In between meaningful football games yesterday, I saw clips of Vice President Cheney with Chris Wallace and read some comments on the interview. Frequent readers of my blog understands that I am far from a Bush / Cheney apologist. In fact, I am pretty close to a non-entity in conservative Republican circles because of my early public support for Obama last January. However, in this case, I have to agree with the Vice President (almost) in his opinion that the Congress is equally culpable in both...

From the “Are You Kidding Me File?” The left is taking offense that the appointment of Caroline Kennedy is being connected to the failed experiment of the Sarah Palin candidacy. To my friends on the left, I have to say… it really hurts when you are called out on the inexperienced candidacy card. Most of my readers know that I never swallowed the Hillary had more experience than Obama mantra because she was the First Lady of Arkansas and during Bill’s presidency. However,...

I like the choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at Obama’s inauguration ceremony. Obama continues to impress me with the way he is navigating uncharted territory. First, he announces he will be sworn into office using his full middle name. Now, he taps an evangelical preacher, who asked him tough questions at Saddleback Church to give the invocation. In one stroke, Obama has given notice to both ends of the ideological spectrum; he is not going to pander to the anti-church left and...

As I read the Chicago Tribune article about possible fallout on Obama from the Blagojevich saga, I entered into dream-like state of presidential administration’s of the past. The question of the day is… How would Nixon chief of staff H.R. Haldeman deal with this crisis? Haldeman, for the history challenged, was one of the key players in the Nixon White House. Haldeman eventually resigned and was not pardoned by his former boss. At this point, it seems that Emanuel is not connected...

It seems that the honeymoon period of President-elect Barack Obama is over. As I previously posted, Obama’s biggest critics are not going to come from conservatives but from within the liberal base of his own party. Simply put, as a Republican I was comfortable supporting him because I saw a pragmatic, capable leader instead of a candidate that was driven by progressive ideology. For those of you who missed it, the clue was Obama’s praise of the foreign policy decisions of Ronald...

I wrote the post below several months ago (July) and now it seems that it may be relevant again because of a piece today in The New York Times. If Obama really wants to give a major foreign policy speech in the first 100 days, the best location to do so in my opinion is Mecca. It is not the political divide that is the source of anxiety between the west and the Middle East, it is the cultural and theological differences of western secularized Christianity and Islam. Obama has the ability to reach...

President-elect Barack Obama may be the “biggest celebrity in the world” but even he still gets hung up on when he makes phone calls. Of course, you have probably read that Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL) hung up on Obama, not one, but twice yesterday. We have already seen Obama’s infamous bowling (Johnstown, PA) and dancing (The Ellen Show) skills, perhaps the President-elect needs to sharpen his comedic chops. If delivering one-liners can help Obama connect...

We have known for weeks that President-elect Obama was going to offer the Secretary of State position to Senator Hillary Clinton. In the official announcement today, Obama has laid those rumors to rest, but has intensified another round of questioning; why would Obama offer this prime post to his formal rival? As I pondered this question, my thoughts became centered on “The Prince” by Niccolo Machiavelli, not on the overused phraseology of “the end justifies the means” but...

Congratulations, President-Elect Obama. As one of the early Republicans to come out for you in the media (Feb 2008), I want to say that I am glad that you won the election and so far, with your economic and national security picks, you are proving yourself to be the centrist, pragmatic leader I thought you would become in nominating your key advisers. Now that the positives are said, I have to remind you that I am a Republican, so you can stop sending me the nice informative e-mails that always...

THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL POST Dear Readers: I realize I may be breaking a few rules by doing this but I feel that us blog writers are as human as everyone else and that is part of the unique connection between blogger and reader. I have never professed to know anymore about politics that any other writer or reader of TMV, however, I feel free to give my take on a particular topic of interest and it doesn’t really matter if you agree or disagree on my point of view… if it starts a meaningful...

Over the last three weeks, I have come to a startling conclusion, the true believers in the Republican Party do not understand why they were showed the door on November 4th. As Roger Simon’s article points out, the power brokers of the party are still under the illusion that their message was correct, it was the fault of either the messenger (John McCain), the economy, or the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As a voice crying out in the wilderness, whose calls to RNC-chair candidate...

Greetings! I took a couple of days off to decompress after the election and to shift my focus from campaign mode to looking at the impact of Barack Obama’s win, the legacy of George W. Bush, and to look ahead to what an Obama administration could mean for America and the World. Those musings will begin later this week but today I have a two-part post that might bring a smile to some and a grimace to others. Presidents, and president-elects, are blamed for everything that happens to us....

