are suddenly very big on urging, advocating, recommending, strongly suggesting and cajoling.

Why Joe Biden Should Resign
Arianna Huffington

Obama may be no drama, but Biden loves drama. And what could be more dramatic than resigning the vice presidency on principle? And what principle could be more honorable than refusing to go along with a policy of unnecessarily risking American blood and treasure -- and America's national security?

President Obama

Speeches Not Enough for Obama to Succeed
Robert Schlesinger

President Obama has a great fastball, but he needs other pitches. Presidents are like pitchers. Success requires doing several things well; they cannot rely on one political skill. Their effectiveness is ultimately a function of their ability to exercise all elements of presidential power. Which brings us to Barack Obama. Obama has ridden a single pitch -- speechmaking -- to the pinnacle of politics. He spoke his way to the White House and has hardly quieted since.

Partisan Superfans are Driving Average Americans From Politics
Marc Dunkelman

The widest chasm in American politics is not between Democrats and Republicans or even progressives or conservatives. The nation may be most split between those who are intensely engaged in the national debate and those who are not.

Democratic majorities in Congress are hindering rather than helping President Obama
Mary Kate Cary

Why Obama Needs a Big Republican Victory in 2010. A number of political analysts are predicting moderate to heavy Democratic losses in the 2010 House races. This is great news for Republicans, but it's also good for Obama.

Senior citizens are more opposed to Obama's healthcare plans than any other age group
Kenneth T. Walsh

One of President Obama's biggest challenges this fall will be persuading seniors to accept his healthcare proposals. Many elderly voters are deeply worried about 'Obama-care' because they fear that his plans will reduce their coverage and increase their costs. Seniors, in fact, are more opposed to Obama's healthcare ideas than any other age group.

Obama's Never Ending Healthcare Campaign
Kenneth T. Walsh

On issue after issue, every imaginable political organization, constituency group, and self-styled movement seems to feel it necessary not only to state its case but to wage an election-style campaign to advance its interests. The goal is to mobilize public opinion and take on the opposition, often by using hype, distortion, negativity, and name calling.

Media Coverage of Obama Grows More Negative
Nikki Schwab

Obama's positive press coverage has slipped from 59 percent to 43 percent. What happened to the media's crush on President Obama? In the second 100 days of his administration, the majority of press coverage was bad, with the president's policy proposals receiving more criticism than praise from reporters.

Afterthoughts from Obama U.N. Address
Jonah Goldberg

The United Nations is an odd venue to say such things. The Security Council is premised on nothing if not a balance of power, and the U.N.'s roots go nowhere if not deep into the chilled soil of the Cold War. It is odder still for the president of the United States of America to say such things

President Obama creates tension in a supposed search for civility
Mary Kate Cary

It's hard to imagine the president working behind the scenes for two years with leaders of the other party. I wonder what guys like Rostenkowski and Reagan would say about things these days. Take President Obama's recent address to Congress on healthcare reform ...

Nastiness Dominates Washington & the Anti-Obama Movement
Kenneth T. Walsh

Civility in public life seems to be fading fast. Take, for example, the insult hurled at President Obama during his address to Congress on healthcare. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouted, "You lie!" after Obama said his plan would not provide coverage for illegal immigrants. Wilson quickly apologized, but the House reprimanded him after Democrats argued that Wilson didn't show proper respect for the president

Politics: Incivility in Congress
Jules Witcover

There's a longstanding tradition on the floors of the House and Senate requiring members to address each other not only with courtesy but with extreme deference. That's why you will hear one address another as 'the distinguished gentleman' or 'gentlewoman.' The old rules of propriety came to mind the other night when a Republican House member, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, took it upon himself to call out, 'You lie!'

Obama's Pragmatism Will Strengthen Foreign Relations and National Security
Senator Evan Bayh

For the first time in almost a decade, we have an American president who approaches the security threats facing our country from a standpoint of pragmatism, not ideology. Barack Obama's young presidency has blended realism with fidelity to American ideals in a way that has not only kept us safe but represents a fundamentally better approach than the discredited unilateralism of the recent past.

