Tim Fernholz

President Obama just gave a very tough speech in Cleveland today, hitting this year’s Democratic campaign themes, going after Republicans on economic policy, and defending his administration in very clear terms (full text is posted after the jump). Watching the speech — perhaps the first time in six months I’ve seen the president really hit […]

Dahlia Lithwick has a Slate piece on how the National Rifle Association worked feverishly to oppose the nomionations of Sonya Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — despite the fact that both seem to fall well into the NRA-approved mainstream on Second Amendment issues. Lithwick doesn’t like the lies the NRA tells its members: The NRA has […]

In what will surely go down as one of the great Madness of August (TM) debates, we’ve spent several weeks discussing whether an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan presents a threat to our very way of life or represents the simple exercise of religious freedom. What we have not been talking about is whether a […]

Andrew Sullivan passes along Dave Weigel’s assessment of the Democrats’ message options for the 2010 elections: [D]o you break out the defibrillator and try to convince people that their local economy is turning around because of legislation X, Y, and Z, or do you rev up the base by saying that the new Republican majority […]

The Washington Post has a new poll out: The top-line is that things are bad for Democrats thanks to the toll a tough economy is taking on public optimism; conservatives are also more enthusiastic about this election than liberals. Surprised? If you’re a TAPPED reader, I hope not. But there is some more interesting stuff […]

The Democrats’ only hope for keeping their majority in the House will be protecting a few key seats from Republican takeover — and that means they will have to concentrate their resources very carefully on the races they believe they can influence, mostly in the Northeast but also in the Rust Belt. As a result, […]

In New York, there’s an epic battle among the Democrats for control of Pedro Espada’s Bronx state Senate seat. The story is either “crusading reformers challenge corrupt politician” or “the people’s champion versus the Big Guys.” Not to be a spoiler, but I’m leaning toward the former: [State Senator Pedro Espada], as bombastic and defiant […]

There were 54,000 fewer employed people in the United States after the month of July. The change was driven by more than 100,000 temporary census workers completing their tasks and and being let go, while private hiring ticked upward to 67,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate remains the same at 9.6 percent, while the all-important […]