2016 election
793 pieces tagged “2016 election”, newest first.
Planned Parenthood and the Profits of Doom
If anyone's anxious to turn the page on 2015, it's Planned Parenthood. Rocked by more scandals than any organization not named the IRS, it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for Cecile Richards's group since David Daleiden pulled back the curtain on the organization's trafficking in baby organs. With videos of her sinister side business in the double digits, it's only by the Obama administration's crass indifference that the group has survived this long.
Election Should Be About Restoring the American Vision
Year-end surveys convey a picture of disillusionment and cynicism among Americans about their government and their country. According to the Pew Research Center, only 19 percent now say they "trust the federal government to do what is right always or most of the time." This is close to the lowest it has been in the last 50 years. Consider that in 1964, 80 percent expressed trust in the federal government. In recent Gallup polling, 69 percent of Americans say big government is the "biggest threat" to the nation's future.
Are Wasserman Schultz's Days With the DNC Numbered?
A new petition calls for her ouster.
Before Government Became Reviled
Soon, voters will have the opportunity and impertinence to insert themselves into the 2016 presidential conversation that thus far has been the preoccupation of journalists and other abnormal people. The voting will begin in Iowa, thanks to Marie Jahn. When, after 38 years as recorder for Plymouth County in northwest Iowa, Jahn decided to retire in February 1975, local Democrats decided to throw her a party. When it came to attracting a speaker, the best they could entice from their party's national ranks was a former one-term governor of Georgia.
Obama Reshapes Presidential Politics — But Maybe Not to Democrats' Benefit
One thing that's striking about the presidential race, which, finally, officially begins soon, is how much the race has been shaped by Barack Obama. The course of the contests for both the Republican and Democratic nominations would be inconceivable absent the course of the Obama presidency.
Populism From Unlikely Candidates
Populism is typically born in places like Nebraska, Louisiana, Kansas and the other places given short shrift in that famous Saul Steinberg New Yorker cartoon showing the view of the world from 9th Avenue. It's not supposed to hail from Brooklyn or Queens, never mind Burlington, Vermont, or midtown Manhattan. But that's where the two reigning populists of the 2016 cycle call home.
Questions for Presidential Candidates
A little over a month from now, voters in Iowa will be heading into their local caucuses to cast the first substantive votes in the process that will determine whom the major parties nominate for president. In Jan. 2017 — just over a year from now — the United States will inaugurate only its third president of the 21st Century.
The Sum of All Fears
President Obama and members of his administration assure us we have nothing to fear when it comes to terrorism. Whether you accept this, or not — and opinion polls show a majority do not — there is another fear that in large part is behind the phenomenon known as Donald Trump. It is the fear we are in danger of losing America. Speaking as a member of a group that will in this century become a minority in America — that would be white people — I don't fear minority status. I fear that those who will soon make up the majority will not embrace the values and traditions that have built and sustained America through wars, economic downturns and other challenges to our way of life.
The Perfect Presidential Candidate for an Imperfect Time
I don't typically endorse candidates, but as 2015 draws to a close, I feel I must make an exception. I think it's a safe bet that for most of us, the year-that-was was not the year we wanted it to be. Oh, sure, there's got to be the stray story about how this was a great year for some happy couple. Some executive at Disney probably has his feet up on his desk, lighting a cigar with a lightsaber, thinking: "2015 was all right by me." But for most of us, 2015 was the year in which differences hardened.
15 Questions in Search of a Democratic Debate
1) Polls show that, by a large margin, Americans feel we're on the wrong track, both economically and as to foreign policy. Yet none of you offers *any* criticism of President Barack Obama, who has been in charge for the last seven years. Why, then, should Americans believe that four more years, under your leadership, would be any different from the last seven?
Trumpy Christmas
Merry Trump. Happy Trump Year. Everywhere you look it's not Christmas, it's Trump, Trump, Trump. The billionaire who's blown up the Republican primary process has supplanted Christmas. He's supplanted New Year. At Donald's house, instead of a Christmas tree, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Trump Tree.
The Known — and Unknown — Unknowns in the Republican Race Ahead
Some observations on the 2016 presidential race as we head into the dark period, i.e., the two weeks of Christmas and New Year's holidays in which no one has ever dared, at least in the past, to conduct any polls. Those of us who pick over poll results will have to fly blind until the week starting Jan. 4.
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The Alpha Dog of the Gop
If there's any lesson from Tuesday's debate, it's that six months after his entry into the Republican presidential race, no one has any better idea of how to handle Donald Trump than when he first got in. Las Vegas highlighted how Trump has established alpha-dog dominance in the Republican field. He's not only the front-runner according to national polls, he's a front-runner other candidates are literally afraid to criticize in his presence.
Watching the Tuesday Night Fights
Maybe it was because it was held in Las Vegas, where so many great prizefights have been held. But Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate was easily the best yet. CNN and Wolf Blitzer did a good, fair-and-balanced job of staging and refereeing the nine-person fight card. Most of the time was spent discussing substantive issues like foreign policy and national security, not throwing personal low blows.
Does Conservatism Matter in Republican Nomination Contest?
In December 2011, the candidate who led in the Iowa polls was not Rick Santorum (who ultimately squeaked out a victory there), nor Michelle Bachmann (who had driven Gov. Tim Pawlenty from the race by winning the Iowa straw poll earlier in the year), nor Mitt Romney. No, the leader was Ron Paul, with 23 percent.
Establishment Republicans Must Be Careful Not to Go Too Far
I've long said that the differences between so-called establishment Republicans and grassroots conservatives are about more than tactics in budgetary battles with President Obama and congressional Democrats. The current Cruz-Rubio flap validates my position. Establishment Republicans have been enormously frustrated with the grassroots for wanting to call Obama's bluff in these budget battles to the point of allowing the government to shut down. They have maintained this is a fool's errand that will only help Democrats because shutdowns will always be blamed on the GOP, supposedly the party of limited government.