Joshua Marshall

W hen Al Gore tapped Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman to be his Democratic running mate last August, there was plenty of concern among party liberals: Why was Gore (who many thought was already too much of a New Democrat) teaming with the chairman of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC)? And was Lieberman, best known […]

H ad November 7 put an end to this year’s campaign frenzy as election days normally do, political analysts would now be focusing much more attention on the Republicans’ unexpectedly strong showing in the House–and on the man who has as solid a claim as any to credit for that outcome: John McCain. Throughout the […]

B y custom, vice presidential candidates get the nod because they appeal to some highly sought-after constituency. Perhaps it’s a state rich in electoral votes. A prized ethnic group. Or maybe just the right or left wing of the party. Look diligently enough, though, and you’ll almost certainly strike upon some group the nominee was […]

If you would strike at the king, said Machiavelli, kill him. The underlyinglogic here applies to democracies as well as monarchies. If you put your all intobringing down a presidential candidate and come up short, expect him to come atyou–hard. And that pretty much describes organized labor’s current predicamentwith George W. Bush. Though the percentage […]

Harry Dent assures me that George W. Bush is going to win big in South Carolina on February 19. “He’s Mr. Handsome,” the South Carolinian recently told me, “got a gorgeous wife, good family. And he believes in Jesus Christ. That’s pretty strong down here.” Dent should know. A longtime adviser to the state’s nonagenarian […]

When the Senate voted 51 to 50 to provisionally accept the outline of George W. Bush’s budget, the sole Democrat who crossed the aisle was Zell Miller of Georgia. (He was offset by Republican Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, with Vice President Dick Cheney breaking the tie.) Of all the wavering Democrats in the Senate […]

G eorge W. Bush and his advisers, stumbling toward the presidency in the aftermath of a bloody election, believe that early compromise and conciliation (or at least the appearance thereof) are crucial if the administration is to attain any kind of political legitimacy or success. But extremists in Bush’s own party have other ideas: Despite […]

Is George W. Bush gearing up to play the gay card against John McCain in South Carolina? Political pundits were genuinely perplexed on November 21 when Governor Bush told Tim Russert on Meet the Press that he would “probably not” meet with the Log Cabin Republicans, the gay Republican group that John McCain had met […]