August 2008

The Palin Gamble
By choosing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential nominee, Senator John McCain has put a gimmick on his ticket: An idea rather than a politician with the legitimate credentials to be vice-president, much less to replace McCain as president.
August 29, 2008 | By Tim Fernholz | web only

McCain's Sexist VP Pick
The GOP seems to think women will eagerly vote for any ticket that includes a member of their gender. That's Republican tokenism and pandering at its worst.
August 29, 2008 | By Ann Friedman | web only

Obama Goes Beyond Oratory
The most poetic speaker in modern politics has descended to prose -- and to great effect. In Thursday's speech there were echoes of some of the greatest, most plain-speaking Democratic presidents.
August 29, 2008 | By Harold Meyerson | web only

Party People
A collection of the Prospect's interviews with activists, delegates, and politicians during the Democratic National Convention.
August 29, 2008 | By Dana Goldstein, Mark Schmitt, Thomas F. Schaller and Ezra Klein | web only

John Kerry, Foreign Policy Warrior
Wednesday night, Kerry moved beyond his failed presidential bid and offered the critique of John McCain that Democrats long needed to make.
August 28, 2008 | By Matthew Yglesias | web only

Biden's Plain-Spoken Genius
In his speech accepting the vice-presidential nomination, Joe Biden kept it simple -- no grand themes. This may be just the shot in the arm the Democratic ticket needs.
August 28, 2008 | By Ezra Klein | web only

Labor: United and Divided
A fractured labor movement is throwing everything into its campaign for Barack Obama.
August 28, 2008 | By Harold Meyerson | web only

Democrats in Daylight
The convention is all about party unity -- so does it matter that everyone is still hanging out with his or her usual ideological cohorts?
August 27, 2008 | By Mark Schmitt | web only

The Speech Progressives Have Been Waiting For?
Let's hope in his acceptance speech Obama includes a full-throated endorsement of progressivism.
August 27, 2008 | By Paul Waldman | web only

What Hillary Means Now
Hillary Clinton's speech showed that in defeat, she has become a sort of patron saint of the Democratic Party.
August 27, 2008 | By Dana Goldstein | web only

Fighting Jackie Robinson Syndrome
Michelle Obama's convention speech was inspired, but it was also a testament to the extra burden she's asked to bear as a black woman in America.
August 26, 2008 | By Adam Serwer | web only

A Walk Among the Blue Dogs
Tom Schaller scores a ticket to a Denver event for the Blue Dog caucus and, as Code Pink protests and corporates sponsors look on, considers the role of centrists in today's Democratic Party.
August 26, 2008 | By Thomas F. Schaller | web only

Ted Kennedy: A Liberal's Bipartisan
The next time you hear that it is impossible for Barack Obama to work with Republicans and be a partisan Democrat, just point to the splendid example of Ted Kennedy.
August 26, 2008 | By Robert Kuttner | web only

Sherrod Brown on How Blue-Collar Voters Can Go Green
TAP talks to the Ohio senator about how Obama can appeal to white union members, talk about the loss of manufacturing jobs, and promote green jobs.
August 26, 2008 | By Dana Goldstein | web only

The Democratic Education Divide
A pre-convention education event was full of anti-union rhetoric, even as teachers' union members remain among the most loyal of Democratic constituencies.
August 25, 2008 | By Dana Goldstein | web only

Gestures of Unity
Barack Obama has even agreed to seat the full Florida and Michigan delegations. So all is set for a drama-free convention, right?
August 25, 2008 | By Robert Kuttner | web only

A Tale of Two Parties
Anyone who insists there's no difference between our two political parties should be made to attend both parties' conventions.
August 25, 2008 | By Harold Meyerson | web only

Learning to Love Biden's Big Mouth
The voluble manner of Obama's VP pick is in fact the mark of a man who has mastered a subject and wants nothing more than to share it with you -- at length.
August 24, 2008 | By Mark Schmitt | web only

The Troubled Tourist
Travel is so broadening. It shows you other nations' narrow-mindedness, so that when you get home you can see your own more clearly.
August 22, 2008 | By Gershom Gorenberg | web only

The Meltdown Lowdown
(No. 18)
Newsflash! Giving tax breaks to the rich doesn't create jobs, it looks like recession time, and more tales of dumb executives
August 21, 2008 | By Dean Baker | web only

The FundamentaList
(No. 47)
Rick Warren downplays his conservative record, McCain's anti-abortion stance, and the religious right falsely claims Obama voted to legalize infanticide.
August 20, 2008 | By Sarah Posner | web only

It's Not About the Medals
The Olympics remind us of the real reason why all of us should be proud of our country -- diversity.
August 19, 2008 | By Paul Waldman | web only

