If at First Christine O’Donnell Does Not Succeed

She can always run again in 2012, when Delaware’s other Senate seat, held by Democrat Tom Carper, is up for a vote. But it won’t be much easier: Carper won with 70% of the vote in 2006. Update: This, from commenter acameronw, seems likelier: “Dancing With the Stars,” here she comes!

Pre-Election Travel And House Democrats’ Outrage Amnesia

A couple weeks back, I wrote about the coincidence of a non-political White House aide, Elizabeth Warren, appearing in a key swing district just a few weeks before the midterm elections. I was told by the Treasury Department, which arranged the trip, that there was nothing political about Warren’s choice of venue, which appears to [...]

Will Tom DeLay Go From Dancing With the Stars to Aging Behind Bars?

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay briefly redefined his public profile from ruthless Houston Machiavelli to goofy bad dancer. But it’s back to hardball politics now that the Hammer begins his Texas trial on conspiracy and money-laundering charges that could land him in jail for more than 100 years. The charges against DeLay are serious, [...]

In the Arena

The China Syndrome

According to the New York Times, the Obama Administration may be coming to the conclusion that China is more a strategic competitor than strategic partner. Certainly, the Chinese have been acting more aggressively toward their Asian neighbors and more disdainfully toward us–although I would imagine it’s still premature to say whether our future relationship will [...]

GOP Chairman: “I Am Absolutely for Transparency”

Readers will know that a central debate in the closing weeks of the 2010 campaign has to do with anonymous campaign contributions to independent political groups, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Crossroads, and whether the names of people and corporations giving those cash donations ought to be made public. That would require [...]

Ouch

As President Obama campaigns in Rhode Island today, the Democratic candidate for governor in the Ocean State, Frank Caprio, told a local radio station that Obama “can take his endorsement and really shove it.” That’s not a warm welcome! Obama has refused to endorse Caprio, who is leading — but barely — Republican John Robitaille [...]

Be Careful What You Wish for, Mr. Karzai

Hamid Karzai, confronted with an extremely embarassing story, angrily lashes out against the U.S.: Mr. Karzai made his remarks during a rambling, sometimes incoherent appearance at a news conference during which he accused the United States of funding the “killing” of Afghans by paying thousands of gunmen at private security contractors to guard buildings and [...]

Lost Home ≠ Lost Vote

In 2008, a scary, inaccurate adage made the rounds: Lose your house, lose your vote. It spread after the Michigan Messenger, a publication that described itself as “a coalition of long-time progressive bloggers, freelance writers and professional journalists,” reported that a local Republican group was planning to use lists of foreclosed homes to keep people [...]

When a Bank Fails

I have a longer piece in this week’s print and IPad editions on how the failure of a community bank in Cornelia, Georgia, has undermined the town’s confidence in government, the economy and itself. While the big banks have largely stabilized, small bank failures are still growing, and the piece addresses a few issues that [...]

The Tea Party and 2012

The WSJ looks past next Tuesday to what the Tea Party, such as it can be defined, wants from the next presidential election: [T]he movement’s rise has complicated matters for potential 2012 candidates by dividing the GOP into three camps. According to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, one third of Republicans say they [...]