Obama's Poor Choices Could Threaten Our National Security
Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon

The paramount duty of the president is to keep Americans safe. As President Obama continues his first year in office, surely he understands this awesome responsibility. The question facing Obama -- one that will be highlighted in the coming weeks -- is whether he will make the right policy choices across an array of thorny national security issues.

Campaign Finance Laws Under Siege
Robert Schlesinger

Remember campaign finance reform? A long time ago (way back in 2002), in a political world far, far away, Democrats and insurgent Republicans defied congressional rulers to pass the so-called McCain-Feingold law. It was signed, reluctantly, by a holding-his-nose President Bush. And then, the following year, the Supreme Court substantially upheld it in McConnell v. FEC. Quietly, but with gathering force, opponents of campaign finance laws have laid siege to the election funding system that has been constructed to combat the corrupting influence that money can have in politics.

Welcome to the United States of Plutocracy
William Pfaff

The United States has for practical purposes been a plutocracy for some years now. American national elections usually function more or less correctly, except that they have become all but completely dominated by money.

All U.S. Presidents Need a War to Call Their Own & Obama Has His
William Pfaff

The more one hears the discussion among Democrats about the war in Afghanistan, the more one feels that it is a serious handicap that Barack Obama has no personal experience of international relations or of foreign policy or military service, beyond such experience as one gains as a first-term U.S. senator.

Rep. Charles Rangel -- Sign of the Times
Victor Davis Hanson

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is becoming a metaphor for almost all the sins of our age. Let us count the ways.

No Rules in the Arena (of Politics)
Victor Davis Hanson

Over the last three decades, we saw vicious attacks on Ronald Reagan and on Bill Clinton, and their tough replies in turn. But recently the vicious rhetoric has escalated far beyond anything in the past. The smears seem reminiscent more of the brawling on the eve of the Civil War, or the nastiness during the 1960s that took decades to heal.

Politics: Joe Biden Peripatetic Veep
Jules Witcover

At the outset, Vice President Joe Biden stipulated that he wanted to be a sort of minister without portfolio -- that is, without a specific agency or other narrow bureaucratic responsibility. Instead he wanted to be Obama's adviser-in-chief across the broad range of his presidential responsibilities

Pragmatic Look at Obama's Pragmatism
Jonah Goldberg

Obama came into office swearing he was a pragmatist who would support any approach that worked. That spirit has been woefully lacking in Obama's presidency so far. During the campaign, Obama's top domestic priorities were reform of health care, education and energy. When an economic crisis that is -- according to Obama, at least -- second only to the Depression exploded in front of him, Obama the alleged pragmatist concluded that his year-old agenda was the perfect solution.

Trouble in Liberal Land
Cal Thomas

As the first elections since President Obama's presidential victory approach, liberals are getting nervous that all this exposure is leaving them naked before an increasingly skeptical and angry public. The latest Rasmussen poll shows President Obama's approval rating has dropped to 46 percent, which, according to the Wall Street Journal, 'demonstrates a substantial drop in presidential approval relative to other elected presidents in the 20th and 21st centuries.'

The Reason for Our Discontent
Cal Thomas

The arrogance of power and disdain for average Americans is what fueled much of the dissent expressed in town hall meetings. Growing numbers of people see a small cadre of government, academic and media elites caring nothing about them, except when it comes to their tax dollars. Many, especially those who are conservative and even worse, religious, are viewed by these elites as enemies of progress and sophistication.

Glenn Beck Explained
Cal Thomas

Radio and TV commentator Glenn Beck was mentioned three times in separate opinion columns on the same day and in an article the next day in The New York Times, possibly a record for someone who does not hold elective office. He's everywhere. Beck is also the Left's latest explanation for what is wrong with America.

Glenn Beck: Joe McCarthy Lives!
Bill Press

There was a time, not so long ago, when calling the president of the United States a "racist" on national television would get an anchor fired. But that was before Fox News. At Fox, archenemy of President Obama, Glenn Beck was not only not fired he was treated like a folk hero -- even though some 60 major corporate sponsors stopped advertising on his program in protest.

Thank You, Glenn Beck!
Arianna Huffington

Thank you, Glenn Beck. By helping force the resignation of Van Jones, you have done a great service to your country. But in the exact opposite way than what you intended. Your vile and vicious smear campaign has helped reverse one of the worst examples of miscasting since John Wayne took on the role of Genghis Khan in 'The Conqueror.'

On Race: Carter v. Obama
Bill Press

The White House is never happy when a former president upstages the current president -- which explains why the Obama White House is not happy with Jimmy Carter. With one casual remark, Carter managed to steal all the headlines and turn today's battles over health care, energy reform, or economic recovery into a raging debate on race

In Defense of ACORN
Bill Press

It is a dangerous organization, indeed. Just look at what ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- has been up to since its founding in 1970. Today the largest community organizing operation in the nation, ACORN has long been fighting for free school lunches, better housing, safer streets, urban parks, childcare centers, health-care clinics, jobs, and higher wages. It also conducts voter registration drives and has led several successful efforts against predatory lending practices by banks

Obama Faces a Chilly Fall
Clarence Page

Watching President Obama's poll numbers slide in recent weeks takes me back to the worst moments of the presidential campaign. I'm not thinking of Obama's presidential campaign. I'm thinking five years ago to Sen. John Kerry's losing campaign. And I am wondering, as I did with Kerry, why didn't Obama see it coming

Obama - There's More Than Miles That Separate Us
Leonard Pitts Jr.

Last year, Barack Obama was elected president. If this was regarded as a new beginning by most Americans, it was regarded apocalyptically by others who promptly proceeded to lose both their minds and any pretense of enlightenment. These are the people who immediately declared it their fervent hope that the new presidency fail, the ones who cheered when the governor of Texas raised the specter of secession

Luster is Off Obama's 'High Moral Ground'
Leonard Pitts Jr.

Back in April, the U.S. government snatched Raymond Azar out of Afghanistan. His waist, wrists and ankles were shackled, he was stripped naked and photographed, made to wear headphones, blindfolded, hooded and stuffed into an executive jet and flown to the United States.

You Can't Blame Obama for American Stubbornnes
William Pfaff

There was a telling caption to a recent French commentary on the American political situation. It read: 'Obama, the man who thinks he's president.

The Latest Tale From the 'War on Terror' Dark Side
William Pfaff

Little mainstream comment seems to have appeared on the latest revelations of incompetence and sadistic fantasy that have been published this week about the ways in which the American nation lost its honor and international reputation because of the Bush administration's infatuation with torture.

Our Road to Oceania
Victor Davis Hanson

In Orwell's Oceania, there is a compliant media that offers 'Newspeak' -- recycled government bulletins from the Ministry of Truth. 'Doublethink' means you can believe at the same time in two opposite beliefs. America is not Oceania, but some of this is beginning to sound a little too familiar. We see Barack Obama's smile broadcast 24/7, in a fashion we have not seen previously of earlier presidents.

Obamamania: Going Ga-Ga Over - Well, Let's See...
Ross Mackenzie

What's Obamamania? Domestically, it's a heart beating hotly for throttling American industry in the name of a cleaner environment. In matters foreign, it consists in going ga-ga over - well, let's see....

Republicans vs. Science
Robyn Blumner

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like without scientists? Ask the Republican Party. It lives in such a world. Republicans have been so successful in driving out of their party anyone who endeavors in scientific inquiry that pretty soon there won't be anyone left who can distinguish a periodic table from a kitchen table.

Guns That Talk
Robert C. Koehler

It's like truth or dare. And it's legal. Get your permit or whatever and you, too, can bring an assault rifle to the next presidential speech you attend. There's nothing the police can do -- amazing! If only the Democrats, back when George Bush was president, had known there was a safe, legal way to protest presidential policy and register discontent with the direction the country was headed.

