THE NEW REPUBLIC | Politics

POLITICS

Saturday, September 06, 2008

The Disillusioned Activist: The Most Important Thing To Know About Obama's Community Organizing Past Is Why He Quit.
by John B. Judis
In late October 1987, Barack Obama and Jerry Kellman took a weekend off from their jobs as community organizers in Chicago and traveled to a conference...

Why Run An Honest Campaign When Being Sarcastic Is So Much More Fun? Well, Duh.
by Michael Crowley
It's hard to remember now, but there was a time when John McCain was widely viewed as a pretty earnest guy. His best-selling books are written in a ...

The Dangerous Consequences Of McCain's Hard-Line View On Iraq
by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon
At a stop on July 22 in Rochester, New Hampshire, Senator John McCain was asked a series of questions about the American troop presence in Iraq. As he...

Friday, September 05, 2008

The Crusade To Nowhere: When McCain Says That He Will 'reform Washington,' What In Tarnation Does He Mean?
by Bradford Plumer
John McCain hit the "reform" theme hard in his speech last night, but I couldn't help but wonder: What does McCain actually plan to change about government...

McCain--Still A Bush Republican
by Jonathan Cohn
How did it play politically? Will it energize the base? Will it make swing voters swoon? As usual, your guess is as good as mine--or any of the pundits...

The GOP's Nostalgia Trap: Why Ronald Reagan Won't Win This Election
by Michael Schaffer
Watching the first night of the truncated Republican National Convention, you could be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled upon C-SPAN coverage of ...

Republicans Think 'Community Organizers' Don't Create Much Change. Barack Obama Actually Agrees With Them.
by John B. Judis
In late October 1987, Barack Obama and Jerry Kellman took a weekend off from their jobs as community organizers in Chicago and traveled to a conference...

No, Bristol Shouldn't Marry Levi, And Other Wisdom From An Advice Columnist To The Palin Family
by Margo Howard
I have been asked what advice I might have for the Palin family. For the record, no Palin (nor Levi Johnston, for that matter) has written in. But the...

Why McCain's Maverick Claim Is Such A Hard Sell This Year
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
ST. PAUL, Minn.--Once upon a time, John McCain promised to be a different kind of politician and a different kind of Republican. He was about straight...

Thursday, September 04, 2008

The Bromantic Comedy That Is John McCain And Lindsey Graham
by Eve Fairbanks
Traveling with any presidential campaign is exhausting. But it may be most exhausting to hit the road as a buddy of John McCain, because, along with...

Seven Years After 9/11, John McCain Still Doesn't Get the War on Terrorism
by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon
tk

Think Palin Was A Selfless Reformer Crusading Against Big Oil? Think Again.
by Nate Silver
Upon announcing her bid for Alaska's governorship in October 2005, Sarah Palin made a solemn pledge to 'put Alaskans first'...

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Sarah's Big Test: The Issues Palin Needs To Address In Her Make-Or-Break Speech Tonight
by Michael Crowley
Nothing Sarah Palin says tonight ought to have much bearing on the question of whether she's qualified to be vice president. But as a political matter...

Look Who's Running On Biography Now
by Jonathan Cohn
Early on in the long, contentious Democratic primaries, Barack Obama was guilty of running a campaign based too heavily on biography and vague promises...

No Manufacturing. No New Ideas. What's Our Economy Based On?
by Joseph Stiglitz
More than 75 years ago, confidence in the market economy got a rude shock as the world sank into the Great Depression. Adam Smith had said that the ...

Is McCain A Maverick? Healer? Demagogue? The Republicans' Schizophrenic Second Night
by David Kusnet
John McCain canceled most events on the first night of the Republican National Convention and promised no partisan political rhetoric. He didn't say anything...

Why The Religious Right Doesn't Care About Bristol Palin's Pre-Marital Sex
by Alan Wolfe
When John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate, he was thinking only of short-term advantage. In reality, his pick not only increases the chances...