For all of the bi-partisan talk of the campaign, including praise of former President Ronald Reagan, President-elect Obama has reverted to governing in the old-fashioned way – offering plum appointments to members of his own party, instead of the best qualified person. For example, there are several Republicans who would be better choices for Secretary of State than Senator Hillary Clinton including Senator Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and the current holder of the post,...

President-elect Barack Obama is in a peculiar situation as he tries to fill the top slot at “Foggy Bottom.” Obama’s predicament: How to keep Senator Hillary Clinton as a close confidant while keeping former President Bill Clinton from being a distraction? Over the last week, it has been reported that Senator Clinton is being vetted for the position of Secretary of State. One of the hiccups in making this deal is finding out what Bill has been up to over the last eight years that...

In another stroke of the change we can expect, it seems that the role of Vice-President in the Obama administration may only consist of being a sounding board for the President, unlike the dominant policy role that Dick Cheney possessed over the last eight years. During the campaign, we heard that Joe Biden was on the ticket to provide experience in leadership regarding foreign policy. Now, it seems that President-elect Obama may choose Senator Hillary Clinton for the top post at the Department...

Anyone who has read my column knows that I was not a fan of Governor Sarah Palin during the campaign. For the record, I am glad John McCain and Sarah Palin lost the election. However, as I have stated before, it is ludicrous to blame Palin for the mismanagement and lackluster performance of the McCain campaign – it is a cowardly way to protect your exposed flank. A few days ago, it was reported that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal turned McCain down when he was asked if he wanted to be vetted...

I have known Michael Steele for over 10 years. In Maryland, we are part of a small fraternity, candidates for public office from the African-American segment of the Republican Party. I read with interest that Michael is looking to become the next chair of the Republican National Committee. I think this may be a good fit for both Steele and the RNC if Michael is willing to change the status quo. Unfortunately, Steele has not been a “maverick” in any of his roles in either elected office...

Last week, the talk show radio circuit was ablaze with the beginning of the anti-Obama message before President-elect Barack Obama is even sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Several months ago, I predicted that Obama’s win would be the best possible scenario for Rush, Sean Hannity and the other fire breathers on the right: “If Obama is elected Limbaugh has a new target in the White House. Limbaugh will be relevant once again as he regains his status as the leader of the...

The speeches given by Senator John McCain and President-elect Barack Obama were correct in their substance and in their tone. As I listen to Barack Obama, I thought about how proud I was that I made the correct choice. As I listened to John McCain, I thought that I could have supported him if he had spoken like that during the campaign. The Republican Blame Game has started. John McCain was a stand-up guy when he took the blame on himself. Others are pointing fingers at President Bush and Governor...

In late January, I decided that Senator Barack Obama was the best candidate to become the 44th President of the United States. As a Republican who had ran for Congress and served in the Bush Administration, I took a lot of heat for going public with my endorsement. Today, November 5th, I want to take the opportunity to make three observations: 1) Although we still have gender and racial issues in this country, the United States of America is the first western democracy to elect a person of color...

As Stan Lee of Marvel Comics is famous for writing: ’nuff said. Part II will be posted after I sleep and I get done giving my morning lectures at Towson University. In memory of “Toot”, your grandson did really good and your great-granddaughters are finally going to get that puppy.

What a depressing day to be a Republican. It appears that Obama’s projected win in Pennsylvania that the Democrats will take the White House, increase the majority in the House, and with Elizabeth Dole projected to lose her seat in the U.S. Senate, the Democrats may reach the filibuster proof threshold of sixty Senators. The broom is moving across the floor… my hope is that this election will help the Republican Party, my G.O.P., to evolve into a more centrist party.

This morning, I paid a visit to CTV – the Canadian TV Network – to talk about election day, the campaign, and my thoughts on the outcome. After I finished with the interview, seen here, I walked around 2000 M Street N.W. and participated in a couple of other segments with Irish, Catalan, and the French Networks. It was amazing to hear the perspective of the foreign journalists. Almost everyone expressed a hope that Obama will win but none of them thought it was going to be decided quickly…and...

There are times when words do not or can not express loss in the soul of a person. As a chaplain in our nation’s armed forces, I am called upon to deal with issues that are very personal. My calling to these men and women in uniform is to try to help them find their spiritual center in their time of crisis. I read the stories about the passing of Senator Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, and I was taken aback at the poignant timing of her passing. Why would God allow this sorrow...

I woke up this morning to read the Gallup poll numbers that show an 11 point lead for Barack Obama. The amazing thing is the fact that so many people seem to be surprised by the double digit lead. In a post, two weeks ago, I predicted a win of 14 points. The surprising part of these poll numbers is that we have not seen the effect of Vice President Dick Cheney’s endorsement for John McCain. My lead question is “what happens if Obama does not win?” While I do not see this a likely...