Will Ron Paul's Money Translate into Votes?
By Terry Mitchell12/27/2007
As a Ron Paul supporter, I am absolutely delighted that he has been able to raise more than $18 million this quarter. What a thrill it was to see him pull in $4.5 million on November 5th and then set a single-day fundraising record with $6 million on December 16th! But will all of that money translate into enough votes to get Paul some key victories in the early primaries and caucuses and ultimately the GOP presidential nomination? With my heart, I certainly hope so. But with my head, I'm thinking it probably won't.
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Beneath the Left's Love of Government
By Philip Mella12/22/2007
Fissures and fault lines in political parties are attractive targets for our editorial cognoscenti, and one of our favorite writers in that regard is E.J. Dionne, who's piece in today's Washington Post, argues that Republicans face an internecine with potentially devastating implications.
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Giuliani Could Learn from Al Gore
By Terry Mitchell12/19/2007
Rudy Giuliani doesn't seem to be worried about the fact that he is not leading in the polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina, the states that hold the earliest nominating contests. He appears to be depending on a win in Florida on January 29th, followed up with wins in New York, New Jersey, California, and elsewhere on February 5th, to propel him to the Republican presidential nomination. If that's his strategy, it is indeed a risky one. He can just ask former Vice President Al Gore.
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Standing up to Bush on Climate Change
By Robert Adler12/17/2007
According to NASA researchers, the arctic is melting faster than even the most outspoken scientists predicted just a year ago. Climate researchers warn that the Earth is on the cusp of a tipping point, beyond which a vast release of greenhouse gases from melting permafrost and warming seabeds could irreversibly multiply the impact of human greenhouse gas emissions. Likely impacts include rapidly rising sea levels, coastal flooding, more frequent and powerful hurricanes striking heavily populated regions, more frequent and intense droughts and floods, devastation of the Amazonian rainforest, the extinction of corals and many other species, the dislocation of hundreds of millions of people, and increased threats to the stability and security of many nations, including the U.S.
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An Analysis of the D Frontrunners: Edwards Is the Most Progressive
By Laura Kiesel12/06/2007
I want to make something clear, though I write a lot about politics, I am actually not a fan of politics. An interest in, or even a passion about, politics is not necessarily tantamount to an earnest love of it. I didn't even think of politics until I moved to the Washington D.C. area in 2005 to work for a non-profit and became mired in the day-to-day drama of it. As I began to read the daily and hourly newsbriefs, and visit Capitol Hill every week to implore them to abstain from drilling the Arctic Refuge, I also sat in on Congressional meetings in which I observed the pure power politicians have in dictating the lives of their consitituents. When you whittle down all the dressmaking and dry language of each bill, in essence these people have control as to whether a person can have a life-saving surgery, supplemental heat in their home during the winters, and even whether or not the world will continue to succumb to the biggest environmental problem of our time, climate change. I was heartsick and disgusted to hear the cross-banter and laughter as votes went through a chamber stripping civil liberties, dooming certain species to extinction, or perpetuating poverty. No matter how much we choose to ignore this power, it is there, and I consigned to make myself aware of it and proactively look into how to harness it into the appropriate direction.
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Mike Huckabee's Path to the GOP Nomination
By Terry Mitchell12/05/2007
If Mike Huckabee wins the Iowa Republican Caucuses on January 3rd, don't expect him to start pouring a lot of resources into New Hampshire for its primary which is held five days later. While a win in Iowa would give him enough momentum for decent finish in New Hampshire (perhaps second or third), it is not a place where he would be likely to win. The Granite State appears to be a bit too fiscally conservative and socially libertarian for the likes of an ordained Baptist minister who has demonstrated some left-of-center tendencies on issues such as taxes and illegal immigration.
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Why the GOP is Ignoring the Disabled
By Daniel Lawton12/04/2007
In an election that has all the trappings of being the most contentious in recent history, GOP candidates have steadfastly ignored the issues affecting disabled Americans at every step along the way, and have taken little flack for doing so. Composed of over 50 million Americans, the disabled community represents a huge segment of the voting populace. Its members have been drastically affected by the federal government's inability to protect them from discrimination under the American Disabilities Act (ADA)--a statute that has been eviscerated by a narrow Supreme Court interpretation--leading to overt and legal discrimination in the workplace. Of the severely disabled, over 26% reside in poverty and only 13% are able to work. However, thanks to the passage of the Help America Vote act, every disabled individual--including the blind and deaf--will be provided with a reasonable opportunity to vote in 2008.
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