"Dump on the Other Team's City" is a dangerous game, especially when your city picks the Backstreet Boys to attempt the national anthem. ...more

October 26, 2008

THE VILLAGES, Fla. (AP) -- Sarah Palin played it safe Sunday on her first trip as John McCain's running mate to the battleground state of Florida. ...more

September 21, 2008

Hurricane Katrina's third anniversary fell on the heels of the Democratic convention, the start of the Republican convention and in the midst of Hurricane Gustav. Now we are faced with recovery from Ike while, on the floors of Congress, the debate continues over how to address our nation's energy needs. ...more

September 18, 2008

None of us have ever lived through an election at a time when 80 percent of voters think the country is headed in the wrong direction. But now that we're in the thick of it, a few things are clear. From voters, the demand is: Surprise Me Most. For candidates, the lesson is: Weirdness Wins. ...more

September 12, 2008

Polishing off his strawberry-banana yogurt, Jacob Moore races to his keyboard with a whoop, picks his way through "Pop Goes the Weasel" and gives his mom a high five. This is the average stuff of childhood, and it has not come easily to the 8-year-old with Down syndrome. For his mother, Heidi Moore, achieving average "is like climbing Mount Everest." The family has been clambering up with the help of therapists, 15 surgeries, prayer and a tight-knit community of parents whose children live with the disorder. That network is abuzz with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's arrival on the national scene as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate. ...more

September 8, 2008

"Daniel Ruth is such a frickin idiot." "Daniel Ruth is such a moron." "Daniel Ruth exemplifies the liberal elitist arrogance." ...more

September 7, 2008

The Republican convention reached a dramatic conclusion Thursday night when, moments after John McCain finished his triumphant acceptance speech, nets high above the convention floor opened up and released thousands upon thousands of red, white and blue golf balls. ...more

September 6, 2008

As the Republican convention nears its conclusion, we in the news media, having finally grown weary of the endless speculation and gossip about Sarah Palin, are turning our attention, at long last, to additional speculation and gossip about Sarah Palin. ...more

September 5, 2008

For the last fortnight, the political conventions have been providing their usual fare: lots of stagecraft, non-stop schmooze-control, celebrity scrutiny, "defining-moment" speeches and over-analysis fodder for pundits and partisans. The ambience is equal parts pep rally, infomercial and Rotarian reunion. Time was when these conventions actually chose a presidential candidate. Back when smoke-filled back rooms were no mere metaphors. Now these gatherings rubber-stamp and coronate candidates. Which explains, in part, why some of Hillary's Harridans won't concede. The other part is that for those women who have outsourced their identities to Hillary Clinton, this election is no longer about the party and the country – it's about them. But enough, at least in this space, on that. ...more

September 3, 2008

If John McCain becomes president, he will be confronted by a Congress with significantly larger Democratic majorities than today's - majorities furious about high hopes dashed by an eighth Republican victory in 11 presidential elections. And if the normal pattern of off-year elections obtains in 2010, those majorities will expand. So McCain would have to deal with a hostile legislature for four years, as Arnold Schwarzenegger has done for almost five years. For that reason, and because these two self-styled post-partisan, reach-across-the-aisle mavericks admire one another - McCain has given Schwarzenegger a starring role Monday at the Republican convention - it is pertinent to survey Schwarzenegger's governorship of one-eighth of America's population. ...more

August 31, 2008