Senator Ted Kennedy Another Name to Remember
Paul Greenberg

Now let the trumpets blare and the obsequies begin, as full of bombast as some of Ted Kennedy's own orations. Let us begin in the spirit of nil nisi bonum: Speak nothing but good of the dead. Let us recall Senator Kennedy's work

Losing Touch: the President and the People
Paul Greenberg

It's nothing new for president and people to drift apart. Any more than there's anything remarkable about the ebb and flow of fickle American public opinion in general. It can swing from left to right and back again with the regularity of a metronome. What impresses about this latest shift, which is easier to feel than to measure in the polls, is the speed with which it is occurring. President Obama hasn't been in office a year yet he seems to grow ever more distant.

Obama Another Promise Broken -- in Record Time
Paul Greenberg

Remember those days of yore, namely the presidential campaign of 2008, when Democrats regularly accused the Bush administration of politicizing the Justice Department?

How Ethics Disappear in Politics
Paul Greenberg

Gosh, what a surprise: A committee of their fellow senators has decided that Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad did nothing unethical when they took out loans from Countrywide Financial on the kind of favorable terms not available to us mere mortals without their financial or political standing -- or a personal connection to the head of Countrywide.

Cheney Out in the Open
Jules Witcover

There was a time when an American vice president was seldom heard from when in office, and never heard from again after leaving it. No longer, with Dick Cheney taking on the role of avenger against the critics of the previous eight years.

A Tell-All Cheney Memoir
Jules Witcover

Word that Dick Cheney, closed-mouthed as the Sphinx during their eight-year run of power, is preparing to spill out his deepest dissatisfactions in his own memoir should guarantee him a major best-seller.

Could Health Care Be 'Obama's Iraq'
Clarence Page

Obama's proposed health care overhaul is taking a beating in the polls. Town hall meetings have been disrupted by angry voices, only some of whom were paid to be there. As Obama fights to get back in front of a signature issue of his presidency, he should find no comfort in how much his troubles remind one former White House aide of George W. Bush's biggest overseas headache: Iraq

Politicians - Hate the Job, But, Oh, Those Fringe Bennies
Carl Hiaasen

We hear the question all the time: Why would anyone in their right mind go into politics? Campaigns are brutal, and once you're elected your work hours are long and the pay is lousy. But let's consider some of the fringe benefits, which are on display last week in two criminal cases at opposite ends of Florida. Rep. Ray Sansom ran up $173,000 on an American Express card issued to him by the state Republican Party. Meanwhile, suspended Monroe County School Superintendent Randy Acevedo was being prosecuted in another case of dubiously extravagant fringe benefits.

Obama Shines in Character Department: Despite falling job approval numbers
Kenneth T. Walsh

Despite setbacks on the political front, President Obama is succeeding where many other politicians have failed -- in the character department. He has become a role model for the kind of traditional values that Americans have long celebrated. For years, the Democrats have been criticized by conservatives for lacking "family values." But today, it is Obama, a Democrat, who has emerged as the paragon of personal virtue, and even Republicans see it as a source of political strength.

Obama Not Overexposed, but Flaws in His Healthcare Reform Have Been
Clark S. Judge

From network reporters to online commentators, the story of the day about White House communications is that President Obama getting overexposed. That's why, media critics say, the President's approval numbers have dropped so low and his healthcare package isn't selling. But they are wrong. Something very different is happening, and it has to do not with style but with substance.

Frustrated Baby Boomers Alienated from the Political Debate
Mary Kate Cary

There's a big disconnect in politics right now. The older baby boomers, the ones in their 50s and 60s, are increasingly left out of the political discourse. That crowd is part of the biggest demographic segment of our population -- more than a quarter of our citizens. They're dismayed that their local newspaper -- if it still exists -- places more emphasis on obituaries and local real estate news. Any national news is buried somewhere far from the front page. They feel like they can't get issue-oriented policy news anymore and are ...

Senator Kennedy
(c) Paul Tong

Senator Kennedy's Legacy of Legislative Success
Amanda Ruggeri

Senator Ted Kennedy left behind a career as one of the most effective leaders in Congress. During his 46 years as a senator, the third longest of any senator in history, he helped craft legislation that profoundly reformed everything from the country's racial makeup to the federal government's role in education. That's not to say that he should be given all the credit, as much of his legislation was undertaken with Republicans in power. Some of his most important legislative accomplishments ...

