POLITICS
Friday, July 04, 2008
The Chait-Scheiber Rumble! Do Flip-Flops Matter?
by Noam Scheiber
Two weeks ago, Obama was "Obambi"--a guy so innocent he'd struggle to cross a major intersection, much less survive a match-up against the GOP. Then Obambi...
Why Obama's Opponents--And Some Of His Friends--Won't Let Him End The Culture War
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
WASHINGTON--Barack Obama keeps trying to end the wars over culture and religion, and good for him. The 1960s are so 40 years ago. But Obama's opponents...
Thursday, July 03, 2008
A TNR Video: Greening the City--Creating Green Jobs In The Bronx
by Dayo Olopade
This video marks the first of a TNR TV series that will take an issues approach to contemporary environmentalism. This episode deals with matters of class...
The Mugabelogue: Do Conservatives Care More About Zimbabwe Than Liberals--Or Do Westerners Just Care About White Farmers? And More.
by T.A. Frank and James Kirchick
Who’s interested in Zimbabwe, and why? How should Westerners understand the situation there? And could this all be Jimmy Carter’s fault? T.A. Frank and...
Inside China's Illegal Fight Clubs
by Mara Hvistendahl
Over the last decade, they cropped up in cities throughout China, tucked into raucous markets or along forgotten side streets, their interiors smelling...
Why I Fear For Obama: Don't Underestimate The Flip-Flopper Label
by Jonathan Chait
My colleague Noam Scheiber argues in his piece yesterday that John McCain's new campaign strategy of painting Barack Obama as an unprincipled flip-flopper...
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Is This Man A Typical Pol? McCain wants you to think so--which is good, in the long run, for Obama.
by Noam Scheiber
Two weeks ago, Obama was "Obambi"--a guy so innocent he'd struggle to cross a major intersection, much less survive a match-up against the GOP. Then Obambi...
To Mitt Or Not To Mitt? Jonathan Cohn And Eve Fairbanks Debate Romney: Brilliant V.P. Pick, Or Terrible?

My brilliant colleague Jon Cohn is almost always dead on target, but I think Mitt Romney's shameless Michigan pandering has gone to his head. I know Romney...
Benign Neglect: Parsing Obama's Latin American Policies
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
WASHINGTON--Barack Obama recently gave a major speech on Latin America in which he sought to contrast his ideas with President Bush's record in the region...
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Why Caroline Kennedy Needs Barack Obama: Securing A Future For The Family Brand
by Michelle Cottle
If Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is crazy for Barack Obama, the guy must really be something special, right?
40 Years Old Today, The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Is More Vital--And Vulnerable--Than Ever
by J. Peter Scoblic
Today marks the fortieth birthday of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, one of the most important pieces of paper the United States has signed in the...
Disputations: Should Barack Obama Have Known Better Than To Make A Deal With The Teamsters?
by William Hogan and John B. Judis
Dear Editor: It is unfortunate to see John Judis recycling discredited allegations by the controversial government "watchdog," the Independent Review ...
No Matter What Happens In November, There's One Place GOP Rule Will Continue. And It May Matter More Than Congress Or The Presidency.
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
WASHINGTON--If the long conservative era that began with Ronald Reagan's election is over, will the judges appointed during the right's ascendancy be ...
Monday, June 30, 2008
Why The Sure-To-Be Blistering GOP Attacks On Michelle Obama Won't Work
by Ed Kilgore
In 1828, President John Quincy Adams's reelection campaign reportedly traded on innuendoes that Rachel Jackson had been imperfectly divorced from her ...
Six Simple Reasons The Border Fence Is A Terrible Idea
by Melanie Mason
In this political season, immigration is the issue that everyone’s taking pains not to discuss. The presidential candidates are merely paying the same...
How The Next President--Whoever It Is--Should Deal With Our China Problem
by The Editors
When it comes to China policy, American presidents over the past generation have adhered to a relatively simple pattern: Talk tough before taking office...
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Last Hero of Tiananmen
by Philip P. Pan
In the second half of 2003, Jiang Yanyong sat down to write a letter about what he had seen during the Tiananmen Square uprising and share it with the...
