Washington Examiner / Echelon Insights
Columnist for the Washington Examiner, Republican pollster, and co-founder of Echelon Insights; senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum, a think-tank that considers women's issues from a free-market perspective, and author of The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up); former Vice President and Director of Policy Research at the Winston Group
Republicans Struggle to Support Trump Clinton and Trump pivot for the general election. Will it work?
Obama's New NSA Plans President Obama's lays out new NSA plans. Is anyone happy? Can anyone stop Hillary?
Romney under Attack before New Hampshire Primary Mitt Romney 's ahead in the polls in New Hampshire, where voters will choose the first Republican convention delegates tomorrow. He's also leading in South Carolina and Florida, which are coming up before the end of this month. But many Republicans are still looking for an alternative. Will Independents, who make up 40 percent of tomorrow's vote, help Jon Huntsman emerge from the pack? Will they set the stage for a single anti-Romney candidate in South Carolina or Florida? Websites of (other) Republican presidential candidates: Rick Perry Rick Santorum
Romney under Attack before New Hampshire Primary The day before New Hampshire will chose the first convention delegates, Mitt Romney is still the man to beat. He's leading in South Carolina and Florida too, which are coming up before the end of this month. But many Republicans are still looking for an alternative. The rest of the field is hoping that, "anything can happen," and the lack of enthusiasm on the far right indicates it just might. We hear about this weekend's debates, Jon Huntsman 's gain in the polls and the scathing attack documentary circulated by Newt Gingrich supporters. Can Romney hold on with the carefully calculated rhetoric of campaign consultants? Is it already too late for an anti-Romney consensus? Websites of (other) Republican presidential candidates: Rick Perry Rick Santorum
Does Iowa Still Matter in the Age of TV? Last night was episode thirteen for the Republican presidential candidates. Has it been serious politics or reality TV? The TV debates have been compared to sitcoms and reality TV, with different leaders week after week and big audiences, apparently due as much to personal attacks and embarrassing gaffes as pronouncements on policy. Newt Gingrich , this week's principal target, said he was "editing" his remarks to avoid Mitt Romney 's charge that he can be "zany." Romney went back to his role of attacking Barack Obama without speaking ill of other Republicans. With time growing short, others showed no such restraint. Iowa voters will caucus in less than three weeks. Will they pick a winner or will their choices be soon forgotten as the candidates move on to New Hampshire? Websites of Republican presidential candidates: Michele Bachmann Rick Perry Ron Paul Jon Huntsman, Jr Rick Santorum
Will a Sour Economy Trump Obama's Foreign Policy Victories? President Barack Obama's on a foreign policy roll: the death of Moammar Gadhafi, the assassinations of Anwar Awlaki in Yemen and Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Obama's withdrawal from Iraq and the successful NATO air campaign in Libya reaffirmed his credentials as a wartime leader. But conventional wisdom holds that none of this will matter because his political fortunes will be determined by the US economy. How will voters weigh his foreign policy victories against a sour economy? Will Republican candidates still try to make the case that he's weak on national security?
Will a Sour Economy Trump Obama's Foreign Policy Victories? President Barack Obama's on a foreign policy roll: the death of Moammar Gadhafi, the assassinations of Anwar Awlaki in Yemen and Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Obama's withdrawal from Iraq and the successful NATO air campaign in Libya reaffirmed his credentials as a wartime leader. But conventional wisdom holds that none of this will matter because his political fortunes will be determined by the US economy. How will voters weigh his foreign policy victories against a sour economy? Will Republican candidates still try to make the case that he's weak on national security?
Have People in Power Turned Their Back on Job Creation? US unemployment is back up to 9.1 percent and 45 percent of the jobless have been out of work for more than six months, 30 percent for more than a year. Joblessness has become chronically high on both sides of the Atlantic, but "policy makers are sinking into a condition of learned helplessness on the jobs issue. The more they fail to do anything, the more they convince themselves there's nothing they could do." That's according to Nobel-Prize winner and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman , who insists it's time for governments to take action. Is stimulus spending the answer? What about the deficit? Are both Democrats and Republicans failing to govern? In the meantime, what are the consequences of chronic unemployment? Will the US go the way of Spain? We talk with Krugman and others.
This Year's Mid-Term Elections: Which Party Will Party? After one year in office, President Obama has yet to deliver his first State of the Union address, but his approval ratings are on the decline. This week, three Democrats made headlines by deciding not to stand for re-election, provoking reports that the party's in big trouble. But even more Republicans are dropping out, the GOP's short of money, and Chairman Michael Steele says his party's " not ready " to seize control on Capitol Hill. We look at the prospects for this year's mid-term elections. Will they determine whether President Obama finally succeeds or fails? Will the Democrats lose control on Capitol Hill? Should Republicans and Democrats appeal to their most ideological voters or move to the center?
Senate Confirmation: What's the Point? Forget those claims that Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a "racist," a court-room bully or a "liberal judicial activist." Yesterday, Republican Senators called her "cordial," and "reassuring;" one said, "we do admire you and respect what you've accomplished." But, after a week of heavily covered hearings , liberals are disappointed and conservatives are still suspicious of Judge Sonia Sotomayor . It appears that she nailed down Senate confirmation with an unflappable performance that revealed almost nothing about what she really thinks. But Republican Senators laid out a blueprint for campaigns to come, with sharp questions about abortion, gun rights and same-sex marriage. If they didn't learn much about the US Supreme Court , what did voters, including Latinos, learn about the Republican agenda?
The week that wouldn't quit Will next week get even weirder? (Special one-hour episode)
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
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?