But What Does it Mean for NATO?
The conflict between Georgia and Russia has reignited a long-standing debate over NATO expansion. Robert Farley explains.
August 15, 2008 | By Robert Farley | web only

The Drums of Change
On or about last Friday, the world changed. China and Russia put everyone on notice that the power relationships of the past have been reshuffled and that formidable new powers are challenging the established order.
August 15, 2008 | By Harold Meyerson | web only

The Meltdown Lowdown
(No. 17)
McCain supports privatizing social security, The Washington Post is in denial about the housing bubble, and Wall Street jobs are now being outsourced.
August 14, 2008 | By Dean Baker | web only

Overhyping Georgia
The conflict between Russian and Georgia is certainly important -- but the majority of the rhetoric in the United States has been overheated.
August 13, 2008 | By Matthew Yglesias | web only

The FundamentaList (No. 46)
Anti-abortion protestors are expelled from China, McCain equates Obama with the Antichrist, and a plan to move evangelicals to South Carolina falls flat.
August 13, 2008 | By Kathryn Joyce | web only

I'm Sigmund Freud, and I Approve This Message
By the time it's over, this presidential campaign may set some kind of record for the sheer quantity of silliness, trivia, and stupidity. Sometimes, a tire gauge is just a tire gauge. But not this time.
August 12, 2008 | By Paul Waldman | web only

Are We Neglecting the Next Activist Generation?
While it's great that young people are so excited about the Democratic candidate this year, progressives need to focus on encouraging young activists to do non-Obama-centric work.
August 11, 2008 | By Courtney E. Martin | web only

Bush Rejects Bushism
Over the past year, the Bush administration has moved left on foreign policy -- negotiating with governments it previously shunned and abandoning its long-standing preference for unilateral action.
August 11, 2008 | By Derek Chollet and James Goldgeier | web only

When Identity Politics Backfire
Nikki Tinker's resounding defeat in her primary challenge to Rep. Stephen Cohen may suggest that identity politics don't work quite as well as they used to.
August 8, 2008 | By Adam Serwer | web only

A Polaroid of War
The new HBO miniseries Generation Kill perfectly captures the mundane details of military life, but it lacks the emotional depth that any truly accurate depiction of war should have.
August 8, 2008 | By Tara McKelvey | web only

The Meltdown Lowdown
(No. 16)
Economic growth and employment turn out to be lower than we thought, liberals miss an opportunity on oil drilling, and why does John McCain think real men have flat tires?
August 8, 2008 | By Dean Baker | web only

Congress' New Watchmen
TAP talks with David Skaggs and Porter Goss, the Democratic and Republican co-chairs of the newly formed Office of Congressional Ethics.
August 7, 2008 | By Daniel Strauss | web only

Waltz With Unbearable Memory
In his new documentary Waltz With Bashir, filmmaker Ari Folman explores his own inability to recall the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon as a means of considering how nations go to war, and how we judge what leaders do.
August 7, 2008 | By Gershom Gorenberg | web only

CUFI Confidential
An undercover reporter John Hagee's annual summit finds that his followers are just as messianic and radical as ever.
August 7, 2008 | By Sebastian Jones | web only

The FundamentaList
(No. 45)
Evangelicals organize an ecumenical coalition against gay marriage in California, a "progressive" religious blog isn't progressive, and evangelicals mourn Solzhenitsyn.
August 6, 2008 | By Kathryn Joyce | web only

A Glossary of Iraq Euphemisms
The Iraq War has been characterized by euphemism since its inception. Here's a guide to some of the most pronounced, and pernicious, euphemisms of the Iraq War.
August 6, 2008 | By Spencer Ackerman | web only

Why Obama Should Name His Cabinet Now
Whoever he picks as his running mate, Barack Obama will end up disappointing someone. But if he announced a cabinet at the same time he could reassure all factions of his party.
August 5, 2008 | By Paul Waldman | web only

Business Schools
Edison Schools learned what career educators have always known: Managing schools isn't easy or particularly profitable.
August 5, 2008 | By Dana Goldstein | web only

Obama's Racial Catch-22
For Barack Obama, countering racist attacks means acknowledging that racism is alive and well -- which poses a threat to his hope-based campaign.
August 4, 2008 | By Adam Serwer | web only

The Art of Social Justice
A new exhibition of the art of Harlem Renaissance-era painter Aaron Douglas shows his commitment to using his work to promote economic and racial equality.
August 1, 2008 | By LaNitra Walker | web only

Selling It Short
Joe McGinniss' classic text on presidential campaign ads is almost 40 years old now. But it still has valuable lessons for candidates and the public alike.
August 1, 2008 | By Richard Byrne | web only