Dispatch From St. Paul: How Conservatives Are Hijacking McCain's Convention--And Possibly His Chances At Victory
by John B. Judis
ST. PAUL, MN: As a rule, political candidates begin moving to the center on Labor Day, but John McCain has continued to focus on solidifying his rightwing...

Dad's Not On The Ticket, But The Romney Boys Are Still Doing SUPER!
by Seyward Darby
With Mitt Romney slated to speak at the Republican convention tonight, the question on (at least some) people's minds is what a certain Romney quintet...

Exclusive--And Biting--Q&A With Alaska GOP State Senator On Palin: 'I Wake Up And I Think About This And I Think, 'This Can't Be.' It's Just Surreal.'
by Eric Zimmermann
Lyda Green, it turns out, had some interesting observations about Sarah Palin too.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

McCain '08: The Most Sarcastic Presidential Campaign Ever
by Michael Crowley
It's hard to remember now, but there was a time when John McCain was widely viewed as a pretty earnest guy. His best-selling books are written in a ...

The TNR Q&A: Liberal Is A Word 'Rich People On Television Use To Divide And Conquer' And Other Life Lessons From Charles Barkley
by Isaac Chotiner
With the political season kicking into high gear, it seemed like the right time for another chat with Sir Charles Barkley. Over the past year, he has ...

Drink Up, My Friends: The Only Republican Convention Drinking Game That Matters
by Jeremy Bronson and Daniel Chun
Experience is a central theme in this election--and like the candidates, we'd like to trumpet ours. Based on our proven track record as writers of one...

Monday, September 01, 2008

How Gustav Could Benefit the Republicans
by Nate Silver
The conventional wisdom seems to hold that Hurricane Gustav, expected to make landfall at some point within the next 12-24 hours, could quite literally...

The Season's Hot Political Accessory? A Redemption Narrative.
by Eve Fairbanks
The Clintons -- Bill in particular -- stage-managed their redemption at last week's Democratic convention. Their coyness regarding Obama, dramatically...

Comparing Conservative Reactions To Harriet Miers And Sarah Palin Exposes A Rot Within The Republican Party
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
ST. PAUL, Minn.--By all rights, there should be a revolt at this week's Republican convention against John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running...

'Reason, If Not Honor, Demands That We Go To The Rescue Of Europe In Tbilisi'
by Bernard-Henri Levy
The future of Russia's excursion in Georgia remains to be determined. But some conclusions can already be drawn.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

McCain's Dangerous Folly
by J. Peter Scoblic
It may be John McCain's birthday, but it seems like he's the one giving out gifts today. The selection of Palin doesn't simply, as others have pointed...

What The Palin Pick Means For Evangelicals
by Alan Wolfe
With John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin, none of the major candidates for national office in 2008 will be from the South. Of course one of them, Palin...

Why Feminists Should Be Angry About The Palin Nomination--And What They Should Do About it
by Michelle Cottle
We're all assuming that McCain picked Palin in an attempt to exacerbate friction between Obama and all those heart-broken Hillary dead-enders--maybe even...

Was Obama's Unabashedly Liberal Speech Too Risky?
by Jonathan Cohn
Four years ago in Boston, I watched Barack Obama deliver perhaps the most perfect speech I'll ever see. It was full of soaring imagery and lyrical prose...

Before Palin, Obama Gave A Speech. It Was Kind Of A Big Deal. Here's What Our Top Editors And Writers Had To Say About It

John Judis claims Obama's speech was just what the doctor ordered, hitting on change, American promise, and the idea of 'one America.'

The Drama! The Tension! The Passion! A Playwright's Take On The Democratic Convention
by Christopher Durang
Because I'm a playwright, I was asked to look at the Democratic Convention as a "theatrical event." Let me start as if I were a critic: Hooray! Boffo! ...

