Topic: Republicans

Jon Stewart Is Not Letting Cheney or Rumsfeld Join the Scandal Parade

Comedy Central

In continuing to address "Hurricane Scandy," Stewart had to admit that Republicans has something with the IRS and Benghazi dust-ups. He even proposed teaming up with Fox News! But you know who still doesn't get to take a GOP victory lap? Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.

By Elspeth Reeve

Jun 14, 2012

Centrist-Tacking Jeb Bush Loses the Love of the Right

Because of his last name, Jeb Bush represent the Republican Party's past. But he clearly wants to be seen as its future. Bush needs to look like a serious person, and to do that, he needs to be praised by centrists and bashed by the unserious fringe. This week, Bush has succeeded.

Comments | 1,525 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jun 11, 2012

Karl Rove's Super PAC's Rapid Response a Little Too Rapid

When news broke that Commerce Secretary John Bryson was involved in two car crashes just minutes apart this weekend, Karl Rove's Super PAC American Crossroads clearly felt the news gods were shining upon it.

Comments | 2,243 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jun 8, 2012

Who Failed Upwards Better: Sarah Palin or Steve Schmidt?

Steve Schmidt is the guy everyone blames -- himself included -- for convincing Sen. John McCain to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008.

Comments | 5,030 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jun 6, 2012

The Media Career Potential of the Offspring of the Potential Romney Veeps

Presidential campaigns are no longer just about the "boring white guys" running for office -- they're also an American Idol-style tryout for the aspiring media stars of the candidate's families.

Comments | 1,179 Views

By John Hudson

Jun 6, 2012

Home News From Afar

Europe Is Dumbfounded by Scott Walker's Victory

The recall victory of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is sending shockwaves through Europe as right-wing and left-wing newspapers marvel at the Republican's ability to survive an election months after stripping the collective bargaining rights of public-sector unions.

Comments | 3,408 Views

By John Hudson

Jun 4, 2012

Harry Reid's Ultimatum Just Might Be Working

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's threat to let steep cuts hit the Pentagon seems to be working, as some staunchly anti-tax Republican Senators appear to be warming to revenue increases.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By John Hudson

May 31, 2012

Some Suggested Small Talk for When Bush Visits the White House

George W. Bush is visiting the White House today and the Washington press is obsessed with how awkward the occasion will be given that President Obama routinely trashes the Bush administration. But it doesn't have to be that way!

Comments | 340 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

May 31, 2012

Artur Davis Is Now a Republican

Apparently changing your party affiliation and making big, swirling political moves can all be done through a blog post.

Comments | 347 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 29, 2012

Ad Watch

Obama Campaign Loves Romney's Embrace of Born-Again Birther Trump

Today in Ad Watch: President Obama's campaign says Mitt Romney's embrace of Donald Trump says something about his character, while Karl Rove's Super PAC says that while Bain Capital might be bad, Obama's "Wall Street games" are worse.

Comments | 862 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 25, 2012

A Case Study in the Evolution of Birtherism: Donald Trump

To understand the nature of birtherism, it helps to look at the case of another cultural phenomenon that has far outlasted the climate it evolved from -- Donald Trump.

Comments | 4,472 Views

By John Hudson

May 25, 2012

Military Spending Cuts Looming, Republican Rediscover Keynesianism

The economic theory advocating short-term public spending in a recession followed by boom time debt reduction is heretical in modern Republican parlance, but GOP lawmakers are making an exception when defense spending is at stake.

Comments | 2,243 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 25, 2012

Mitt Romney Is Haunted by the Dumb Things He's Said

Lots of people have forgotten about the gaffes Mitt Romney made during the Republican primary—a gaffe, by definition, is amusing yet inconsequential—but Mitt Romney hasn't.

Comments | 3,527 Views

By John Hudson

May 24, 2012

'War on Women' Won't Extend to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Washington's never-ending gender wars will not extend to the country's Nuclear Regulatory Commission thanks to the nomination of George Mason University professor Allison Macfarlane as chairman today.

Comments | 345 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 24, 2012

Citizen Newt Now Free to Conspicuously Consume

Every politician is forced to pretend to love regular-guy things, like food on a stick, while he's running for president, but for Newt Gingrich, it was clear this task was especially painful.

Comments | 1,119 Views

By John Hudson

May 24, 2012

Democrats Are Finally Learning How to Negotiate

Ever since the Republican took over the House in 2010, Congressional Democrats have been out-maneuvered in almost every way. But now that's beginning to change as the Senate's top Democrat rallies his troops behind a plan to tame Republican maximalism. 

Comments | 2,759 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 24, 2012

Trump Wants to Form the Classiest, Most Luxurious Super PAC

It has become clear that the Super PAC is perfectly designed to extract money from rich guys with bad ideas, and so it's only natural that Donald Trump, a very rich guy with some of the most famously terrible ideas, is looking to start one.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 21, 2012

A New Week, Another Factory-Closing Bain Story from the Obama Campaign

It's like the Obama campaign is running a miniseries about Bain Capital, and this week's episode is about Ampad, which went bankrupt after Bain took it over.