• Milestones in Ted Kennedy's Career
• The Next Steps for Kennedy's Cause: Healthcare Reform
• Harvard Mourns Ted Kennedy's Death
• Ted Kennedy One of 'Greatest Senators of Our Time'

Conservatives Try to Catch Up in Online Activism
Nikki Schwab

Recent dueling political gatherings drew activists and bloggers here and offered a glimpse into how conservatives and liberals planned to use the web next to promote their policies and politics.

Finding a Better Way to Prosecute Terrorists
Queenie Wong

At the center of the controversy surrounding the closing of the Guant�namo Bay detention center is what to do with the suspected terrorists once the prison camp shuts in January. Trying detainees before military commissions or in federal courts isn't the solution, argues Capt. Glenn Sulmasy ...

Obama Caught Up in the Washington Blame Game
Kenneth T. Walsh

No matter how much politicians say they want to get along, a dominant feature of the political landscape in Washington is still the blame game. And it will intensify next month when congressional Democrats and Republicans return from their summer break to do battle on healthcare, the economy, climate change, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Vocal Protests
(c) William Brown

Democrats' Fear Is Showing on Health Care
Jonah Goldberg

The Democratic Party is panicking, lashing out like a cornered animal, all because its effort to take over the health care industry is coming apart like so much wet toilet paper.

Nancy Pelosi, who will get her own bound volume in the annals of asininity, has outdone herself.

 

The Tea Baggers Are Back -- Crazy as Ever
Bill Press

In health care reform forums held across the nation organizers bus in professional protestors and arm them with instructions on how to take over meetings, shut down discussion, shout over any pro-health care reform speakers, and then post video of the resulting chaos on YouTube. It's mob rule, pure and simple

On Birth, and the Death of the Conservative Movement
Leonard Pitts Jr

The 'birthers' movement -- people who claim Obama cannot be president because he isn't a citizen -- has proved hardier than cockroaches in its ability to survive the passage of time and repeated collisions with reality. It is, if anything, more visible now than at any time in the year or so since first it surfaced. It even includes a handful of GOP lawmakers.

Dick Cheney Needs to Fade Away
Robyn Blumner

Dick Cheney was the ultimate puppet master. The former vice president had a direct hand in the administration's most unconscionable decisions. But as large as Cheney once loomed, that is how small he has since shrunken. Like an old man left to toot his own horn to a dwindling group of listeners, Cheney is trying to defend his legacy, even as evidence mounts that he led this country in tragic directions without enhancing our safety.

Orders Are Easy to Give, Just Hard to Carry Out
Paul Greenberg

On his first day in the Oval Office last January, our still new president issued an executive order closing down the military prison at Guantanamo, where hundreds of the enemy in this never-ending war on terror are being held. With a stroke of his pen, Barack Obama had wiped out years -- indeed, centuries -- of military law that had once provided the country with a way of dealing with enemy combatants through the well-established precedents of military law

What's the Matter With Fort Leavenworth
Mary Sanchez

Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback, both Republicans, went berserk when it was leaked that the Obama administration was eyeing Kansas, home of the U.S. military's only maximum-security prison, as a likely site for transferring the Gitmo detainees. Envisioned is a courtroom in a prison set-up where the remaining detainees can be held and put on trial, finally lifting the human rights stain the abuses at Guantanamo Bay brought upon the United States.

President Obama's Healthcare Reform Sales Pitch
Paul Greenberg

President Obama's press conference to sell his health-care plan brought to mind nothing so much as the last time a car salesman urged me to sign on the dotted line right now, before I left the lot, because this was a great deal, time was of the essence, and wouldn't I like to add a few more expensive accessories on easy credit.

The Clintons Again
Jules Witcover

Well, after all the domestic criticisms of Bill and Hillary Clinton, it seems the old bargain of the 1990s -- two for the price of one -- is back, this time on the international stage. gainst last year, is like the return of an old vaudeville act, playing the Palace with renewed luster. This time, however, it's without all the negativity that has often cast the Clintons as a pair of blindly ambitious self-seekers muddling through personal scandal and miscalculations.

