More bad news in what seems a steady flow of bad news for Democrats heading into what looks like a political Katrina of nationwide defeats: a Gallup Poll finds minority and young voters, two key parts of the coalition that elected Barack Obama President and gave Democrats their winning coalition, are not poised to go to the polls this November: Minority and young voters made a significant mark on the 2008 presidential...

One Born Every Minute by Tom Purcell It could have been worse. Some years ago, I had just spent the last of my savings to have a British convertible restored. I was a master then at buying high and selling low. Nonetheless, desperate for cash, I was eager to sell. I figured I could get $4,900 for the car, but I was also a master at poor timing: Only a fool would sell a convertible just before winter. My newspaper...

Republicans are united against any liberalizing influences in their party. Why can’t Democrats unite against the conservative and regressive tendencies in their party?

In 1982 the economy was hurting and Ronald Reagan’s approval ratings were even lower than Obama’s in 2010.  The economy got better on it’s own and so did Reagan’s approval but not before the Republicans took a drubbing in the midterms.  In 1994 the economy was also hurting and Clinton’s approval ratings were also lower than Obama’s now.  The economy once again righted itself,...

The Labor Department reports that the economy lost a net 54,000 jobs in August.  Most analysts will inevitably focus on two things:  (1) the loss in jobs was less than expected so equity markets will respond positively (market analysis) and (2) the continuing economic weakness will nonetheless worsen Democrats’ political prospects in the midterm elections (political analysis). I want to focus on a practical...

Prioritize, Prioritize by David Goodloe I think I was in college when I first heard a little jingle about plagiarism — “Plagiarize! Plagiarize! Let no one’s work evade your eyes!” As a journalism major, I was constantly being warned by my instructors not to plagiarize anyone. It became an article of faith with me. So I guess that accounts for my appreciation for that little snippet, which...

You get what you reward. A new report concludes that chief executives of the 50 firms that have laid off the most workers since the onset of the economic crisis in 2008 took home 42 percent more pay in 2009 than their peers at other large U.S. companies. The report, from the Institute of Policy Studies, found that the 50 layoff leaders received $12 million on average in 2009, compared with an average compensation...

A new oil well drilling explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, this one in shallow water, is sending shock waves to Gulf experts. Here’s one account. My reaction: Oh shit. If the observer, Bob Cavnar, is correct which he has been most of the time in the BP disaster, this one stands a much quicker chance of being capped. Of continuing concern to me is the higher than normal 5% levels of methane in the crude...

WASHINGTON — By insisting Tuesday evening that “it’s time to turn the page,” President Obama was talking about more than the Iraq War, and doing much more than reviving one of his most effective slogans from the 2008 campaign. He was also trying to turn the page on a period in which he has found himself on the defensive, his party in a perilous position for November’s elections,...

The President had plenty to say in the approximately 15 minutes he used to address the nation on the end of our combat mission in Iraq. He spoke about the war itself, about terrorism, about the emerging Iraq government and its security forces and capabilities and about the transition of responsibilities, about our continuing but different mission in Iraq and about our continuing, unchanged mission in Afghanistan. He...

On the same weekend that Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and insisted they were “reclaiming the Civil Rights Movement,” Frank Rich — in The New York Times — wrote about the weatlthy trinity who are giving Beck and Palin their financial mojo — Rupert Murdoch, and the Koch brothers, David and Charles. And, wrote Rich, these three are not a new species: You...

What could President Obama and Fed Chairman Bernanke undertake with respect to national economic and financial policy that would not require any Congressional approval? Congress will likely undertake nothing of any notable legislative substance before the November elections out of complete institutional gridlock, fear, ignorance and paralysis. If the next Congress is controlled by Republicans, even less than...

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s address to the nation on Iraq this week underscores the agony of his presidency, and its core political problem. Seen from the inside, the administration is an astonishing success. Obama has kept his principal promises and can take credit for achievements that eluded his Democratic predecessors. He pledged to have all combat troops out of Iraq by the end...

I can’t wait for Labor Day, Sept. 6, and the days immediate after for it marks campaign promises that both Republican and Democratic leaderships will promote their plans for economic recovery. Let’s hold them to the fire. We need, we must, have a good, no-holds barred debate on this subject for it is killing us. Like it or not, it may influence the midterm elections Nov. 2 and perhaps carry over to 2012. The...

China produces 97% of the global supply of rare earth metals, elements that are used in nearly every electronics component and many other advanced technologies. There has been whispering for a couple of years that they would be cutting exports on most rare earths starting this year and all rare earths by 2012 due to their domestic manufacturing demand. This will leave Taiwan, Japan and other technology manufacturers...

Even to me, a Democrat, Rolling Stone, the publication that “outed” General McChrystal, sometimes goes overboard in how it portrays the opposition and in the “colorful” language it uses to do so—“expletives deleted” certainly called for here. In his “Tea Party Rocks Primaries,” Matt Taibbi doesn’t break the mold in his analysis of Tea Party successes in the recent primaries. First, Taibbi...

Obama Making Everybody Angry by Michael Reagan It’s almost as if President Obama’s agenda includes provoking anger at himself. And it’s not just Republicans he’s provoking. It’s just about anybody who crosses his path, even his party’s deranged left wing. Long-time liberal Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel is a case in point. The veteran Harlem congressman reacted to criticism from the president, who...

WASHINGTON — Republicans are in the midst of an insurrection. Democrats are not. This vast gulf between the situations of the two parties — not some grand revolt against “the establishment” or “incumbents” — explains the year’s primary results, including Tuesday’s jarring outcomes in Florida and Alaska. The agitation among Republicans is not surprising,...

It’s my business to blow peoples’ bubbles to smithereens when they are not focused on the ball in play. Those primary elections and runoffs in five states Tuesday, well, the outcomes don’t mean a hill of beans. The real news — the stuff that counts — is the housing market continues to collapse if it already isn’t gasping its last breath. Sales of existing homes plunged 27.2% nationally in July. Mark...

The title quote is from Kevin Drum’s commentary on Paul Krugman’s latest column about the conservative resistance to not extending the portion of former Pres. George W. Bush’s tax cuts that go to the wealthy: