Now that we know the results from Iowa and New Hampshire, how much do they really tell us about who will eventually capture the Democratic and Republican nominations? As the charts below indicate, the first two states have usually had some predictive power – it’s unusual for a candidate to win neither but still emerge … Continue reading »
Republicans
Is Jeb too green? GOP primary voters may think so
At this point, the GOP Presidential field looks like Jeb Bush versus Everyone Else. (Of course, there’s a big fight over who get’s to play Everyone Else when this particular play opens in Iowa and New Hampshire.) It’s an open question whether Jeb will turn out to be too green for the average GOP primary voter. … Continue reading »
Ever since Eve: Hillary and the War on Women
There have been recently several attacks by Republicans (just for example, Karl Rove and Reince Priebus) on the character and competence of Hillary Rodham Clinton: about her complicity in Benghazi and the Boko Haram kidnappings, her age, her health, and more. The response by the Democrats and the supposedly liberal pundit class has been less … Continue reading »
Why democracy is public: The American Dream beats the nightmare
Democracy, in the American tradition, has been defined by a simple morality: We Americans care about our fellow citizens, we act on that care and build trust, and we do our best not just for ourselves, our families, and our friends and neighbors, but for our country, for each other, for people we have never … Continue reading »
Why the right-wing bullies will hold the nation hostage again and again
When I was a small boy I was bullied more than most, mainly because I was a foot shorter than than everyone else. They demanded the cupcake my mother had packed in my lunchbox, or, they said, they’d beat me up. After a close call in the boy’s room, I paid up. Weeks later, they … Continue reading »
How Democrats can become relevant again (and rescue the nation while they’re at it)
Republicans offered Democrats two more weeks before the doomsday shut-down. Democrats countered with four. Republicans held their ground. Democrats agreed to two. This is what passes for compromise in our nation’s capital. Democrats have become irrelevant. If they want to be relevant again they have to connect the dots: The explosion of income and wealth … Continue reading »