Rebuilding the Republican Brand
It's not exactly news that the Republican Party is in the doldrums at the moment. It lost control of both Houses of Congress in the 2006 elections, its president is at historic lows in the polls, it has lost a string of special elections and its incumbent Congressmen are retiring in droves, and the odds are better than even ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 20, 2008 11:43
Blogger Files FEC Complaint against Thompson
A liberal blogger charges that Fred Thompson is breaking the law by raising so much money and still not formally declaring himself a candidate. Lane Hudson, a left-wing blogger, filed a complaint against former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) on Monday, accusing the likely presidential candidate of breaking the law by violating the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) “testing the waters” clause. Hudson, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 21, 2007 08:24
Hastert to Step Down?
The Politico's Mike Allen scoops Bob Novak on his own column: Robert D. Novak plans to report this weekend in his always-delicious tidbits column (which doesn’t run in The Washington Post, but is usually in Saturday’s New York Post): “Former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has indicated to a close former aide that it is likely he will not run for a ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 20, 2007 14:55
Liberals Just Too Darn Nice to Play Politics
Glenn Greenwald chides The Politico for continually featuring a "vapid, petty, and inane" stories like John Edwards' expensive haircut and Mitt Romney's makeup consulting on its front page. He's right, I think, as far as it goes. These stories are amusing and make sense from a business standpoint, but they're hardly cutting edge journalism or worthy of front ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 17, 2007 11:36
Congressional Ethics Reform
The Senate Ethics Committee has absolved Harry Reid of wrongdoing, saying he "did not break Senate rules in accepting free ringside seats at boxing matches from the Nevada Athletic Commission." As the NYT explains, "Senate rules bar members from accepting gifts worth more than $50 but make an exception for anything paid by federal, state or local government." This decision ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 13, 2006 09:41
Rahm Emanuel Lied About Mark Foley Scandal
Glenn Greenwald examines the evidence and finds that Rahm Emanuel lied when he told George Stephanoupolous that he was not aware of the Mark Foley emails before they ABC News' Brian Ross broke the story, making him "guilty of exactly what he was accusing the GOP House Leadership of. And his hypocritical, pious lectures about the 'warning signs' which GOP ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 10, 2006 23:16
Democratic Leadership Knew About Foley E-mails
Brian Ross reports that, "The House Ethics Committee Report includes new information that top Democrats were also aware in 2005 of Mark Foley's inappropriate e-mails to congressional pages at about the same time as outgoing Speaker Dennis Hastert's office was informed." I'm not sure what to make of that, really. The presumption was always that Hastert and company chose to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 9, 2006 12:57
House Ethics Panel Clears Leadership in Foley Scandal
The House Ethics Committee has found that no rules were violated in the Foley scandal. The House ethics committee has found that Republican leaders did not break any rules in handling allegations against former Rep. Mark Foley, but that they were negligent in protecting the teenage pages, a congressional source said. No one will be reprimanded, the source said. The ethics ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 8, 2006 14:18
Hastert Likely Out as GOP House Leader
It appears Denny Hastert is out one way or the other. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's future is in doubt even if the Republicans retain control of the House because of unease among GOP lawmakers about his handling of the Foley page scandal and what a House ethics committee investigation might conclude about him, according to several Republican aides. House Chief Deputy ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 6, 2006 08:31
A Pre-Mortem on Republican Losses in 2006 Midterms
Charles Krauthammer has an excellent analysis of what to make of the losses the Republicans are expected to suffer five days from now. Substantial, yes. Historic, no. Before proclaiming a landslide, one has to ask Henny Youngman's question: "Compared to what?" (His answer to: "How's your wife?") Since the end of World War II, the average loss for a second-term presidency ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 3, 2006 13:14
