For Democrats, 2010 is ending on a low note. The party’s circular firing squad over the tax cut deal didn’t help the party’s image, the economy doesn’t yet show signs of a strong enough rebound to bring down unemployment and potential foreign policy problems continue to loom just over the horizon. The next year is likely to be…
Many House Democrats apparently figure that November’s elections had nothing to do with them, their agenda or their leadership. Sure, their party lost 63 House seats, with voters more than wiping out the Democratic gains from 2006 and 2008 and rejecting their argument that the election was a choice between going “forward” with Democrats or going “backward” with…
In the summer of 2000, Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley appeared on the cover of the Democratic Leadership Council’s magazine. A decade later, O’Malley was re-elected to a second term as governor of Maryland and is the new chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. O’Malley was one of the “100 new Democrats who are changing the face of the…
Every year, I look back and nominate a number of politicians, campaigns and politically related entities as the “best,” “worst” or even “weirdest” of the cycle. I’m doing it again this year, because — let’s be honest — it’s a way of combining political analysis with personal animosity. So here are my finalists for various categories. Please send…
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Russ Feingold’s reputation as a maverick and clever campaign ads were supposed to insulate him from the national wave that swept out dozens of his Democratic colleagues. But after 18 years in office, the shine had worn off the Wisconsin Democrat’s independent image, Feingold’s ads this year were remarkably average, and…
A little more than a year ago, I wrote a column in this space (Will the Buckeye State Swing Back to the GOP in 2010?, Oct. 22, 2009) that noted Ohio’s bellwether reputation and suggested the state could see a major effort by a rejuvenated Republican Party to regain some of the ground it lost over the two…
Every election cycle, a few candidates and campaigns stand out as remarkable for their absurdity, their outrageousness, their futility or their sheer gall. They need to be recognized. No, I’m not talking about a campaign that proves to be remarkable for its weak fundraising (such as Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Lee Fisher) or that runs a weird ad…
Ever since Barack Obama uttered the words “awesome God” in his 2004 convention speech, Democrats embarked on a multiyear journey to convince voters of faith. But any inroads Democrats made with religious voters over the past four years were essentially washed away in this year’s midterm elections. Voters of all religious persuasions were consumed by the economy and…
As Republicans, Democrats and journalists discuss the meaning of this year’s midterm elections, it’s become clear to me that many of questions they ponder present false choices that obscure the lessons of Nov. 2. Here are some of them: Question No. 1: Were the 2010 midterms “about” jobs and the economy, or about the Democratic agenda of health…