TNR TV Goes To The Conventions: Interviews, Debates, And Exclusive Behind-The-Scenes Features
by The Editors
TNR TV

Friday, August 29, 2008

How Obama Finally Made "Change" Relevant To The General Election
by John B. Judis
I have heard Barack Obama deliver speeches better, but in this acceptance speech, Obama did exactly what he needed to do to set the stage for the fall...

Why It Will Take More Than Being The 'Historic Candidate' For Obama To Beat McCain
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
DENVER--For months, the magic that once surrounded Barack Obama's presidential candidacy was lost in a fog of petty politics: the negative ads, the ...

Obama Steals A Page From Reagan's Playbook
by David Kusnet
Barack Obama's acceptance speech continued the shift in the campaign's message--started by Joe Biden last night--from the uplifting "change you can believe...

The Next President Will Be A Foreign Policy President, Whether He Likes It Or Not
by The Editors
Just when we thought we were out, they pull us back in. The Russian invasion of Georgia marks an end to American illusions about the obsolescence of...

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Avoiding A Long, Disappointing Fall
by John B. Judis
The Barack Obama campaign has been floundering. If he had a lead in the polls in late June--and the summer polls are notoriously fickly--he clearly lost...

The Democratic Convention Has Found Its Voice
by Michael Crowley
Walking into the Pepsi Center this afternoon I ran into a prominent elected official who’s also a strong Obama supporter. What did he think of the convention...

Why Political Speechmaking Sounds So Weird
by John McWhorter
If Abraham Lincoln were brought back to life, one thing that would throw him, other than electric power and the Internet, would be that audiences disrupted...

Obama's View Aren’t Easy To Characterize--So Stop Trying Already
by Cass R. Sunstein
In the last few weeks, a number of people on the left have expressed disappointment with Barack Obama. Obama has said that the death penalty may be ...

Bill, Biden, And The Art of Speaking To The Working Class
by David Kusnet
Wednesday night produced a subtle but significant alteration in the Democrats' message. Instead of "change you can believe in," Barack Obama now offers...

Georgia Dispatch: Now That The Fighting Has Stopped, The Propaganda Battle Begins
by Ben Judah
'Everybody out. You have 20 minutes to inspect this damage,' barks Alexander Machevsky, shock-trooper of the Kremlin's propaganda war in Georgia, as ...

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Bill Clinton's Former Speechwriter Considers Which Bill Clinton Will Show Up Tonight.
by David Kusnet
The unlikely presidential nominee grew up without knowing his biological father. He was raised by a single mom and, when she was away, by his grandparents...

In anticipation of "Securing America's Future" night at the DNC, the author of "Jarhead" and "Exit A" explains how Democrats can improve their standing with veterans.
by Anthony Swofford
When Tammy Duckworth takes the stage tonight for the DNC tribute to veterans, she’ll be representing not only veterans of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan...

Hillary Clinton, Reluctantly--And Persuasively--Making The Case For Obama
by Jonathan Chait
Hillary Clinton obviously doesn't like Barack Obama, and she's clearly hesitant about the prospect of him as president--either because she doesn't trust...

TNR TV: Live From Denver, TNR Editors Debate Hillary's Speech. Did She Go Far Enough? And Should We Care?
by Eve Fairbanks and Noam Scheiber
Live from the Democratic convention, TNR editors Noam Scheiber and Eve Fairbanks debate Hillary's speech: Did she go far enough in praising Obama? Will...

Hillary--Yes She Can
by Jonathan Cohn
Hillary Clinton is not a great orator. She speaks with mechanical precision, clear and direct and but usually bereft of emotion. She varies her volume...

The Democrats Strike Back
by Jonathan Cohn
Before the 2004 Democratic convention, I drafted a speech for a client. Intent on running a "positive" campaign, John Kerry's message-meisters scrubbed...

TNR BLOGS

The Confusing State of the Race
Posted 04:31 PM | 09.06.08

Today's Polls: The Bounce Cometh?
Posted 03:43 PM | 09.06.08

Today's Polls: McMentum-Palindemonium
Posted 08:32 PM | 09.05.08