Editor, National Review Online
Editor of the National Review Online
PROFILE
Kathryn Jean Lopez
Guest
FROM Kathryn Jean Lopez
To the Point
The Biden-Palin Debate Last night's vice-presidential debate will be old news by Tuesday, when John McCain and Barack Obama face off again . In the meantime, both national campaigns are breathing sighs of relief after neither Sarah Palin nor Joe Biden made a major mistake. For both sides that's good news of a kind. We hear excerpts and compare performances with expectations.
To the Point
Palin Dazzles the Party with Her Speech, Values and Experience Last night's speeches by Mitt Romney , Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani were full of the kind of sarcasm Republicans are famous for. But it was the speech by vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin that had delegates on their feet again and again at the Xcel Energy Center. She described her family as typically American and boasted of challenging her own party, while delivering lines dripping of partisanship. Again and again she compared herself to John McCain as a maverick willing to challenge his own party and the ruling establishment in Washington. After a slow start, the convention is energized. But will Palin's message touch Independents and uncertain Democrats? How well did she set the stage for tonight's address by McCain?
Recommended
Red State, Blue State
The Drug Wave Crests 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year. A lot of that was due to opiates. And it started a small.
The Mixer
Repainting the Sheriff's department, tan and green Barring any unforeseen changes, there will be a new L.A. County Sheriff at the start of next week. Alex Villanueva defeated sitting Sheriff, Jim McDonnell, in this month’s midterms after running a partisan campaign that lead to the first ouster of a sitting Sheriff in more than a century. Villanueva told KCRW this week that his goal is to rid the department of officials that, he said, contributed to a corrupt culture under previous leadership. But there is a lot of concern about what that will look like and if recent reforms could be rolled back.
Left, Right & Center
Very legal? Very cool? President Trump says it was very legal and very cool to run his business and campaign simultaneously, but was it?
KCRW Features
One Year Later: Rebuilding from the Thomas Fire This week marks one year since the Thomas Fire descended on the city of Ventura. It burned more than 500 homes within city limits. Since then, roughly half of those properties have received the green-light to start construction, but only a handful have actually broken ground. We visit one neighborhood where some of the first homes are getting rebuilt.