Friday, June 27, 2008
From Guns to Guantanamo, The True Significance Of The Latest Supreme Court Term
by Jeffrey Rosen
In 2006, at the end of his first term on the Supreme Court, John Roberts told me and other journalists that his goal as chief justice would be to promote...
Who's Legislating From The Bench Now, Conservatives?!
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
WASHINGTON--In knocking down the District of Columbia's 32-year ban on handgun possession, the conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court have shown again...
Does Germany’s Record In International Soccer Confirm The Absence Of God Or Merely The Futility Of Romance?
by Alex Massie
Don't try to pretend that you thought it would end any other way. Don't kid yourself--or the rest of us--and say that you thought Turkey had a chance ...
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Can The President Simply Ignore Congress? (Bush Thinks So.)
by Alan B. Morrison
In the final days of the Supreme Court's term, it is not surprising that other lawsuits are not receiving much attention. However, this past Monday, ...
Help Hillary Decide How To Deal With Her Massive Campaign Debt!
by Nicole Allan and Bess Kalb
After 17 months of directing Operation Hillary, the would-be commander-in-chief is in debt. $22.5 million of it. According to an FEC report released Friday...
The Kremlin Scores! Why Russia's Ascendent Soccer Team Is Putin's Through And Through
by Josh Patashnik
Among the four teams that advanced to this week's semifinal round of the Euro 2008 soccer tournament, three aren't particularly portentous. No one is...
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Freaks and Geeks
by Noam Scheiber
One of the few papers I actually read as a grad student was written by a pair of economists named Josh Angrist and Alan Krueger. In the early '90s, Angrist...
Hey, Liberal Justices! Want To Move The Supreme Court Left? Pick Easier Cases.
by Nicholas Stephanopoulos
Though this court term wasn't as disastrous as it could have been, these are not particularly happy days for the Supreme Court’s left-leaning justices...
Feeding The Beast: Why Food Prices Are Skyrocketing
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
WASHINGTON--We tend to judge this year's food crisis, marked by seemingly indomitable prices, from the point of view of those who are suffering. It might...
Why Internships In Journalism Are Bad For Young People, And Bad For The Industry
by Adelle Waldman
Beware the intern you just sent on a coffee run. And not just because she may use the yellow sweetner instead of the pink. No, beware the intern because...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Why Israel's Latest Negotiation Spree Is Doomed To Fail
by Martin Peretz
In Middle Eastern wars, the United Nations is almost always hectoring Israel for being reluctant to seek peace. So it was a stunner when Terje Rød- Larsen...
McCain Beat Obama Last Week--No Matter What The Pundits Tell You
by Jonathan Chait and Jonathan Cohn
The press corps seems to have decided that John McCain had a bad week. Mark Halperin does his "who won the week" schtick here. And over the weekend, the...
Barack Obama Didn't Kill Campaign Finance Reform. He Reminded Us That Even Good Ideas Need Fixing.
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
WASHINGTON--Barack Obama's decision to forgo public funds will bring joy to opponents of campaign finance reform. But to say that Obama has killed public...
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Effort To Make This Campaign About Voters' Unconscious Fears Of Obama Has Already Begun
by Drew Westen
Seldom has a presidential candidate faced such long odds. John McCain has repeatedly allied himself with the most unpopular president since the history...
Nixonland Vs. The Age Of Reagan, Round Two: What Did Dutch Steal From Tricky Dick?
by Rick Perlstein and Sean Wilentz
In this TNR debate, two powerhouse political historians--Sean Wilentz, the author of The Age Of Reagan and contributing editor for The New Republic, and...
The Secret China History of George H.W. Bush
by James Mann
While visiting his family in Asia after he graduated from Harvard Business School more than three decades ago, George W. Bush discovered the joys of Chinese...
