Congress must learn art of making a deal

Posted by dcrim – November 13, 2012

Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks says there needs to be some dealmaking if a divided polarized country is to recharge its economy. Writes Brooks:

The fiscal-cliff talks are just the first chapter in this long process. In this first episode, the Democrats should get higher revenues from the rich (elections have consequences) and the Republicans should get some entitlement reform. But the main point is to lay the predicate for the bigger deals to come.

This is about horse-trading. It’s about conducting meetings in which people don’t lecture each other; they deal. It’s about isolating those who want an economic culture war. It’s about making clear offers and counteroffers.

Click here for the full story.

Strategy was the difference in presidential race

Posted by dcrim – November 8, 2012

Scott Wilson and Philip Rucker of the Washington Post detail the strategy by the Obama campaign to chart what proved to be a winning course 17 months before Election Day. Click here for the story.

Lisa Lerer of Bloomberg says, for Romney, the race was lost in the summer. Click here for the story.

Some reasons why election turned out as it did

Posted by dcrim – November 7, 2012

From Tom Bevan and Carl M. Cannon of Real Clear Politics:

Barack Obama’s re-election to another four-year term as the 44th president of the United States was no surprise, at least to Democrats and denizens of liberal news organizations. But for a solid month — both nationally and in the highly contested battleground states — the race was virtually tied.

It didn’t end in a tie, however. Despite the closeness of the national popular vote, Obama and Joe Biden eked out victories over Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in the hotly contested states of New Hampshire, Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado and (though not yet officially) Florida, giving Democrats a 100-vote cushion in the Electoral College. In the end, after both sides waged the most expensive campaign in U.S. history, all Romney did was flip two states, Indiana and North Carolina, from Obama’s 2008 column into his own.

Click here for 21 reasons for Obama’s victory and Romney’s defeat.

Pundits react to Romney’s VP choice

Posted by dcrim – August 16, 2012

What Ryan could mean to presidential race

Posted by dcrim – August 11, 2012

Ezra Klein of the Washington Post takes a look at what the selection of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as the Republican vice presidential candidate will mean to the dynamics of the general election. Click here.

A daring decision by Mitt Romney? The New Yorker takes a look.

Fox News poll shows Romney failing to gain traction

Posted by dcrim – August 10, 2012

The latest Fox News poll shows that Mitt Romney’s favorable rating and standing in the trial ballot have declined, giving President Obama his biggest lead since Romney became the presumptive GOP nominee.

That prompts Politico columnist Roger Simon to ask the question: Shouldn’t Mitt Romney be ahead in the polls by now?

Meanwhile, writing for Salon, Steve Kornacki warns that Romney could find himself traveling down the same road as Bob Dole in the 1996 presidential race.

Will selection of veep make difference in campaign?

Posted by dcrim – August 8, 2012


Karl Rove says Mitt Romney could announce his vice presidential pick as early as Friday, although he believes that decision is more likely to be made next week after the presumptive GOP nominee completes a four-day tour through some battleground states.

Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal believes Romney will eschew a safe pick and make a surprise choice. Meanwhile, Politico notes that the GOP is split on the possible selection of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

On the presidential front, Jay Cost of The Weekly Standard writes that the election is Romney’s to win. Countering that stance is longtime Democratic strategist Robert Shrum, who argues that the Romney campaign has missed opportunities to gain traction this summer.

What does the future hold for CNN?

Posted by dcrim – August 2, 2012

CNN, the revolutionary cable news network created by Ted Turner, has been floundering in the ratings in recent years — although it remains a moneymaker for parent company Time Warner. CEO Jim Walton has announced he is stepping down. Michael Wolff of The Guardian wonders what, if anything, could possibly put the channel back on track?

Writes Wolff: Because what’s wrong with CNN is what’s wrong with Time Warner, its owner. And what’s wrong with CNN is what’s wrong with television news. And even if you acknowledge what’s wrong with it, that does not mean that there is any real upside in fixing it.

Click here for the story.

Retirement perks doomed Illinois pension system

Posted by dcrim – May 31, 2012

The Moline Dispatch offers a glimpse at a major reason why Illinois is in such a pension mess. The newspaper reports that in 1989, then-state Sen. Calvin Schuneman, R-Prophetstown, predicted trouble for the pension system as legislators passed perk after perk to make their retirements more rewarding. One of the major perks he opposed was a cost-of-living increase, which went from 3 percent annually to retirees using a simple interest formula to a 3 percent annual COLA using compound interest. Read the story here.

The Dispatch offers this sample of cash benefits for some Illinois pension recipients:

• Former Gov. Jim Edgar: $134,853 annually; $1.252 million total to date. His total contributions: $164,657.

• Former Gov. James Thompson: $131,031 annually; $2.023 million total to date. His total contributions: $84,966.

• Former Attorney General Roland Burris: $129,162 annually; $1.743 million total to date. His total contributions: $134,680.

Rich Miller of Capitol Fax noted, perhaps with tongue firmly planted in cheek, that the system may have caught a break with its previous two governors, George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich, now in prison and ineligible to receive their pensions.

Republicans still in pursuit of Mr. Right

Posted by dcrim – February 21, 2012

Jonah Goldberg writes in the Los Angeles Times that Mr. Right continues to elude the GOP in this year’s presidential race.

This is one of the amazing things about the final four. The various factions of the Republican Party and the myriad slices of the conservative mind are represented (with the one obvious missing ingredient being the lack of a Southern evangelical Christian), but none of the pieces is in the right place. It’s like playing with a Mr. Potato Head when the feet are where the ears should be and an arm stands in for a nose.

Click here for the story.

Politico reports that Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney is burning through cash more than twice as fast as he’s raising it. It could be a sign that a protracted GOP primary fight could leave the front-runner limping into a general election fight with President Barack Obama.

Do Republicans have a Plan B?