Comments | 1,313 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 21, 2012

Super PACs Make It Easier for Rich People to Waste Money on Bad Ideas

One of the most annoying parts of running for president for guys like Mitt Romney and Barack Obama -- men who are not natural back-slappers like Bill Clinton -- is that they have to pretend to be interested in all the terrible ideas offered by the rich guys who donate tons of money to their campaigns.

Comments | 400 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 18, 2012

Ad Watch

The Simple, Easy, Pleasant First Day of the Romney Administration

Today in Ad Watch: Mitt Romney fantasizes about President Romney, President Obama loves higher-ed because he loved his mom, Karl Rove's Super PAC gets into the Nebraska Senate race, and Democrats gloat over the negative coverage of Romney's business career.

Comments | 2,188 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 17, 2012

The Remarkable, Conflicted Ricketts Family (and Their Political Money)

Joe Ricketts, owner of the Chicago Cubs, Ameritrade, etc., is the very wealthy man who wants to spend $10 million on ads portraying President Obama as a leftist radical influenced by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But as families tend to be, the Ricketts (and their money) are not always on the same page. Here's a look at Joe Ricketts and his politically powerful kids.

Comments | 2,563 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 17, 2012

Ron Paul Wins in Nevada, So Romney and the RNC Buy a New Party

Ron Paul supporters took over the Nevada GOP earlier this month, so Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee have opened dialogue with the libertarian about his philosophy and policy priorities. No, just kidding, they're pouring money into a "shadow state party" and trying to make the official party irrelevant.

Comments | 18,889 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 16, 2012

Poll Watch

Obama's Having a Bad Polling Month

President Obama has had a bad streak in polls after doing pretty well against Mitt Romney in April, and Republicans are looking strong in Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Comments | 2,669 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 16, 2012

GOP Primary: Where Are They Now?

Herman Cain really endorsed Mitt Romney Tuesday, though not without saying a number of embarrassing things, like "What Governor Romney did in Massachusetts, I does not care." It made us kinda miss the guy.

Comments | 3,012 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 16, 2012

Boehner Discovers the Best Debt Limit Fight Is an Imaginary One

The last time House Speaker John Boehner hosted a nail-biting debt-ceiling fight, it didn't go so well for him. The Tea Partiers who wanted a fight thought he caved and everyone else thought the House Republicans looked reckless. But Boehner's figured out a better way to play brinksmanship: imagine you're fighting about the debt limit long before you have to.

Comments | 3,504 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 16, 2012

Who Is Nebraska's Deb Fischer?

Republicans want to win back a majority in the Senate in November, and one of their best chances of flipping a Democratic seat is now in the hands of a woman who wasn't backed by either establishment Republicans or Tea Party people.

Comments | 898 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

May 15, 2012

Mitt Romney Should Totally Hire James Lipton

We were prepared to laugh at James Lipton's advice to Mitt Romney about "being human," but the Inside the Acting Studio host actually makes a lot of sense.   

Comments | 1,449 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 14, 2012

Did Ron Paul Campaign's Influence Anything?

Usually, when people run for president with little chance of winning, they say their goal is to influence the conversation. While several Republican presidential candidates took Paul-like positions to try to steal some of his supporters, Mitt Romney was not one of them.

Comments | 1,611 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 11, 2012

Poll Watch

Most Americans Glad Obama Endorsed Gay Marriage, Won't Change Their Vote

President Obama's support of gay marriage makes most Americans happy, but it won't change whether they'll support him in November. Meanwhile, all those angry Republican voters are actually the people with the best emotional well-being. Here's our guide to today's polls and why they matter.

Comments | 3,334 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 11, 2012

Why Stories Like Romney's Bullying Matter

Five years ago, Jason Horowitz, author of the fascinating history of Mitt Romney's teenage bullying in The Washington Post, wrote another story that seemed to offer unsettling insight into the character of a presidential candidate: Joe Biden.

Comments | 12,456 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 10, 2012

Rooting for the Bully After Romney's Bullying Story

The story of Mitt Romney's high school bullying -- he held down a gay kid and cut off his fancy hairdo, he led a blind teacher into a door -- has caused many political reporters to reflect on their own turbulent teen years, but they're not drawing the conclusions you'd expect.

Comments | 8,449 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 10, 2012

The Benefits and Risks of Supporting Gay Marriage

What President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage didn't do: Allow a single new gay couple to get married. What it did do: Inspire waves of campaign donations, attack ads, and a symbolic but ultimately meaningless congressional vote.

