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Ned Hunter, 52, was the sixth person to sign up to volunteer for Herman Cain’s campaign in New Hampshire. “I remember seeing the sheet, all brand new,” he recalled. But in the last month, with all of the accusations of misconduct swirling around Cain – first charges of sexual harassment and then a woman who alleged a 13-year affair with the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO – Hunter has begun to question his support.
Herman Cain is fine form. The crowd of 150, toting matching signs and bumper stickers, recites the pledge of allegiance before settling in to watch a five-minute “movie” on Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan. When the self-described national frontrunner arrives with his motorcade and Secret Service detail – only 20 minutes late – the adoring crowd goes wild, breaking out in a standing ovation and shouts of “Amen!” Outside of time, place and context, this is the perfect political event.
Michele Bachmann abruptly canceled scheduled events in Iowa on Tuesday to do nine conservative and Christian radio programs. Her No. 1 topic? Newt Gingrich’s soft stance on immigration. Which candidate does this most help? Mitt Romney. Throughout the summer and fall, Romney has hardly needed to attack any of his rivals; Bachmann has done it [...]
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has made it no secret that she’s aiming to take back the House in 2012. And in recent weeks she seemed to make some progress, out-raising her GOP counterparts in September while the Republican freshman class fell behind in fundraising. But in recent weeks a herd of old bulls have [...]
There has never been much debate that Barney Frank is one of the smartest members of Congress. In another era his wit would’ve made him a daunting court philosopher who could’ve put Machiavelli to shame, or a sharp-tongued jester. Washington social rags have consistently named him one of the “funniest,” “wittiest” or “smartest” members of [...]
Let’s face it, Americans are angry. Whether they’re from the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, or even the silent majority, polls show they’re mad as hell with the political status quo. The problem is, if Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee – as it’s looking increasingly likely he will be – the 2012 election will [...]
Three months closer to an election year, Congress is proving every bit as dysfunctional as it was during the debt ceiling deal that created the supercommittee in August, and looming primaries – both presidential and congressional – have put bipartisan compromise even farther out of reach. Really, there should be no shock that the committee has failed – there were too many people who stood to benefit from its demise.
As the window of opportunity for Congress’s deficit-reduction supercommittee to do something big has passed – the Congressional Budget Office really needed to see language for a big bill by Thursday evening in order to score it by the Monday deadline – lawmakers spent more time figuring out how to blame each other than what to do next. It’s now worth asking: If they can’t find $1.2 trillion in savings, what happens next?
Twice this summer House Speaker John Boehner tried for a grand bargain on deficit reduction and twice the deal collapsed, in part because there just wasn’t support from within his own conference for the increased tax revenue that Democrats demanded. Fast forward three months, and Boehner is in much the same place.
As Capitol Hill enters a critical 48-hour stretch, the sense on the Hill is that momentum is gaining, however incrementally, for a supercommittee deal on deficit reduction. Negotiations kicked up a level as House Speaker John Boehner met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Tuesday morning. But whatever deal Reid and Boehner may strike, it [...]
