Al Franken Needs Help
Unless something drastic happens, Al Franken will lose his bid to overtake Norm Coleman's narrow first-count win of Minnesota's U.S. Senate election through the recount. He's considering other options, including asking the Democratically-dominated Senate to step in. The math's not in his favor: To win his case before the state Canvassing Board, Franken must prevail on more than 6 percent of his ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 2, 2008 08:55
Is Hillary Clinton Eligible to be Secretary of State? (Updated)
Aside from the issue of the wisdom of appointing Hillary Clinton Secretary of State, which I've discussed previously, there's also the issue of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which states, "No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 25, 2008 08:35
GOP’s G-O-D Problem
Kathleen Parker is getting quite a response to her WaPo piece "Giving Up on God." As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit. Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D. I'm bathing in holy water as I type. To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 20, 2008 14:09
Conservatives Blew It
P.J. O'Rourke lets his fellow conservatives have it with both barrels in a long essay worth reading in full. Some excerpts: Let us bend over and kiss our ass goodbye. Our 28-year conservative opportunity to fix the moral and practical boundaries of government is gone--gone with the bear market and the Bear Stearns and the bear that's headed off to do ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 12, 2008 16:30
Electoral College: A Defense
George Will argues that the 2008 election demonstrates precisely what the Framers sought to prevent with the Electoral College. In a Presidential contest replete with novelties, none was more significant than this: A candidate’s campaign—for his party’s nomination, then for the presidency—was itself virtually the entire validation of his candidacy. Voters have endorsed Barack Obama’s audacious—but not, they have said, presumptuous—proposition, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 11, 2008 14:31
Fixing the GOP Redux
Stacy McCain has a tongue-in-cheek rebuttal to my post on the Republican Party's future in which he notes that Sarah Palin graduated college, some non-Southern states voted for McCain, and than some non-rednecks agree with Palin on some issues. James doesn't want the Republican Party identified with redneck opponents of illegal immigration (like that illiterate hillbilly Mark ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 10, 2008 15:58
Republican Party’s Future
My Palin Derangement Syndrome post got a number of thoughtful responses, especially for a weekend post. My fellow Jacksonville State alumnus Stacy McCain, a Palin fan, thinks the internal debate on her role in last week's defeat and her future as a Republican Party standard bearer is one we should have. He objects strenuously, though, to the tone of some of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 10, 2008 07:15
Palin Last Nail in Republican Coffin?
Quite a few reports came out yesterday buttressing rumors that there were tensions between John McCain and Sarah Palin which caused a feud within the campaign team. It's only fitting, I suppose, since the selection of Palin has highlighted and exacerbated a growing fissure within the Republican Party itself. Fox New's Carl Cameron dished last night about rumors that Palin was ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 6, 2008 08:06
Real America
[caption id="attachment_26354" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Two Americas"][/caption] Sarah Palin caused a bit of a flap earlier in the week when she told a North Carolina crowd that she loved visiting the "pro-America" parts of the country, leading WaPo's Juliet Eilperin to quip, "No word on which states she views as unpatriotic." The campaign circulated a longer report, courtesy of WSJ's Elizabeth Holmes, putting ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on October 19, 2008 08:34
Liberals Unbound
A WSJ editorial makes the most compelling case for electing John McCain, one that the campaign has barely touched upon: the need to check unalloyed liberalism. If the current polls hold, Barack Obama will win the White House on November 4 and Democrats will consolidate their Congressional majorities, probably with a filibuster-proof Senate or very close to it. Without the ability ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on October 17, 2008 08:30
