The bad news last week for conservative Republican Rep. Mike Pence was private confirmation that his proposed law protecting journalists from runaway judges was opposed by President George W. Bush himself, not just inflexible Justice Department lawyers.
Immediately after Mark Penn resigned as Hillary Clinton's chief strategist a week ago, he was on the phone with at least two prominent Democrats to assure them that nothing had changed.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman's friends are certain that if Democrats expand their one-vote Senate edge in this year's elections, they will kick him out of the Senate Democratic caucus and, therefore, oust him as Homeland Security Committee chairman.
"It's the economy, stupid." Those immortal words of the political philosopher James Carville in 1992 have been reverberating increasingly in the 2008 campaign. Polls show the economy as the top issue for voters, far ahead of Iraq.
Every time I leave for a trip, my son makes me promise to come back safely. I try to hedge because I know it's not within my control, but even three-quarters asleep, as he usually is when I leave, he is never mollified. "Say you'll be safe," he says to me, and I usually do.
One of the basic themes of the long-running Democratic nominating campaign between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton speaks to the need for a new era in American politics.
To anyone who has felt trapped in a circle of bad service: If you haven't heard the story of Mona Shaw, pull up a chair.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the American forces in Iraq, is more candid than his publicity agents.
Recessions are part of capitalism. They happen every so often. We've had two in the last super-prosperous 25 years. And it looks like we're entering a third one after Friday's jobs-loss report.
At last Thursday's Senate Banking Committee hearing on the government's historic bailout of Bear Stearns, two questions were expected.
The USA Today/Gallup Poll of late March suggests a strategy for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the general election. The poll compared Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and McCain on certain key variables.
About 17 years ago, a New England business reporter answered the phone and found a friendly Texan on the other end. She had recently written about how local manufacturers were coping with Environmental Protection Agency rules that sharply curbed what they could throw down their drains. Compliance was costing them.
Barack Obama, who informs campaign audiences that he taught constitutional law for 10 years, might be expected to weigh in on the historic Second Amendment case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan for curing ailing financial markets received poor grades privately from House Republican leaders, though they mostly refrained from public criticism that would give Democrats ammunition in an election year.
Exit polls have shown that the contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has produced deep divisions among Democratic constituencies. It looks something like tribal warfare.
Big-time political writers are busy people. With all the blogging, the parties and appearances on TV, skeptical examination of widely accepted beliefs seems a waste of time.
President Bush next week will send Congress a trade agreement forcing Democrats there to make an unpleasant choice. Will they follow the bidding of organized labor and reject a pact negotiated more than a year and a half ago with the country's strongest ally and best customer in South America?
The most puzzling aspect of John McCain's political persona is his habitual attraction to George W. Bush's bad ideas. Their shared enthusiasm for invading Iraq and then escalating the war is why "McSame" will soon become the new shorthand for the Arizona Republican, replacing "maverick" -- but that isn't the only reason.
Even as the Obama and Clinton campaigns fight frantically to establish the appropriate yard-stick by which to judge the will of the American people, one fact has been largely ignored: Obama's significant delegate lead is largely a product of the Democrats' unique delegate allocation system.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the outcome of the Democratic presidential nomination will hinge on the votes of the party's so-called superdelegates, elected officials and party leaders who are automatically entitled to attend the Democratic nominating convention regardless of the results of the primaries and caucuses.
