Category: Politics

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.

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?

How well will Romney fare in New Hampshire?

Posted by dcrim – January 9, 2012

Less than 36 hours separate Mitt Romney from what is supposed to be his campaign coup de grace: the New Hampshire primary. But Josh Lederman of The HIll writes that with pitfalls presenting themselves in seemingly every direction, the pressure on the front-runner is rapidly intensifying. Click here for the story.

Dan Balz of the Washington Post points out that there has been one consistent reservation many Republican voters — and others — have expressed about Romney. They question his authenticity. They don’t know if they can trust him. They wonder who he really is. Click here for the story.

Writing on op-ed piece for the New York Times, Bill Keller lays out the scenario he believes gives President Obama the best chance to win a second term. Click here for the story.

 

Is GOP race over? Or will Iowa make a difference?

Posted by dcrim – December 27, 2011

With a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, the biggest question is which GOP candidates will survive to fight another day. As Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin note, all the candidates dream of finishing at the top of the pack, but where the losers place and whether they drop out or valiantly trudge ahead could be as significant as who comes in first. Click here for the story.

Nate Silver of the New York Times us bullish on the prospects of Mitt Romney: “ … for him to fail to win the nomination, someone else has to, and it’s hard to see who that is.” Click here for the story.

Peter Beinart writes that Ron Paul isn’t just stirring controversy, he’s threatening to expose profound divisions within the GOP.  Beinart details how the libertarian upstart could change the Republican Party in 2012.

USA Today reports that starting federal salaries have soared the past five years.