Too late for one more post-election analysis? Bear with me; I was so shocked and appalled by Mitt Romney’s defeat that, but for this I was rendered speechless. It has taken this long for me to process the election from the standpoint of my primary news source. One of the potentially interesting things I anticipated [...]
Steven Stanek of The Heartland Institute interviews [here] Jim Huffman on the subject of Huffman’s article “The Disenfranchisement of Rural America” that appeared in Defining Ideas (reprinted here at Northwest Free Press).
Originally published in Defining Ideas, February 13, 2013 – Small-town Americans are losing the right to govern themselves and their own communities. Anyone who pays even passing attention to American politics is familiar with the map (Figure 1) of the United States showing states in which a majority of voters favored President Obama (colored blue) [...]
Originally published in February edition of The Northwest Connection – Fiscal Conservatives Take Office Across Clackamas County – Election 2012 was considered a disaster by Americans hoping to reverse the trend of unprecedented deficits, unaccountable spending, and runaway debt. But if you’d been living in a bunker since the 2010 midterm and stumbled into the [...]
Originally published in the Hillsboro Tribune, January 11, 2013 – by Representative Shawn Lindsay – Remember when presidential candidates actually campaigned in Oregon? Now they simply treat Oregon as an ATM. In 2004, both President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry drew huge crowds for public campaign rallies. But in 2012, both President Obama [...]
Originally published in The Oregonian, December 19, 2012 – How to reverse the state GOP’s slide into irrelevance – After a month of personal reflection, well-intended advice from many and reading commentary by political insiders, I am compelled to share my insight as to why Oregon has become such a reliably Democratic state. It is [...]
This story in The Economist suggests that, though unfair, the trashing of Mitt Romney by fellow Republicans may be a good thing for the party as it looks to its future.
As Washington Post columnist Charles Lane wrote in his post-election piece “The 2012 Catch 22”: “There are two Americas, with conflicting value systems and deep contempt for each other.” AKA Hunter S. Thompson’s fear and loathing. Notwithstanding the partisan divide, some say a demographic Rubicon has been passed. Pat Buchanan has been warning about it [...]
The Daily Caller offers its top ten list of ballot measures across the nation — from The Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act on the ballot in Los Angeles County to a proposed constitutional ban on income taxes in New Hampshire. Read the top ten list here.
In anticipation of a close presidential election, Jonathan Tobin writes at CommentaryMagazine.com about the potential for voter fraud and the battle between Democrat and Republican lawyers that is sure to follow. Tobin concludes: “We will never overcome the distrust of the parties for each other, and close elections are always going to produce anger and [...]
So sayeth the AFL-CIO in a mailing to voters. It is true that when you vote, it becomes a public record that you have done so. But it is not true that how you voted — who you voted for — is a matter of public record. Because the reverse side of the mailer shows [...]
Originally published in The Daily Caller, October 27, 2012 – There was a time when the admonition “vote early” was accompanied with “and often.” No doubt many who used the expression had Chicago in mind, so photos of President Obama voting early in his hometown surely reminded old timers of the days when people really [...]
Jonathan Tobin comments at Commentary on an early pointing of fingers in anticipation of an Obama loss. In reaction to a piece by Matt Bai in today’s New York Times, Tobin concludes: “But no matter where the Democratic fingers are pointing, the fact that they are already starting to blame each other for an Obama [...]
Willamette Week reports on the intense, expensive, and sometimes down and dirty races that will determine which party controls the Oregon House of Representatives. Republicans will have to retain seats in several districts with significant Democrat registration advantages.
Democrats, led by the Obama campaign, have been beating the drums of inequality for months. Kevin Hassett and Aparna Mathur, writing in today’s Wall Street Journal, demonstrate a different reality. Taking account of the vast federal safety net, low income people are better off than they have ever been and the difference between them and [...]
The Oregonian editorial board has endorsed Knute Buehler for Secretary of State. Read the endorsement editorial here.
Originally published in Northwest Connection, October, 2012 – A STUDY IN CONTRAST Lehan-Ludlow Showdown Has Battleground County Divided By Mark Ellis And so, it comes down to this. As President Obama and Governor Romney square off with two opposing visions in what has been called the election of a lifetime, we’ve got our own perfectly [...]
Contrary to the view of many in the mainstream media, the presidential race is not over. According to Republican pollster Whit Ayres, it is a close race that could still go either way. Jerry Seib interviews Ayres on WSJ Live here. Read Seib’s commentary here.
