At the annual Rolling Thunder event in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Sarah Palin will kick off a week-long tour of U.S. historical sites. She will be accompanied by her husband Todd and daughter Piper. “The tour will originate in …
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“Pizzazz” Trumps Record?
After receiving an “A” from the Cato institute in 2010 for his record as governor of Minnesota, you might think that members of the libertarian think tank would be excited by the prospect that Tim Pawlenty, who outperformed Mitch Daniels and Haley Barbour in that basic policy test last year, remains in the running for the 2012 Republican …
NY-26: Voters 1, Courageousness 0
So what did the GOP loss in NY-26 really mean? For the Republicans trouble, and an opportunity to pivot to a better message as they face the 2012 elections. First, it is indeed true that special elections are not reliable …
Palin’s Arizona Headquarters?
Arizona’s rocky red deserts are certainly a long way from Lake Lucille in Wasilla, Alaska. But, if the reports are true, it looks like Sarah & Todd Palin may have just bought themselves a new second home.
Get Rich Quick! Arbitrage Washington’s Debt Limit Dance
The debt-limit debate is fascinating on many levels. It’s a big deal because a default by the U.S. government would create an unthinkable mess. It’s also a window into the Republican Party’s continuing efforts to defy …
Pawlenty’s Torpedo of Truth
“Truth” is the theme of Tim Pawlenty’s campaign kickoff this week, and while much of his message isn’t taboo shattering–the former Minnesota governor’s warnings about the debt and so-far-vague talk of reforming entitlements aren’t particularly audacious–his challenge to the politically sacrosanct $7 billiion in annual federal subsidies …
House Republicans’ “Clean” Debt Ceiling Vote
The GOP majority in the House is poised to move ahead with a vote on a no-strings-attached $2.4 trillion increase of the federal borrowing limit next week. Treasury Department officials have been warning Congress for months that the government is coming dangerously close to scraping up against the debt ceiling, risking market catastrophe …
New York’s Extra Special Election: A Wake-Up Call for the GOP?
The blizzard of attack ads, the waves of outside money and the phalanx of national operatives and press descending on New York’s 26th district all attest to the fact that Tuesday’s special election has taken on special meaning. …
What Pawlenty Said
The Democratic National Committee has been having fun with my recent profile of Tim Pawlenty–specifically by bashing him, as this video does, for allegedly responding “I don’t know, I wish I had a good answer for you” when I asked him why he’s running for President.
But that’s a distortion of our exchange.
Pawlenty’s Truth
Having just finished a big profile of Tim Pawlenty, I thought I’d offer some thoughts on his Official Announcement Day. The first is that his timing couldn’t have been more fortuitous: Mitch Daniels did Pawlenty a huge favor by passing on the GOP race this weekend, leaving the political world to focus on a thus-far overlooked candidate …
Gingrich Spins Himself as an Outsider, Thanks the Washington Press Corps
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich thanked the Washington press corps on Monday for grilling him on his shifting positions on Paul Ryan’s budget – he called Ryan last week to apologize for calling it “radical” – and for exposing a one-time loan from Tiffany’s for upwards of $500,000 in 2005-2006. “I can’t thank the …
Enter the GOP Understudy: Tim Pawlenty’s 2012 Challenges
A few thoughts on Day Zero of the Tim Pawlenty for President campaign. First, Pawlenty is a serious candidate who, unlike many in the race, can actually be nominated. I put him in the current Gang of Three most likely nominees, …
Reality Bites: The GOP After Daniels, and After 2012
The most important political story of the Obama era has been the Republican Party’s growing defiance of reality—its denial of climate science, its denunciations of Medicare cuts while proposing Medicare cuts, its …