There is a quiet battle underway within the Republican Party that may soon break out into the open - and it will heavily impact whether the GOP can continue as a national political party in the decades ahead.
The conflict is over how the Party will position itself with respect to the question of immigration reform - and just as importantly - the fastest-growing demographic group in country: Hispanic Americans.
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March 12, 2010
March 9, 2010
Liberal Media Again Serves Republican Interests
It happens all the time, of course. The "liberal" media, in its effort to be even-handed and to inoculate itself from the dreaded slander that it is liberal, engages in he-said/she-said journalism. This is at the expense of actually getting the story right, providing useful context or more generally providing the information necessary for individuals to make informed decisions about politics.
As but only the latest instance of this endless abdication of journalistic responsibility concerns coverage of the debate about the use of reconciliation to pass health care reform. As Jamison Foser detailed at Media Matters, when the GOP used reconciliation to "ram through" the Bush tax cuts of 2003 (at a cost of $1.8 trillion), the media barely mentioned the term.
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As but only the latest instance of this endless abdication of journalistic responsibility concerns coverage of the debate about the use of reconciliation to pass health care reform. As Jamison Foser detailed at Media Matters, when the GOP used reconciliation to "ram through" the Bush tax cuts of 2003 (at a cost of $1.8 trillion), the media barely mentioned the term.
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Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman: Running on Empty
First, there was the ridicule at Carly Fiorina's infamously creepy "wolf in sheep's clothing" ad attacking the credentials of her opponent in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate from California.
Now, Meg Whitman is running silly carnival-like ads attacking the credentials of her opponent in the Republican primary for California governor.
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Now, Meg Whitman is running silly carnival-like ads attacking the credentials of her opponent in the Republican primary for California governor.
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March 5, 2010
Pat Quinn: Bill Brady Is From The ‘Extreme Right Wing’
Following Bill Brady's declaration of victory in the GOP race for governor, Gov. Pat Quinn issued a statement ripping his contender for his ultra-conservative views.
Brady is considered by some to be too conservative for Illinois, though he has been dumping sponsorship of some widely unpopular bills possibly to avoid attacks from Democrats.
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Brady is considered by some to be too conservative for Illinois, though he has been dumping sponsorship of some widely unpopular bills possibly to avoid attacks from Democrats.
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March 4, 2010
WWCD: What Would Clinton Do?
The party of Lincoln has spoken. Secession-threatening Governor Rick Perry will get another shot at leading the nation's second largest state. If Democrats play this right, Perry's primary victory could prove to be a pivot point in the 2010 midterm elections.
To turn this year's punishing electoral environment to its advantage, the Democratic party might learn some lessons from the 1998 midterms, when their prospects seemed equally dismal. The sixth year of a two-term president is typically an awful year for his party in Congress. (Democrats lost 71 seats in the House in FDR's sixth year, for example.) But in 1998, the Democrats defied history and performed better than any similarly situated party since 1822. The GOP lost seats, in a voter backlash against Kenneth Starr's sexual witch-hunt and impeachment threats. Election analysis showed that the GOP handling of impeachment and the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal inclined the many anti-impeachment Independents and Republicans to either stay home or vote against the GOP. (The numbers were crunched by political scientist Alan I. Abramowitz, one of the nation's savviest election analysts.) Although polls from the start of the scandal consistently showed roughly two-thirds of voters opposing President Bill Clinton's resignation, against impeachment, and approving of the job he was doing as president, the GOP bulldozed ahead.
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To turn this year's punishing electoral environment to its advantage, the Democratic party might learn some lessons from the 1998 midterms, when their prospects seemed equally dismal. The sixth year of a two-term president is typically an awful year for his party in Congress. (Democrats lost 71 seats in the House in FDR's sixth year, for example.) But in 1998, the Democrats defied history and performed better than any similarly situated party since 1822. The GOP lost seats, in a voter backlash against Kenneth Starr's sexual witch-hunt and impeachment threats. Election analysis showed that the GOP handling of impeachment and the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal inclined the many anti-impeachment Independents and Republicans to either stay home or vote against the GOP. (The numbers were crunched by political scientist Alan I. Abramowitz, one of the nation's savviest election analysts.) Although polls from the start of the scandal consistently showed roughly two-thirds of voters opposing President Bill Clinton's resignation, against impeachment, and approving of the job he was doing as president, the GOP bulldozed ahead.
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Arianna On ‘Situation Room’: Don’t Bother To Pass Weak Financial Reform (VIDEO)
Arianna appeared on "The Situation Room" Wednesday evening along with CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen to discuss financial reform.
She said that the Senate shouldn't bother to pass a financial reform bill if it weakens the proposed consumer financial protection agency by putting it within the Fed. Arianna accused the White House of wasting time on financial reform in an effort to court GOP votes that could never have been gained. In their push for bipartisan interest, Arianna said that the White House lost control of the narrative on financial reform.
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She said that the Senate shouldn't bother to pass a financial reform bill if it weakens the proposed consumer financial protection agency by putting it within the Fed. Arianna accused the White House of wasting time on financial reform in an effort to court GOP votes that could never have been gained. In their push for bipartisan interest, Arianna said that the White House lost control of the narrative on financial reform.
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March 3, 2010
Sam Stein Discusses Bunning, Unemployment And Democratic Discord On The Ed Show (Video)
Sam Stein's appearance on Tuesday's edition of The Ed Show touched on Senators in both major parties, covering both GOP grandstanding and Democratic discord.
Asked about a lone Republican Senator blocking unemployment benefits, Stein explained the situation and how it resolved:
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Asked about a lone Republican Senator blocking unemployment benefits, Stein explained the situation and how it resolved:
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March 2, 2010
Conservative Politicians Challenged From The Right
Ronald Reagan who defined the term conservative for a generation was occasionally accused of not being conservative enough and liked to joke that sometimes his right arm didn't know what his far-right arm was doing. It was the kind of joke that let his friends on the far, far-right know that while he liked them all right, since he was in the business of governing he'd have to make strategic compromises from time to time that they wouldn't like. You've got to figure that Reagan would be chuckling at the prospect of conservative politicians being challenged from the right in GOP primaries this year.
In Texas, conservative Governor Rick Perry, regularly ridiculed by Chris Matthews for being for secession is being challenged from his right by Debra Medina. In California, Congressman Gary Miller's 91% conservative voting record in '09 from the American Conservative Union has not prevented him from getting a challenger from his right flank either in the form of CPA Phil Liberatore who complains that Miller bucked his party and voted for a large-scale federal response to the housing crisis.
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In Texas, conservative Governor Rick Perry, regularly ridiculed by Chris Matthews for being for secession is being challenged from his right by Debra Medina. In California, Congressman Gary Miller's 91% conservative voting record in '09 from the American Conservative Union has not prevented him from getting a challenger from his right flank either in the form of CPA Phil Liberatore who complains that Miller bucked his party and voted for a large-scale federal response to the housing crisis.
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