The most important part of the new Rolling Stone interview with Barack Obama is probably what the president forgot to say. At the end of the talk with Jann Wenner and Eric Bates, after some chit chat about iPods, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne, the president got up and left the Oval Office. But then he [...]
On the heels of his successful campaigning for Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, helping her return from the dead to eke out a primary victory earlier this month, Bill Clinton has become very popular. The former president has over a hundred requests from congressional candidates on his desk. He’s especially in demand in the South and [...]
Not to beat a dead horse, but Republicans continue to write ominous memos and give cryptic quotes about the political danger House Democrats face if they pass the Senate health bill. They’re publicly naming names now in an effort to scare wavering or vulnerable House Democrats into voting against the bill. (Steve Driehaus and Nick [...]
This morning Ben Smith over at Politico floated the idea that billionaire Mort Zuckerman might challenge Kirsten Gillibrand for Hillary Clinton’s old Senate seat in New York. This evening in a post on the New York Daily News, a paper he owns, he says he’s not gonna run. With Harold Ford out as well, this [...]
Sure, it’s improbable, but — as Charlie Cook points out in my new time.com story out this morning — it’s now mathematically possible. After all, virtually no one predicted the Dems could win back the Senate in February 2006. On the bright side, I bet Russ Feingold breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when Tommy [...]
Here’s a slightly belated posting of a story that came out this morning on time.com on what Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan’s retirements could mean for Dems in 2010 and beyond. There’s the obvious silver lining for Democrats to Dodd stepping down: Richard Blumenthal has a much better shot at the seat. I’d say that [...]
Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, made the surprise announcement today that he would not seek reelection. His retirement moves North Dakota into the “toss up” category — a blow for Democrats in a state that will be tough defend (McCain won it with 53% of the vote). Dorgan had long been worried that North Dakota [...]
A story from me about the logjam of spending Congress will spend the next three weeks chewing through. The spending issue is becoming increasingly sensitive, especially since three Blue Dogs — fiscal conservative Dems who usually come from swing districts — have now announced their retirement. CW states that Dems weren’t likely to lose the [...]
House Republicans are starting to pull together an agenda for 2010. It’s not as sweeping as the Contract with America, or, even, Six for 06. But if you’re a small businessman with a commercial real estate problem or a company wondering how you’re going to pay for mounting unemployment insurance costs — than this plan’s [...]
