Skip to content

Voting

Blog No. 18 A Good Day for the Republican Party – and its Coming War with the Tea Party

Tuesday was a good day for the Republican Party because it brought the resounding victory of Governor Chris Christie. Christie demonstrated convincingly that, even in a decidedly “blue” state, a Republican can win with an appeal that crosses economic and ethnic boundaries. As the Wall Street Journal argued, Christie is a “conservative” and not a “moderate:”

The Governor has by and large governed as a conservative reformer. He vetoed a tax increase on millionaires and capped property taxes. He pushed tenure reforms that will make it easier to fire bad teachers, and he extracted far more pension reform out of a Democratic legislature than did Democratic Governors Jerry Brown in California or Andrew Cuomo in New York.

Good Day for Republicans

Read More »Blog No. 18 A Good Day for the Republican Party – and its Coming War with the Tea Party

Blog No. 9 Why Iowa?

A talk show last Sunday included a fairly lengthy interview with…Donald Trump, speaking from the Iowa State Fair. Trump had just given a speech in which he had asserted that passing immigration reform would be a “death wish” for the Republican Party and indicated that he might run for President in 2016. ABC’s Jonathan Karl prefaced the interview with the mildly snarky observation that the possibility of a Trump candidacy caused some to raise their eyebrows and others just to roll their eyes. Warming to the subject, Karl asked Trump what he would say to persons who would term his candidacy a joke. For his part,Trump made it clear that he was not at the State Fair just to sample its celebrated deep-fried butter: he, at least, takes his possible candidacy quite seriously, describing his qualification as being “smart” and assuring Karl that if he became a candidate, he would be prepared to spend any portion of his (self) estimated fortune of $ ten billion might that be needed in the effort.

iowa_caucus_400_267

Illustration by DonkeyHotey/flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey

Read More »Blog No. 9 Why Iowa?

Blog No. 6 The Supreme Court, Republicans and Race. PART II, The Voting Rights Act and the Challenge Before Congress

The acquittal of George Zimmerman occurred at a point when issues of race were already very much alive in the public consciousness. The Fisher case, discussed in Part I, had sparked differing appraisals from liberals and conservatives concerning the issue of considering race in college admissions. Following on the heels of Fisher, the responses provoked by Shelby County v. Holder with respect to the Voting Rights Act reflected even sharper conflicts. Liberals expressed dismay and outrage at the decision, while conservatives tended to celebrate it, sometimes almost exuberantly. Thoughtful RINOs (and friends of RINOs) may find both sets of reactions to be overstated, but will want to consider what comes next.Read More »Blog No. 6 The Supreme Court, Republicans and Race. PART II, The Voting Rights Act and the Challenge Before Congress