Jamelle Bouie

Previous assertions notwithstanding, it seems that this year isn’t a record one for black Republicans: Well, the primary data are now in — and Johnson’s claim that 2010 would be a record year is out the window. Only 13 African Americans are left running for the House on the GOP ticket this fall. That’s a […]

In his most recent column, The Nation‘s Chris Hayes expands on the argument that the enthusiasm gap has more to do with the Democratic Party’s demographics than it does with the action — or inaction — of activists and establishment figures: …the people with the most faith in the president and the Democratic Party are […]

John Cole is angry at the Blue Dogs: Is there ANYTHING that centrists and moderates will not do to hurt themselves? Anything? The public is livid about jobs, centrists oppose job creation efforts. The public wants the middle class tax cuts extended while the taxes on the rich ended, the centrists oppose that. And on […]

Policy critiques aside, the GOP’s “new” Contract Pledge for America reads like a desperate message from a previously unknown Mirror Universe, where Barack Obama is a cruel tyrant, and the federal government isn’t made up of elected and politically accountable officials. For example: An unchecked executive, a compliant legislature, and an overreaching judiciary have combined […]

As Adam noted on his blog, conservatives are in a tizzy over comments President Obama made in an interview with Bob Woodward. Obama, in a welcome bit of rhetoric from an American politician, expressed his faith in America’s ability to withstand another terrorist attack: “We can absorb a terrorist attack. We’ll do everything we can […]

Andrew Sullivan isn’t making any sense: I think this could be a huge deal for the relationship between gay voters and the Democratic party. Over 75 percent of the public wants the ban ended, and yet even when the Democrats control both Houses and have a president opposed to the policy, they failed to end […]

Yesterday, David Gregory — ostensibly well-informed host of MSNBC’s Meet the Press — tweeted this reality-challenged comment about Larry Summer‘s impending departure from the White House, “After Summers does Obama tap someone from business community? Opportunity to ease the tension.” I understand that Twitter isn’t the best medium for explaining something in detail, but this […]

This morning, Matthew Yglesias wrote a pretty decent post on Christine O’Donnell that was unfortunately marred by a pretty narrow take on Christianity as it applies to lying: I would further add that from a Christian perspective, I don’t think the Kantian view is all that problematic. When you lie you’re doing something wrong, and […]

Dan Balz in today’s Washington Post: One of the persistent mysteries about the president is why someone who began his adult life as a community organizer, working with economically displaced workers in Chicago, has had so much difficulty making a connection with voters on economic issues. That was a problem during his presidential campaign. From […]

According to Gallup’s most recent release, the enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans is large and growing: Lately, there’s been something of an ongoing fight between Democrats who blame the “professional left” for the progressive enthusiasm gap, and liberal activists who blame President Obama for the progressive enthusiasm gap. David Sirota‘s critique of the administration […]