“He has earned the trust of both Democrats and Republicans” and has a “reputation for integrity and fairness,” says the biography of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on his official Senate website. The self-congratulatory 1,566-word tribute, which includes praise from Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, and Parade magazine, also calls the Nevada Democrat a “consensus […]
Not too long ago, Democrats would have panicked if they had to defend a Senate seat in a state where their presidential nominee received 36 percent of the vote. But victories in North Dakota and West Virginia last year, and a strong cycle overall, have emboldened Democrats in the face of another familiar situation. But […]
Democratic insiders are hoping to avoid a primary to pick the party’s nominee for the special election to fill Democrat John Kerry’s eventual open Senate seat later this year. So, they have jumped on the Rep. Edward J. Markey bandwagon, hoping to anoint him as their nominee without much of a fight. But would a […]
We’ve just seen Round One in what amounts to a political heavyweight championship fight between Democrats and Republicans. Get ready for the next 11 rounds. Though they were unhappy with a package that included more spending and higher taxes on the wealthy, Republican realists understood that defending tax cuts for millionaires is never an ideal […]
As the end of the year approaches, it’s difficult not to see the two parties heading in very different directions. Democrats have emerged from the 2012 elections stronger, while Republicans look poorly positioned and divided. Politics, of course, is famous for its ups and downs, its unexpected twists and unforced errors. Because of that, it’s […]
Sen. Jim DeMint’s Senate successor has already been announced, but the influential political action committee he founded has no plans to replace him. The Senate Conservatives Fund helped vault the junior senator from South Carolina to the national stage when he founded it in 2008. But while DeMint’s resignation in January re-creates a vacuum that […]
Wow, what a political cycle. It was filled with twists, turns and surprises. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucuses — until he didn’t (almost two weeks after the actual balloting, when former Sen. Rick Santorum was certified as the winner). After finishing a distant fourth in Iowa and an even more distant […]
My last column included awards for a number of 2012 campaign and candidate categories, including the luckiest candidate and the biggest upset. But those only scratched the surface in an election year during which candidate quality mattered a great deal. Part II of my guide of the best and worst of the 2012 election cycle […]