Politics
Oregon Secretary of State: Kate Brown (D). By default. Her two opponents are, respectively, an amateur and a naïf. Oregon State Treasurer: Ben Westlund (D). Westlund's opponent, Allen Alley, touts his business experience, but when I look at how his company, Pixelworks, was doing when he resigned as
Politics
The Republicans deserve the broom. United States President: Barack Obama (D) United States Senate: Jeff Merkley (D) United States Representative, 3rd District: Earl Blumenauer (D)
Commerce
When enough financial institutions that are "too big to fail" totter at the same time, the government cannot save them all. What worries me is the possibility that the federal government and Federal Reserve will sink $2 trillion, $3 trillion, $4 trillion into stabilizing the financial system and
Politics
With the tide of the campaign running so heavily in Obama's favor, it's fun to speculate on exactly how low McCain's support might go on November 4. The biggest electoral college landslide that I can believe possible is Obama 461, McCain 77. In that
History
When was the last time the Republican Party chose a presidential candidate who had neither been a fighter pilot nor been wounded in wartime? Ronald Reagan in 1984.
History
At The American Scene, Jim Manzi speculates that we are seeing a liberal realignment in the 2008 election. I agree that a realignment is happening, though I have no idea if it will turn out to be liberal or whether it will happen this year or in 2012. However, it
History
Very old presidential candidate? Check. Campaign presents wealthy presidential candidate as a simple man of the people? Check. Campaign fetishizes presidential candidate's military experience? Check. Campaign focused on insults to the exclusion of issues? Check. Little-known vice-presidential candidate with uncertain party loyalties, chosen purely for balance? Check. William
History
For the 1916 presidential election, Republican leaders tried to find a candidate who could unite the party, after the Progressive split of 1912 had cost the GOP the presidency. The elders' first choice for a unifier was Elihu Root, who had won the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize and been
Politics
The GOP message to the base in 2000: "After eight years of that elitist liberal Bill Clinton, we need to send a good, earthy Christian like George W. Bush to Washington to clean up politics." The GOP message to the base in 2008: "After eight years of
Politics
Seen this afternoon at The Original Pancake House: A guy wearing a Ronald Reagan t-shirt with a McCain/Palin button pinned to it, and carrying a copy of Barry Goldwater's Conscience of a Conservative. I resisted the temptation to walk over to him and say: "Dude…you&
Politics
The GOP has nominated a ticket of which both ends are unfit for the presidency. John McCain is unfit because he is a 72-year-old whose mental faculties are evidently declining. The presidency is a mentally and physically demanding job, and McCain is not up for it. Sarah Palin is unfit
Politics
In tomorrow's New York Times, David Brooks writes: When McCain met Sarah Palin last February, he was meeting the rarest of creatures, an American politician who sees the world as he does. […] Sarah Barracuda was picked because she lit up every pattern in McCain’s brain, because she