Washington, D.C. On April 27, Al From, the president of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), and Will Marshall, the president of the DLC’s Progressive Policy Institute, had lunch with John Swee ney, the president, and Steve Rosenthal, the political director, of the AFL-CIO. These four people had met but had never talked amicably or seriously […]
John B. Judis
John B. Judis is an editor at large at Talking Points Memo and the author, most recently, of The Socialist Awakening: What’s Different Now About the Left.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
K Street Gore
One important way to judge what a presidential candidate might do if elected is to look at his record while in office-his publicly announced positions and his skill in commanding loyalty, wielding authority, and winning public support. But it is also important to look at the networks of campaign contributors, lobbyists, political organizations, and policy […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Reform Party Follies
In the summer of 1998, Jesse Ventura, who was running for governor of Minnesota on the Reform Party ticket, wanted to obtain a loan from the party’s national headquarters to pay for political advertising, but he couldn’t get the national organization on the phone. National Chairman Russell Verney later explained to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, “The […]
Posted inFeatures
Are We All Progressives Now?
over the past decade, politicians and pundits have increasingly sought authority for their actions and ideas in the Progressive Era. After Newt Gingrich became speaker in November 1994, he compared himself to William McKinley’s campaign manager Mark Hanna and declared that a new progressive era was at hand. The Hudson Institute, known for founder Herman […]
Posted inFeatures
Indefensible
This fall, Bill Clinton threatened to veto tax cuts, an abortion ban, environmental riders, cuts in foreign aid, education funding directed at the states rather than directly at schools, and reductions in a community policing measure. But when the $288.8 billion defense appropriations billrepresenting the largest increase in military spending since the first Reagan budget […]
Posted inFeatures
Did Labor Jump the Gun?
If Vice President Al Gore wins the Democratic nomination for president, he will have John Sweeney and the AFL-CIO to thank. The AFL-CIO boosted Gore’s flagging campaign in October when it endorsed him over former Senator Bill Bradley. And in the primaries and caucuses, the labor movement could provide the winning margin in key states […]
Posted inAmerica and the World
Below the Beltway: The China Hawks
S ince the end of the Cold War, the main challenge to those who favor a “constructive engagement” with China has come from human rights advocates and labor leaders. But in the last year, a new opposition voice has been heard, arguing for a return to the containment strategy used against the Soviet Union. This […]
Posted inFeatures
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
Y ou can’t judge most presidential candidates simply by their retinue of advisers and fundraisers, but Texas Governor George W. Bush may be a special case. Neither major party has nominated a candidate with so little national experience since the Republicans sent Kansas Governor and former oilman Alf Landon up against Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. […]
Posted inFeatures
Chiang Kai-shek Is Dead
President George W. Bush’s first major foreign-policy decision will come at the end of April when he will have to decide what kind of military hardware to sell Taiwan. The debate will be somewhat technical, but very important: It involves America’s stance toward a region of the world where the fate of democracy is at […]
Posted inFeatures
Shut Down the College
E ven the best political systems cannot eliminate corruption, venality, and civil strife, but they are supposed to limit their sway. Enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, the American electoral system was designed to do that, yet the recent presidential election has revealed serious weaknesses in the way a president is chosen. The country appears to […]