Except for Scott Brown in Massachusetts, Republicans have not had much luck with special elections to the 111th Congress. Dems have won all six of the races, including a Republican stronghold in New York’s 23rd district (who can forget the Dede Scozzofava mess?). Well, the GOP luck looks like it’s about to change: the Democratic …
Marshalled Opposition
Updated, see below.
Jay has a bit of RNC chair Michael Steele’s skeptical response to Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination, but there’s another facet in the full statement. He implicitly criticizes Kagan for her relationship with Thurgood Marshall, for whom she clerked early in her career (emphasis mine):
Given Kagan’s opposition to
…
First Reactions to Kagan’s Nomination
Clearly, President Obama’s choice of Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court came as no surprise to many. Reactions flooded my inbox before Obama was even done speaking. Here are some excerpts – in order that I received them – of statements reacting to Kagan’s nomination. Some interesting highlights: Mitch McConnell …
The Progressive Question: Is Kagan Liberal Enough?
Salon’s Glenn Greenwald, who has been writing critically of Elena Kagan for weeks, weighs in today with a zinger: “Nothing is a better fit for this White House than a blank slate, institution-loyal, seemingly principle-free careerist who spent the last 15 months as the Obama administration’s lawyer vigorously defending every one of his …
Winning the Immigration Lottery
Dems are still moving ahead with the legislation but here’s a story from me about why the GOP is unlikely to play this year. There’s actually more risk in the Democratic strategy than I’d previously seen: a lot of folks on both sides are concerned that the draft legislation thus far was released — the compromise that was being …
Morning Must Reads: Kagan
Photo by Ryan Kelly/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images
–Conventional wisdom played out; Obama will tap Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court. The White House is rolling out with a 10 a.m. ET event where the president and his pick are both expected to speak.
–Never having served on the bench, Kagan’s record is …
1,000 Words: Kagan Edition
Fox News and Politico, Sure. But Now President Obama Targets iTunes and Halo?
Today, in a commencement speech at Hampton University, President Obama expanded his definition of negative media information overload to include not just the 24/7 media but also Xbox and PlayStation.
You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments,
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In the ArenaUncategorized
Bennett Tea-Bombed
Sen. Bob Bennett is a standard-issue conservative, a reliable, down the line Party-of-No voter…who, on occasion, bestirred himself to cast a bipartisan vote–or, in one extremely admirable case, co-sponsor a bipartisan health care reform bill that was simpler, more equitable and more radical than than the mish-mosh that Congress passed …
In the ArenaAfghanistan
Karzai’s Coming
David Ignatius has a good account of the issues at stake as Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai arrives in Washington this week. I’d probably put a bit more emphasis on the reconciliation issue–to my mind, the big question this week is whether the President will give Karzai approval to begin formal talks with the Taliban. The U.S. military is …
The Call: Shaking Up The Establishment
This week’s podcast features Jay and Alex talking about Bob Bennett’s tough road to re-election, David Obey’s retirement and more. Enjoy:
Under Pressure
The final leg in the health reform debate marathon may seem like a distant memory. The media has been focused on financial reform, immigration reform and most recently, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the man who tried to bomb Times Square.
But some recent health care news provides good reason to look back on what pushed …
God Save the Queen
The Senate just went out until Monday and Washington is settling into an early start of what looks to be a quiet weekend (barring any more suspicious packages in Times Square). But on the other side of the Pond it looks like another crazy weekend as Britons sort out the results of Thursday’s elections and what to do with a hung …