29 Tuesday Feb 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
Now seems to be the point in the epic duel for the GOP presidential nomination at which those who make it their business to analyze and interpret elections are throwing up their hands in confusion, and throwing themselves on the mercy of an electorate whose behavior has regularly confounded them. Although I have more than a few bruises from erroneous predictions this year, the course of events has been anything but chaotic. Let us review.
22 Tuesday Feb 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
In most presidential primary contests, a Democratic consultant once observed to me, there is a moment at which the front-runner stumbles and is vulnerable to being taken down – provided his opponent has the vision to see the moment and how to act when it arrives, as well as the resources to do the job. That challengers take down front-runners only once in a blue moon is testimony to how rare this combination is.
15 Tuesday Feb 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
There are, let’s face it, a number of Republicans who can’t stand John McCain and are very unhappy about the prospect of a runaway train delivering the GOP nomination to him. Now, in any campaign, especially a competitive one, political passions are going to run high. But the specific character of the antipathy toward Mr. McCain is worth looking into.
08 Tuesday Feb 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
Al Gore actually beat Bill Bradley rather narrowly in New Hampshire. But thanks to the nuclear warhead that went off on the GOP side, the vice president escaped most of the damage that Mr. Bradley’s show of continuing viability might have caused.
03 Thursday Feb 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
It’s hard to imagine a mightier blow to the Republican establishment than the one John McCain delivered in New Hampshire Tuesday. We now have a real and surprising experiment under way – whether a party establishment actually does have a decisive say in who wins the party’s nomination.
01 Tuesday Feb 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
New Hampshire is a state that, more often than not, behaves like a good, respectable citizen in deciding the winners in the nation’s first presidential primaries. The esteem in which these flinty “independent-minded” New Englanders are held has to do first and foremost with their ability to sort out the field and pick the winners. Bob Dole, running for the Republican nomination in 1996, took occasion to observe that the winning Republican in New Hampshire would end up the nominee. He based that statement on New Hampshire voters’ perfect record from 1968 to 1992 in bestowing victory upon the man who would go on to win the Republican nomination.
25 Tuesday Jan 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
The electorate is not exactly in open revolt over the tax bite of the federal government, now at its highest level ever as a percentage of GDP. Taxes rank well down on the list of issues voters say they want politicians to address.
18 Tuesday Jan 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
Presidential elections usually come down to competing visions of where we go from here. This election is somewhat complicated by the fact that “we” may not want to go anywhere, because “we” like “here” so much.
11 Tuesday Jan 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
John McCain’s momentum in his quest to derail front-runner George W. Bush’s bid for the GOP presidential nomination dissipated substantially over the past week. His problem was the charges that his stance on campaign finance reform was hypocritical in the light of his own actions, namely, writing letters urging a federal agency to act on a matter involving a contributor.
04 Tuesday Jan 2000
Posted in Washington Times
The Washington Times
Of all the political developments of the balanced budget era, the one that has made Democrats happiest is the absence of public clamor for a tax cut. The way this issue plays out this year, against the backdrop of a presidential campaign as well a struggle for control of the House of Representatives, will be fascinating politics.
Tod Lindberg 