Rob Garver

On March 9, evangelical Christians will converge in Washington, D.C., for the annual convention of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), which represents various Protestant churches and denominations across the country with a combined membership of between 30 million and 40 million people. Anybody concerned about the increasing influence of religion on U.S. public policy […]

If there’s an enterprising congressional Democrat out there looking to make a splash in the fight against partial privatization of Social Security, he or she ought to call up James B. Lockhart III, deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), and ask him to come speak at an anti-private accounts rally. Lockhart, a political […]

It was probably just modesty, but in his 2,700-word, four-byline, full-page farewell to himself in the January 24 New York Times, retiring columnist William Safire forgot to mention many of his achievements during his illustrious career as the Times‘ designated right-winger. For instance, he forgot to remind viewers how he won a Pulitzer Prize in […]

Republicans in the House and the Senate, led by President Bush, are making an all-out push to convince the American people that Social Security is in such a severe crisis that only drastic and immediate action can save it from financial oblivion. After the president finishes his State of the Union address on Wednesday, he’s […]

This time four years ago, relentless media focus on Al Gore’s sighs had managed to convince the voting public that the vice president had actually lost a debate that the majority of viewers believed he had won. So, it shows just how soundly John Kerry beat George W. Bush last Thursday that instead of spending […]

Four years ago, when Al Gore and George W. Bush left the stage after the first of three presidential debates, the consensus among viewers polled by the TV networks was that the vice president had beaten the Texas governor. In the words of Hardball host Chris Matthews, Gore had “cleaned the other guy’s clock.” But […]

In 2000, television agreed on the first night that Al Gore won the debate. Then the spin set in. Look out for a replay. In case you were wondering whether or not to pay attention to the presidential debates over the next three weeks, CNN’s blowhard-in-residence Jack Cafferty delivered the verdict in advance on Monday […]

The quadrennial political Kabuki over the scheduling of presidential debates has begun again. As is their usual practice, the members of the Commission on Presidential Debates are keeping a low public profile while allowing themselves to be bullied behind the scenes by the incumbent’s handlers, who seem reluctant to agree to even a limited schedule […]

The Washington Post is being roundly ragged by its journalistic counterparts this week for producing a special section headlined “Election 2000,” a mistake made by production staff who used an old template to create the new section. But a more egregious misuse of a 4-year-old template hit the newsstands this week yet received little notice. […]