19 Tuesday Aug 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
California’s recall election scheduled for October [provided the courts don’t derail it] presents two interesting political tests. The first pushes at the limit of democratic republican governance [small r, small d]. The second tests the current political strength of partisans of traditional social conservatism within the GOP.
12 Tuesday Aug 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
It’s the middle of August, and if ever there is a right time for a little frivolity in a political column, such as this one, it’s the middle of August. So, here goes.
05 Tuesday Aug 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
The big news from a recent major survey of Americans’ views on religion and politics conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press is the growing “liberalization” of public opinion on social issues.
29 Tuesday Jul 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
As the Democratic presidential field, following Howard Dean’s lead, increasingly speaks in language designed to fire up the Democratic base, the party has developed a sharper edge on the attack against Republicans than it has displayed in years. One thing I have been wondering is whether the centrist wing of the party, as represented by the Democratic Leadership Council, would be modifying its pitch to accommodate, or perhaps, appease what everyone now agrees is the party’s leftward lurch in presidential politics.
22 Tuesday Jul 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Howard Dean phenomenon in the Democratic Party is now much bigger than the person of the candidate himself. Mr. Dean’s success in coming from nowhere and generating a wildly enthusiastic following among the Democratic base is now having the effect of driving the entire field of Democratic presidential aspirants to the left. By now, there is very little political space in which centrist Democrats of the Democratic Leadership Council and Progressive Policy Institute can operate. And so the question now is whether we aren’t getting close to something like a national consensus that Democrats should run a “progressive” campaign in 2004, sharpening differences between themselves and Republicans and running boldly and unapologetically to the left.
15 Tuesday Jul 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
I apologize for stating the obvious, but: It’s summer, folks. And summer has political consequences. The fact is that apart from the tiny minority of hard-core partisans and professional politics-watchers, Americans really don’t pay much attention to politics between the Fourth of July and Labor Day.
08 Tuesday Jul 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
Perfect weather for an all-American Fourth of July fireworks crowd: In the shank of the afternoon, a bright clear sky under a hot sun with the softest of breezes as people unfolded their blankets and chairs in front of the stage, tucked into the bounty of festival food and listened to pop and soul until darkness fell, the air cooled and the sky lit up.
01 Tuesday Jul 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
Historians will mark the administration of George W. Bush as the point at which the so-called social issues, long a galvanizing feature of American partisan politics, finally lost their sting. The Supreme Court’s rulings upholding diversity as a compelling government interest and striking down the remaining state anti-sodomy laws join the early Bush administration decision allowing stem-cell research to go forward. The trinity [as it were] of decisions leave those whose top priority has been the preservation of a certain traditional public morality now essentially voiceless in electoral politics. The Republican Party has moved on.
24 Tuesday Jun 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been on a steep learning curve on the subject of its own power and role in the world. In the rush of events, it’s easy to lose sight of how much has changed and how slow we have sometimes been in understanding it. Only now, I think, as we deal with the aftermath of Iraq, is the picture of our recent past coming clearly into focus.
17 Tuesday Jun 2003
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
The famous formulation attributed to National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice about how to handle recriminations for the diplomatic crackup prior to the Iraq war goes as follows: Forgive Russia, ignore Germany, punish France. In Ankara, the capital of Turkey, where a badly fractured parliament narrowly voted against providing access to U.S. ground troops for a massive northern front against Iraq, thereby forfeiting perhaps $24 billion in U.S. assistance, Miss Rice’s formulation has a certain existential resonance.
Tod Lindberg 