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Robert Kuttner

Robert Kuttner is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, as well as a distinguished senior fellow of the think tank Demos. He was a longtime columnist for Business Week and continues to write columns in The Boston Globe. He is the author of Obama's Challenge and other books.

Recent Articles

A More Truthful Use of Political Props

Robert KuttnerDec 19, 2001

It was Ronald Reagan, that old trouper, who first started using as human props
ordinary Americans who would supposedly benefit from administration policies. We
became accustomed to seeing John and Mary Doe, the putative beneficiaries of tax cuts
and regulatory guttings, seated in the gallery at State of the Union addresses and other political
events.

Reagan also liked to identify himself with everyday heroes, who were regularly invited to White
House affairs.

Democrats, Block Those Bush Appointees

Robert KuttnerDec 19, 2001

Republicans now control the executive and legislative branches of government and
are aiming for a lock on the third branch, the federal courts. All that stands in their way
are 50 Democratic senators, 40 of whom can mount a filibuster. But will the Democrats
be as unified and as tough as the Republicans?

Bush Paid Dearly For Arrogance

Robert KuttnerDec 19, 2001

Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party just as the Senate was
completing action to approve President Bush's tax cut with only slight
modifications. While Jeffords's switch will help the Democrats slow down
Bush's juggernaut, it comes too late to block his single most revolutionary
victory.

Bad News for President Bush

Robert KuttnerDec 19, 2001

George W. Bush, the only presidential son since John Quincy Adams to serve as chief
executive, could emulate the Adams family in one other respect. Like Adams senior and Bush
senior, W. could well be a one-term president.

Recent polls bring nasty news for Bush. His approval rating has plummeted. Despite the generally
favorable media spin on his recent European trip - that world leaders were pleasantly surprised that he
wasn't a total moron - the public isn't buying it.

Forget Nice Talk:

Robert KuttnerDec 19, 2001

"I thought it was a very good speech, Dan ... everything about Bush's reaching out ... Let's hope he succeeds. It will be the best thing for the country.''

-- Bob Schieffer, CBS, Dec. 13

It's hard to know which part of the Wednesday night denouement was worse - Al Gore's feeble concession platitudes, George Bush's twitchy speech claiming the White House, or the cheesy media sanctimony. Most nauseating, I think, was the chorus of pundits asserting the need to put aside partisan rancor and "heal" the divided nation.

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