former President, Center for the Study of the Presidency
Professor of History at Montana State University and author, most recently, of A Faustian Foreign Policy: From Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush; former President of the Center for the Study of the Presidency
The Race for President and the Politics of Change With Mitt Romney out and a fresh round of primaries coming up this weekend, the race for the White House has narrowed to three people: Republican John McCain and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama . Will a new political dialogue emerge? Voters and candidates talk about change, but what kind of change is actually likely in the campaign ahead? Are voters inspired by messages of hope tired of the slash-and-burn style of campaigning that's marked recent elections? Will cynicism give way to civility in political discourse? How will shifting political alliances affect the way candidates shape their messages to voters?
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.