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January 29, 2010

A Populist Panacea? By Larry J. Sabato

I’ll admit it. I love populism. In my youth I was always drawn to populist candidates. For over eight months I’ve been predicting that 2010 would be the Year of the Populist, and this prediction has come true. Populism is the only approach that makes sense in this angry, miserable time full of resentful voters. A sincere populist identifies with, and advocates for, the needs of ordinary powerless people, who believe they are being screwed by big, impersonal institutions and elites.

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January 29, 2010

Dems Must Swing for the Fences or Lose By Froma Harrop

Is there a patriot in the house? Is there anyone in Washington who regards governing as a means to accomplish anything other than win the sterile game of Democrat versus Republican? Every day, American soldiers risk their lives for their country, but people in Congress won't even risk their jobs to pass legislation essential to the nation's economic future.

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January 28, 2010

The Proof's In The Poll Results Analysis By Scott Rasmussen

You know it’s a strange new world when Gary Langer, the director of polling at ABC, attacks a Democratic polling firm. By the way, the good folks at Public Policy Polling (PPP) took the attack in stride. The firm's Tom Jensen noted that “one of the most amusing things Langer and others in his cohort claim is that polls should not be judged by their accuracy.”

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January 28, 2010

Hope in the Deep Freeze By Joe Conason

On the eve of his first State of the Union Address, Barack Obama confided that he would "rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president." But his proposal to freeze domestic spending is exactly the kind of policy that could result in four years of stagnation -- rewarded by an election defeat at the hands of dispirited and disillusioned voters. If he continues to surrender his mandate, he just might become a mediocre one-term president.

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January 28, 2010

For Democrats, It's Time To Worry By Rhodes Cook

For Democrats, it is officially time to worry. The party's gubernatorial losses in Virginia and New Jersey last fall could be partially explained away as the states' usual off-year swing to the "out" party.

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January 28, 2010

Dems Fall as Fast as Nixon Republicans in 1974 By Michael Barone

Republican Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts' special Senate election was for Democratic leaders a moment that can be described in two words, of which I will only print the first here, which is "oh."

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January 27, 2010

On the Road to Economic Damascus? By Lawrence Kudlow

Stocks shrugged it off yesterday, but I’d like to commend President Obama for his three-year budget freeze plan. That's right. It gives me good old-fashioned, American patriotic State of the Union pleasure to praise the president when he does good.

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January 27, 2010

Focus on the Family By Susan Estrich

CBS will air an ad during the Super Bowl in which college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam Tebow, discuss her decision not to have an abortion despite doctors’ advice to do so. The news is creating precisely the stir that its sponsor, the Christian conservative group Focus on the Family, was almost certainly hoping for.

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January 27, 2010

Repeal the 17th Amendment By Tony Blankley

As I was preparing to write a column on the ludicrous maligning of the Tea Party movement by liberals, Democrats and the mainstream media (which I hope to write next week, instead), I started thinking about one of the key objectives of the Tea Party people -- the strict enforcement of the 10th Amendment ("The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people").

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January 26, 2010

Pentagon Clueless on Fort Hood Shootings By Debra J. Saunders

Political correctness is alive in the Pentagon. Witness "Protecting the Force: Lessons from Fort Hood," a Department of Defense report released last week on the Nov. 5 shootings that left 13 people dead.

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January 26, 2010

Criticism of 'Avatar' More Interesting Than Film By Froma Harrop

Somewhere between "Avatar's" first billion-dollar gross and its subsequent $841 million take lie my 10 bucks. "Avatar" is about blue-skinned beings who confront Earthlings actively strip mining their natural paradise on the moon Pandora.

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January 25, 2010

Time for a Change at the Fed By Lawrence Kudlow

What exactly did Ben Bernanke promise Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid? That’s the big question right now. Reid reluctantly endorsed Bernanke after a one-on-one meeting. Here’s what Reid said, according to the Las Vegas Sun: “I made it clear that to merit confirmation, Chairman Bernanke must redouble his efforts to ensure families can access the credit they need to buy or keep their home, send their children to college, or start a small business.”

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January 25, 2010

Voters Spurn the 'Boob Bait' of the Educated Class By Michael Barone

When the New York Times columnist David Brooks first sat down with Barack Obama, they talked a lot about Burke. That's Edmund Burke, the 18th century conservative British politician and philosopher. Not Jimmy Burke, the 20th century Massachusetts pol, who said that all you had to know to serve in Congress was "Social Security and shoes."

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January 23, 2010

Harold Ford’s Big Ambition By Susan Estrich

I like Harold Ford. The former congressman and senatorial candidate from Tennessee is bright, articulate and attractive. But that doesn’t mean he should be the senator from New York.

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January 22, 2010

Are Republicans Listening to the Scott Brown Message? By Lawrence Kudlow

Sen. Scott Brown’s epic victory in Massachusetts on Tuesday night dealt a crushing blow to Obamacare, cap-and-trade, card check (and other union favors), and most importantly, all the tax hikes that are lingering on the table. But does Washington really understand the Scott Brown message?

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January 22, 2010

Obama’s “Kiss of Death” In Massachusetts By Howard Rich

It’s been a time of Tea parties throughout America, but did anyone really believe that the limited government movement that’s sweeping across the country would arrive at the site of the original Tea party so soon?

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January 22, 2010

Little Guy Sends Message to Washington: Drop Dead By Michael Barone

The final percentages aren't in as this is written, but it's plain that Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley by a substantial margin in the race for the remainder of the late Edward Kennedy's Senate term. In Massachusetts. The state that in the last four presidential elections has voted on average 61 percent Democratic and 33 percent Republican. That's a bigger margin than in any other state.

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January 22, 2010

Obama’s First Year By Larry J. Sabato

As we look back on a tumultuous first year for President Barack Obama, three questions matter. What have we learned about him? What has he learned about his job? And how much does the first year foretell about the Obama presidency?

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January 21, 2010

No Obama Obituaries, Please By Joe Conason

Having taken the oath of office just one year ago, Barack Obama is a flashing meteor that sputtered out too soon -- or so the national media narrative tells us. According to this story line, the young president is a presumptuous liberal who disappointed his own idealistic followers while irritating everyone else.

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January 21, 2010

The Bay State's Voter Revolt By Debra J. Saunders

There are two ways to look at Republican Scott Brown's pivotal victory in the Senate race to represent Massachusetts. The voters looked at runaway spending in Washington and the corrupt deals cut to grease the support of key Democratic senators, government workers and Big Labor for Obamacare, and said, "Enough."

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