Comments | 3,180 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 8, 2012

Bored of Elections: Mitt Romney Is Just Not That Into This

"Is this the most boring election ever?" Matt Taibbi asks in Rolling Stone Tuesday. He's not the first to ask that question. 

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 3, 2012

The Elusive Enthusiastic Romney Fan: A Case Study

The biggest story of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has been that he can't get Republican voters excited about him. Well, meet, New Hampshire's Pete Galamaga, who really likes Mitt.

Comments | 3,498 Views

By Adam Martin

May 3, 2012

Republicans Seize Chinese Dissident Story to Shame Obama

The plight of Chen Guangcheng made its way into domestic U.S. politics on Thursday as Mitt Romney used it in a campaign speech and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith convened an emergency hearing on Chen's fate.

Comments | 779 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 3, 2012

Mitt Romney, America's Most Successful English Major, Also Its Least Successful

Mitt Romney is really bad at telling stories about other people.

Comments | 345 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

May 3, 2012

New York's Hottest Club is Roger Ailes' Fox News Office

Roger Ailes doesn't have any trouble getting face time with the nation's top conservative lawmakers because, conveniently, they're showing up in droves at his second floor office in the Fox News headquarters.

Comments | 502 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 2, 2012

Newt Literally Limps Into the Sunset

On his last day as a presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich is clutching his torn Achilles and grumbling that you people were such jerks about space.

Comments | 1,087 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 30, 2012

Audio Surfaces of Paul Ryan's Effusive Love of Ayn Rand

Why do lefties keep accusing Rep. Paul Ryan of making Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged required reading for his staff? Maybe because he said, "It’s inspired me so much that it’s required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff," and now we can hear him say it.

Comments | 18,048 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 27, 2012

Osama bin Laden Is Still Most Wanted: As a Talking Point

Who was classier when bragging about taking out bad guys: George Bush or Barack Obama?

Comments | 1,615 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 27, 2012

Evangelicals Still Convinced Romney Needs Them

Mitt Romney won the Republican primary without the help of evangelical leaders -- in fact, he won despite hundreds of evangelical leaders actively working together to stop him.

Comments | 2,243 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 27, 2012

Ad Watch

The General Election's Underway! What Kind of Cool Is Obama?

The general election has begun! And so has the onslaught of campaign ads. In today's Ad Watch: Bill Clinton makes the case that only President Obama can make tough national security decisions, while Karl Rove makes the case that Obama's an empty suit.

Comments | 4,979 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 26, 2012

Ed Rollins Makes His Manly Case

Today the Atlantic Wire offered a guide to a curious species that thrives in the nation's capital: the mega-macho male political staffers described as brawlers despite having jobs for which a significant portion of daily responsibilities is getting in fights on Twitter.

Comments | 392 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 26, 2012

Poll Watch

Karl Rove's Electoral Map Looks Pretty Good for Obama

Mitt Romney and President Obama are pretty close in national polls, but what really matters is who's winning in the right states. Here's our guide to today's polls and why they matter.

Comments | 12,760 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 26, 2012

How to Tell Paul Ryan Wants to Be Veep: He's Rejected His Former Idol Ayn Rand

Rep. Paul Ryan, looking to undercut his image as a hard-hearted Objectivist, has told the National Review of one of his favorite authors, Ayn Rand, "I reject her philosophy... It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview."

Comments | 8,555 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 25, 2012

What Last Night's Primaries Mean for Romney

As expected, Mitt Romney swept five Republican primary elections Tuesday night, but even if the winner is no surprise, his vote totals can still tell us something.

Comments | 597 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 24, 2012

Ann Romney Wasn't Always So Supportive of All Women's Choices

Ann Romney sounded very openminded in her well-received speech about being a stay-at-home mom Monday night, saying she was happy the response to April's mommy wars showed "that women have choices in life and some choices are not all the same, but that we value everyone’s choice in making their profession," Politico's Maggie Haberman reports.

Comments | 4,071 Views

By John Hudson

Apr 23, 2012

Meet Washington's Bloodthirsty Opposition Researchers

They're as young as they are ruthless and they're the warriors who wage Washington's political battles.

Comments | 690 Views

By John Hudson

Apr 23, 2012

The New York Times Is Obama's Safe Haven

The New York Times has been going easy on President Obama, according to the newspaper's public editor, but studies show the rest of the mainstream media isn't following suit.

Comments | 690 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 23, 2012

The New Romneycare Is Very Different from the Old Romneycare

Mitt Romney's 2012 version of Romneycare is very different from the 2006 version of Romneycare, but it's still revolutionary. 

Comments | 1,083 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 23, 2012

Jon Huntsman Basically Isn't a Republican Anymore

Failed presidential candidate Jon Huntsman hasn't exactly burned his Republican membership card, but the way he's talking about his own party lately, he might not be welcome in the clubhouse much longer.

Comments | 9,271 Views

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