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- In the absence of knowing who the general campaign candidates will be and what public opinion polling will look like 10 months from now, there's very little to go on in terms of predicting how the midterm elections will turn out. In fact, this is why I feel fundraising and voter registration numbers offer the best evidence, at this point, of where the enthusiasm will be come November. Then again, maybe I'm wasting my time. As Dan Balz demonstrates, all you need to pose the rhetorical question, "A Republican tidal wave in 2010?" is to talk to GOP reps. Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy and let the insights flow.
- The most striking thing about this New York Times Magazine profile of Harry Reid is how easily the Senate Majority Leader abandons the usual polite collegiality of the legislative body and directly identifies the people and procedures standing in the way of the Democrats' agenda. One might even be tempted to think that Reid, fully aware of his bleak chances at being re-elected, is ready to start dismantling those obstacles because he has nothing to lose. But then you read that in his heart of hearts he wished Barack Obama had chosen a less ambitious first-year domestic agenda and you question whether Reid has the temerity to make reforming the Senate his legacy.
- I consider the slow rise of academic blogging to be an underreported story in the larger narrative about the transformative power new media is having on traditional journalism. That being said, Ezra Klein brings up a legitimate criticism of political scientists: Their work is often inaccessible because they're gated behind expensive subscriptions to peer-reviewed journals. John Sides offers a few modest suggestions for ameliorating this problem, but concludes that even with wider availability there's not going to be a sudden rush to access this material.
- Yes, government-bashing is about the only tool in the GOP toolbox that still functions. Yes, it's the Larry Kudlow show on CNBC. But take a moment to appreciate the fact that in 2010, a U.S. Senate candidate representing one of the two major political parties in the United States can go on the air and propose, as a stimulus solution to economic recession, that the United States Congress should simply go into recess for two years "or something." Possible reactions a television host might offer outside of laughter or bafflement would be to ask whether this recess should go into effect after would-be Sen. Marco Rubio takes office or before would-be Sen. Marco Rubio is even sworn in. Somebody call Master Gingrich -- there's a contender for the Man of Ideas crown.
- Remainders: You can be sure we're in for a jobless recovery when some jobs simply won't be coming back; it turns out the Clintons are still newsworthy, even when they're not; libertarians, conservatives agree that trickle-down economics is the best stimulus government can offer; turnout isn't the only factor at play in Massachusetts; and five reasons why libertarians shouldn't hate government.
--Mori Dinauer
