In 2008, the Democratic Party blossomed into a successful alliance of the upscale and the downscale--wealthy and needy marching hand in hand, sharing animosity to George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. The extent to which Democrats are relying on the far extremes of the income spectrum is striking. Democrats have generally performed well among low-income voters in the past, but now, the...]]> Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500 A growing number of political scientists, analysts and strategists are making the case for a realignment of political power in the U.S. to a new Democratic majority based on two trends: 1) the increasing numbers of black and Hispanic voters, and 2) a decisive shift away from the Republican Party by the suburban and well-educated constituencies that once formed the backbone of the GOP.

Arguments supporting a Democratic realignment are based on well-researched population and voting data. Nonetheless, at a time when the economy remains in crisis and when international tensions are intensifying across the globe, any claim that Democratic (or Republican) ascendance is inevitable should...]]> Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Michelle Rhee, education chancellor of the District of Columbia -- in charge of the worst performing public school system in the nation -- has laid down the gauntlet before the Washington Teachers Union (WTU), declaring that she will unilaterally impose a new teacher evaluation system that will result in widespread dismissals of teachers who fail to meet minimum standards.

The District's public school system ranks at, or next to, the bottom on almost every measure of performance used by the U.S. Department of Education.

In 2005, the most recent year for which comparative data are available, more than half of all eighth graders in the District system, 52 percent, had below...]]> Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 "I just don't understand," said one key Obama transition aides who worked on the economic program, "how a group of A-level people could produce such a B-minus, C-plus product," referring to top economic advisers Larry Summers, Jason Furman, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia professor of economics and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize, is a firm believer in the necessity of a major stimulus package and described to the Huffington Post the measure before Congress as "much better than doing nothing. The alternative is massive job loss. [Even with the new spending in the bill], there will be large job loses, but there will be fewer." Stiglitz has reservations,...]]> Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0600 The controversies involving Blagojevich and Richardson demonstrate the continuing potential of "the politics of scandal" to undermine the ability of those in power to make policy and to govern on the basis of victory at the polls. Obama strategists appear determined to nip the current problems in the bud, concerned about avoiding the circumstances Benjamin Ginsberg and Martin Shefter describe in their book, Politics by Other Means: Politicians, Prosecutors, and the Press from Watergate to Whitewater:

[E]lections have become less decisive as mechanisms for resolving conflicts and constituting governments in the United States......Rather than engage in an all-out...]]> Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500 In a matter of just four years, Democrats converted the state house here in Denver from a 37-28 Republican majority to a solid Democratic bastion, 40-25. The state senate, which had a one-vote 18-17 Republican majority in 2004 now has a 20-15 Democratic majority. In 2006, Democrat Bill Ritter took over the governor's mansion, crushing his Republican opponent, Bob Beauprez, by a margin of 56-41.

The Brookings Institution has performed an in-depth analysis of the population, voting and other demographic trends in the four-state region that clearly demonstrates the dangers facing the GOP and...]]> Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500 The new ad follows McCain's July 22 charge that "Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign," and a recent commercial, "Troops," alleging that during Obama's overseas trip "he made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops," closing with, "John McCain is always there for our troops. McCain. Country first."

For McCain, negative ads have by and large been poorly conceived and minimally effective.

In 2000, his decision to go negative against George W. Bush was a crucial factor in McCain's eventual defeat.

On February 1 that year, McCain emerged as the 19-point victor in the New Hampshire primary, well-positioned to put a dagger...]]> Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Republican operatives, including Floyd Brown who engineered the infamous Willie Horton ad of 1988 are already gearing up. David Mark and Kenneth P. Vogel of Politico write:

Opposition researchers . . . hope they have found a weapon to wound Obama in his own voice as recorded for the Grammy-Award winning audio version of his 1995 memoir, Dreams from my Father. . . . In a passage describing his high school experience in Hawaii, for example, Obama explains the allure of drugs. "I kept playing basketball, attended classes sparingly, drank beer heavily, and tried drugs...]]> Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500