Most people have hobbies: golf, model trains, restoring old cars, whatever. A year after Ron Paul announced his Republican presidential bid, I have concluded that his supporters must not do these things. They can’t possibly have …
2012 Election
Bashing Bain: Why Obama’s New Attacks on Romney Might Not Work
At Barnard, President Obama Is Optimistic, Blames The Messenger
Don’t believe the hype. That was President Obama’s message to Barnard College’s 2012 graduating class. Though he used more words:
This recession has been more brutal, the job losses steeper. Politics seems nastier. Congress more gridlocked than ever. Some folks in the financial world have not exactly been model corporate citizens. No
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Ron Paul Stops Active Campaigning, Vows Continued Delegate Fight
Ron Paul on Monday announced he will scale back his already diminished presidential campaign, effectively ending his longshot bid for the Republican nomination.
In an e-mail that took the tone of a valedictory, the libertarian …
The Politics of the JPMorgan Mess: A Footnote for Obama and Romney’s Existing Attacks
Forget the particulars of JPMorgan’s $2 billion blunder, if it might have been stopped by a robust Volcker Rule or who would’ve done what differently. Here’s what you need to know about how the incident relates to the …
Romneyland Springs Leaks on Foreign Policy
I’ve seen some recent praise for the discipline of the Romney campaign, which has generally proven effective at hewing to its core message and preventing internal strife from leaking to the media. David Sanger’s fascinating …
Six Months Out, President Obama’s Campaign Still Faces Stiff Headwinds
The week began here on Swampland with Mark Halperin’s optimistic dispatch from Chicago, “Why The Obama Campaign Is Confident About Beating Romney.” So perhaps it is appropriate that the week get bracketed by a report by William …
Scott Walker on Tape: Budget Bill Was ‘Divide and Conquer’
With a month to go before Wisconsin’s gubernatorial recall vote, Democrats’ case against Scott Walker is less about collective bargaining policy itself than the notion that the governor masked his intentions to limit it as part …
A President Is Not a Savior
I’m not sure what to think about the charge that Mitt Romney bullied and maybe traumatized a student at his prep school. It’s a terrible story–but it was a long time ago.Today Romney seems like a solid family man who, from what I can tell, treats people well, even if he might have a latent temper. (But show me ten high-powered …
In Defense of Mitt Romney, High School Bully
Jason Horowitz’s story in the Washington Post on Mitt Romney’s teenage years is a first-rate piece of reportage. The portrait of a high school class in 1965 is laced with anecdotes about the posh prep school’s social dynamics and …
The Bully Pulpit
Sometimes you feel an otherworldly–perhaps even divine–presence in the affairs of humankind. Today we have the astonishing juxtaposition of President Obama’s awkward, belated embrace of gay marriage, and the painful Washington Post story about Mitt Romney’s days as a bully at the ritzy Cranbrook School in Detroit. In the end, I …
Gay Marriage in the Swing States: Where Will Obama’s ‘Evolution’ Matter?
The electoral risks of President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage are difficult to game out. The positive national trend line in support of the concept is apparent, but its slope is gradual, and many assessments of the …
In Gay Marriage Reversal, President Obama Faces Risk on All Sides
Barack Obama never did much to hide the fact that he was wobbly on his opposition to gay marriage. As far back as 2006, he wrote in the book that would be a blueprint for his presidential campaign that “as a christian” he would …