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Back when Bill Clinton was first running for president, it was obvious early on that Arkansas would prove to be a vulnerability. The propagandists of the right intuited — correctly and rather ingeniously, it must be admitted — that New York and Washington sophisticates would easily believe that in a hick state like Arkansas, any […]

If you follow politics, you’re probably familiar with the idea that reform sometimes backfires. You’ve probably heard the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform cited as an example of such unintended consequences. Critics say McCain-Feingold eliminated the one form of political money on which Democrats had an advantage, while increasing the kind of money — contributions from […]

Sometimes it’s hard to remember how many orange alerts there have been. Washington, D.C., in particular seems to go up and down in alert level with all the rapidity and drama of a rapid-cycling manic-depressive. One week we’re the defensive and hostile center of the universe, ringed with anti-aircraft missiles and full of cement bulwarks, […]

Victoria Gotti has the looks of a live-action Barbie — the peroxide mane, the plasticine figure. She even has the right accessories, including a vulgar house only an eight-year-old girl could love. The star of A&E’s new reality series Growing Up Gotti is the princess of a darker sort of tale, however. Daughter of Mafia […]

Marketplace, August 4, 2004 Heads up. This Friday’s July jobs report will be among the three most important economic reports issued during the presidential campaign. That’s because there are only three jobs reports left before Election Day. These monthly reports — especially the payroll survey, which shows how many new jobs were created during the […]

More than 24 million viewers, 100,000 balloons, and one 50-minute acceptance speech later, the results are in: The Democratic Convention has given John Kerry the “bounce” of a bowling ball. The Democratic ticket is now running even with or behind George W. Bush, and Republicans note with glee that the last presidential candidate not to […]

The next urgent issue facing the Kerry campaign is how to survive August, because it ain’t gonna be no walk on the beach. This is traditionally a quiet time in presidential campaigns, but the Bush camp, still looking for an effective way to disqualify the Democratic nominee in the eyes of voters, will open up […]

Thanks to George W. Bush’s tax cuts, the federal government faces a long-term fiscal crisis. An intended side effect is to undercut social investment of the sort that has bonded two generations of voters since Franklin Roosevelt to the Democratic Party. The current year’s deficit is projected at $440 billion. If elected, John Kerry will […]

It was one of those summer days in D.C. when people were ducking into steam baths to cool off. My feet were propped up on my desk, and just as I noticed that my shoes had started to sweat, the phone rang. “How long has it been since you’ve heard a good ‘My goodness’?” she […]

“Welcome to the lunch of the most powerful people in the Democratic Party,” boomed Ellen Malcolm from the podium at the Emily’s List luncheon on Tuesday of convention week. The crowd cheered. Packed with 2,000 paying Emily’s List supporters paying $250 a plate, the room pulled in an easy half-million. A grinning Malcolm continued, announcing […]