Bush Opens His Mouth, And The Oil Crisis Gets Worse
by The Editors
This past Wednesday, President Bush called for ending a federal ban on offshore oil drilling, two days after John McCain flip-flopped to take the same...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Does Obama Have A September 10th Mindset?
by Jonathan Chait
Last week, the terrorism "issue" made its campaign debut. I use scare quotes not because terrorism is not a threat, but because it's unclear precisely...
It's The Battle Of The Straight Talkers In New Hampshire! And Even Though McCain's A Local Favorite, Obama Still Has The Edge.
by E.J. Dionne
HANOVER, N.H.--The race for electoral votes could be so close in November that small states may well pick the next president. Among the diminutive states...
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The U.S. Won't Prosecute The Torture Policymakers For War Crimes. But Other Countries Probably Will.
by Scott Horton
Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing provided the latest evidence that top Bush administration officials directed the use of torture techniques...
Are We Living In Nixonland Or The Age Of Reagan? Two Powerhouse Historians Debate.
by Sean Wilentz and Rick Perlstein
In this TNR debate, two powerhouse political historians--Sean Wilentz, contributing editor for The New Republic and the author of The Age of Reagan, ...
For Obama And McCain, Mike Bloomberg Is The Ultimate Vanity Veep. Too Bad He'd Stink At The Job.
by Ben Wasserstein
Though he's never been involved in national politics, the one man with the odd distinction of appearing on both Barack Obama's and John McCain's vice-...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Bar-Hopping With Tim Pawlenty, McCain's V.P. Front-Runner
by Noam Scheiber
Among the many ironclad rules for serious vice-presidential contenders are the following: First, always demonstrate the requisite humility by studiously...
Why Kathleen Sebelius Is The iPod Of Obama’s Veep Candidates
by Bradford Plumer
The past few weeks have seen plenty of obsessing over whom Barack Obama and John McCain ought to pick as their running mates. But for all the debate ...
Call "Sesame Street" Racist, And Five Other Rules For White Politicians Who Want To Be The Next "Black President"
by Cinque Henderson
Now that "the first black President" and his wife have been proven to be evil racists, it's gonna be much harder for white politicians to win the trust...
McCain's Absurd Backpedaling On The Environment
by The Editors
There are certain streaks that have become etched in American lore: Joe DiMaggio's 56 straight games with a hit, UCLA's 88-game unbeaten run in men'...
The EU Can Learn From Jefferson
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
WASHINGTON--European governments are aghast at the decision by Irish voters to reject the Treaty of Lisbon, the new attempt--three years after the collapse...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
The Unraveling Of Joe Lieberman
by Jonathan Chait
McCain's best friend thinks Democrats have lost faith in America. No, Joe, they've just lost faith in you.
From Porn To Politics: The Strange Life Of Taylor Marsh, Hillary's Number-One Fan
by Joe Mathews
LAS VEGAS--I ask Taylor Marsh whether she really keeps a gun to protect herself from her detractors, as she claims on her website, and she escorts me...
Why Obama's Father's Day Speech Is Far From Just A Political Ploy
by E.J. Dionne
WASHINGTON--Will everyone dismiss Barack Obama's Father's Day call to responsible parenting as a simple political ploy?
Monday, June 16, 2008
Can Burma's Ad Hoc Civil Society Challenge The Junta's Army?
by Suzy Khimm
Over a month after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma's southern coast, the country's ruling junta continues to restrict international efforts to assist...
Searching For Ron Paul: Witnessing The Tragicomic Demise Of The Libertarian Party
by Michael Idov
It's May 23, 2008, and eleven presidential candidates are crowding the dais on a tiny stage in the Columbine Meeting Room. We're in the bowels of a Sheraton...
Four Years Ago, Tom Daschle Was Pilloried By Left And Right Alike. Now He's Seen As A Martyr--And A Strong V.P. Candidate.
by Michael Crowley
Tom Daschle is a lucky guy. Today the former Senate Democratic leader sits in Barack Obama's inner circle--along with several former members of his staff...
Sunday, June 15, 2008
How McCain Should Pick His Running Mate... And Why It Should Be Rudy
by David Frum
Some years ago, C-SPAN's Brian Lamb played a dirty trick on a journalist friend of mine.
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