Looking at What's Not Working: A Commentary by Susan Estrich
The most interesting thing about the Republican race for president, at least so far, is not what's working, but what isn't.
The most interesting thing about the Republican race for president, at least so far, is not what's working, but what isn't.
First, we at the Crystal Ball want to get one thing straight with our readers. We are for change. We have worked for change our whole lives.
Don't let the "Comeback Gal" spin fool you. Despite the unexpectedly close finish in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton's campaign remains in a tailspin.
Hillary Rodham Clinton's stunning comeback victory in New Hampshire duplicates the feat of Bill Clinton who overcame the draft and Gennifer Flowers in the Granite State primary in 1992.
But Hillary did Bill one better.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, when exit polls indicated Sen. Barack Obama would defeat Sen. Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary, there was palpable relief from many Democrats.
Hillary.Hillary? Hillary? The woman who was declared dead, the staff that was declared fired, the campaign that was pronounced over and done and broke.
"They will try to Swift Boat me," said Barack Obama in the days before the New Hampshire primary, looking forward to the Democratic nomination that he still believes will be his, with a prediction both accurate and chilling.
"Crowding out" sounds like a bad thing. The Bush administration uses that fearsome term in denying recent requests by Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and no doubt other states to expand Medicaid to families not considered poor.
Mitt Romney and Sen. Hillary Clinton wanted to use Saturday night's televised presidential debates to further their respective goals: keep Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama from winning Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.
Yes, corporate profits are slowing and jobs are softening. Despite 52 months of ongoing jobs gains and 1.3 million new payrolls in the past year, December jobs registered only 18,000 and the unemployment rate ticked back up to (a still historically low) 5 percent.
Fleetwood Mac would roll over in their musical graves if they could hear how the Hillary campaign has gotten into a time warp, obsessing with the 90s while a new political generation demands a focus on tomorrow.
Desperate to save Mitt Romney's Republican presidential campaign in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, his advisers all wanted to attack Sen. John McCain but were divided about how to do it.
As this is written, the final numbers are not in, but the results of the Iowa precinct caucuses are clear.
The amazing victories by Obama and Huckabee in Iowa are truly historic. They demonstrate the impact and viability of a message of change in both parties.
The world knows that Jamie Lynn Spears has turned up 16 and pregnant. What makes this newsworthy is that she starred as the nice girl on "Zoey 101," a Nickelodeon show aimed at "tweens" ages 9 to 14.
Why so much attention to a small state that has such a modest record in picking nominees, an even more modest record in picking presidents, and that rarely plays the decisive role of Florida, Ohio or California in the general election?
If you're from Iowa, maybe you should just stop reading right now. I don't want to spoil your big day. I have nothing against the Hawkeye State.
This much is certain on the day after the Iowa caucuses: There will be plenty of kvetching and moaning about the system. The winners will praise the Hawkeye State's voters as the wisest voters in America and celebrate the process as a shining example of democracy in action.
Sen. Hillary Clinton faces tonight's Iowa caucuses not as the inevitable Democratic presidential nominee but seriously challenged by Sen. Barack Obama, thanks in no small part to committing a strategic error: premature triangulation.
The United States is in dire need of an election where somebody wins big, an election that confirms someone with a real majority, and an election that provides the nation with some sense of a prevailing public perspective.