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The narrative arc you’re likely to hear on this Tuesday in early November is that today begins the yearlong countdown to the 2012 presidential contest. But Tuesday’s slate of off-year elections and ballot measures is laden with its own share of drama. From Maine to Washington, voters in seven states will head to the polls [...]
At the height of the Tom DeLay-era, Jack Abramoff was probably Washington’s most influential and lucratively paid lobbyist. He was brash and brazen, displaying a Hollywood swagger long before they made a movie about him. Then Abramoff was exposed as a fraud, a liar and a creep of the first order–someone who effectively stole millions [...]
Herman Cain had a bad week last week. This week, there are pictures. On Monday, a fourth woman accused Cain of sexually inappropriate behavior during his tenure with the National Restaurant Association. Represented by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, Sharon Bialek was revealed to the media in a live-television press conference, putting a name and face [...]
Celebrity is not the only area of American life that the media has turned into an ontological head scratcher. Just look at Sarah Palin, Donald Trump and Herman Cain, three political leaders who make headlines just about every day. They are political leaders whose main claim to that title derives only from the successes of their own leadership-selling operations. Take away the reporters, the television cameras, the book deals and the speaking fees, and there is little left.
Michael Crowley’s excellent analysis of recent Pew data on the yawning chasm between the values of Millennials and those of the “Silent Generation” provides a compelling Theory of Everything for this political moment: Cultural trends in technology, immigration and race have driven older, whiter Americans further to the right, and their younger, more diverse peers [...]
From Herman Cain’s and Newt Gingrich’s pay-per-view book promotion forum over the weekend:
Cain’s favorability takes a hit in one poll. Down or sideways, his ascent has been arrested. Romney’s doing well with Walmart moms. Paul Ryan approves of his fiscal plan. Romney tries the earbuds trick to get out of chitchat while flying coach.
The GOP is fixated on tax cuts even though they increase the deficit and necessitate politically-toxic spending cuts. To a large degree, the 2012 election will hinge on how Republicans resolve that tension.
TIME’s photo editors bring you the best pictures of the past week from the Beltway and beyond.
