Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) was an orphan before being adopted by a couple in Pittsburgh. His adoptive mother struggled with alcoholism. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was born in Hawaii to a Kenyan-born economist who was educated at Harvard and a white woman from Kansas. He grew up in Indonesia before returning to the United States and eventually…
OK, it’s that time of year again when we can all vote for the best and worst candidates and campaigns. Here are my nominees: Please Don’t Ever Run Again • Francine Busby (D-Calif.) • Patty Wetterling (D-Minn.) • Bill Gluba (D-Iowa) • Bill Weld (R-N.Y./Mass.) Analysis: All of these candidates have had their chances, and each has demonstrated…
How’d we do? Not bad. Not bad at all. For the Senate, we pretty much hit the nail on the head. In our last issue before the election, we wrote: “While Senate control is in doubt, with anything from a 51-49 Republican Senate to a 52-48 Democratic Senate possible, we do not think the two sides have an…
I’ll bet that Rep. Tom Cole, a conservative Republican from Oklahoma and the new chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean of Vermont agree on very little. But they are singing from the same songbook when they argue that there are dozens of House seats ripe for the picking if only…
The November 29, 2006 print edition of the Rothenberg Political Report is on its way to subscribers. To read the complete analysis of the two runoff races, you must subscribe. Texas 23: The Lone RangerBy Nathan L. Gonzales Republicans are still reeling from their losses and coming to grips with life in the minority. But one of their…
After every election, I offer a list of the best and worst, the most and the least. I started doing that the other day, but I ended up filling an entire column with a single category: The Worst Self-Inflicted Wound of 2006. I will get back to a more exhaustive list of the best and worst campaigns and…
This year was a busy one for ballot measures. But in many cases, voters weren’t buying what was on offer. Jennie Drage Bowser, who tracks ballot measures for the NCSL, identified 17 measures that sought to limit government, and of these, she was surprised to discover that only one passed. “The whole reason the initiative process was created…
It quickly has become conventional wisdom that last week’s Democratic House victory swept in a crop of moderate and conservative Democrats who’ll both keep party liberals in check and help remake the image of the party of former Vice President Al Gore, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and soon-to-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Well, I met dozens of Democrats…
Yes, I know. Leadership fights on Capitol Hill are the ultimate political insider contests. Voters don’t care about them, and once they are over, they are quickly forgotten. Having said that, Nancy Pelosi’s decision to pick a public fight with her second in command, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, is so incomprehensible, so politically stupid that it has raised…
In the past, it’s been the AFL-CIO against the Democratic Leadership Council. But not this year. This time, the conservative and moderate wings of the Republican Party have the pleasure of blaming and pointing fingers at each other for the party’s loss. The blame game remains a staple in Washington, D.C., but it has been elevated to an…