Careless Talk in High Places
Jules Witcover

Joe Biden, move over and make room for Barack Obama in the doghouse of the quick and errant jibe. Obama was the one most hurt by his hasty, harshly judgmental comment without knowing all the facts, that the Cambridge, Mass., Police Department 'acted stupidly' in the arrest of Harvard Prof. Henry Lewis Gates Jr. The famous Obama 'cool' was AWOL on that one. The public reaction was so immediately negative that the president was obliged to back off, though short of an apology

Obama's Brew-ha-ha
Clarence Page

President Obama's got his hands full with health care, two wars and the economy. But he put all that aside to have a beer in the Rose Garden with a friend and the cop who arrested the friend in the friend's own home. Out of earshot, journalists focused on Job One: what to call this historic media event.

 

If Biden wants to diminish the office,
so be it (c) Jack Ohman

Joe Biden Restoring the Vice Presidency
Jules Witcover

Six months ago, embarking on the vice presidency, Joe Biden listed among his top priorities 'restoring' the office to its proper constitutional role in the wake of the eight-year tenure of predecessor Dick Cheney. It's early to attempt a reliable assessment of his achievement of that goal. But at the half-year mark, Biden has from all appearances made a good start

 

(c) Walt Handelsman

Still a Good Question: Why Biden
Jonah Goldberg

Obama said he picked Biden for his unparalleled foreign policy experience and, 'above all,' because Biden was 'ready to step in and be president.' Six months later, it's doubtful anyone is any more keen on the prospect of Biden becoming president. Still, Biden does have a strange new respect from many on the right as the administration's unwitting 'truth-teller.'

The God Who Bleeds
Jonah Goldberg

All presidents go through rough patches, and Obama's no exception. On almost every domestic issue, polls show that support for Obama and his agenda is plummeting, and that the Democratic Party's advantages over Republicans on the economy, taxes, the deficit and health care have been erased or severely reduced.

Obama Haters' Disorder - The Birthers
Clarence Page

As congressional lawmakers return to their home districts for August recess, they could find a creature from Washington's silly season waiting for them: the 'birthers.' That's the nickname given to the odd activists who refuse to believe that President Barack Obama qualifies as a 'natural-born citizen.'

Born in a Manger in Honolulu - The Birthers
Bill Press

Yes, they actually call themselves that: 'Birthers.' That name alone proves they're crazy. According to the Birthers, Barack Obama is not the legitimate president of the United States because there's no proof that he was born in the United States. Of course, neither was John McCain, but why compound one conspiracy with another

Charlie Crist: And the Bucks Keep Flowing In
Carl Hiaasen

Unlike Sarah Palin, Charlie Crist has chosen not to quit his governorship early. Florida's own one-term wonder is using his remaining time to ingratiate himself with as many deep-pocket interest groups as possible.

Obama's Great Race to Change America
(c) Matt Wuerker

Obama's Great Race to Change America
Victor Davis Hanson

Why does President Obama want to implement all at once radical changes in American foreign policy, environmental policy, education, health care and the tax code? The answer is easy: If he does not achieve these initiatives soon, he never will. Almost none of Obama's proposed policies any longer enjoy majority support among voters

Big Government Medicine
(c) Dick Locher

Big Government Medicine
Victor Davis Hanson

Big new taxes. Big new spending. Big new government. This seems to be the proposed cure for the Wall Street-inspired recession. The government now runs major banks and companies, and plans to take control of the American health-care system. And it aims to tax how energy in the United States is used to monitor carbon use. But wait ...

The Growing Divide in American Politics
(c) Mark Weber

Polarization is the New Political Bipartisanship
Mary Kate Cary

Gone are the days of Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan's famous friendship; George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton's joint humanitarian efforts seem like a relic from a different era.

 

Democratic 'Blue Dogs' Flex Their Muscle
Anna Mulrine

After another day wrangling over healthcare reform, it was no small amount of frustration that inspired Rep. Henry Waxman to stand in front of a press gathering and not-so-subtly