Susan Estrich from Creators Syndicate

What Happened to Newt and Mitt? for 02/10/2012

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Newt's easy. While all of us on the Democratic side were playing "root for Newt," Republicans were taking the proverbial second and third look — and getting scared by what they saw. Hello, Herman Cain.

Oldest rule in politics: The faster the balloon fills with air the faster it blows up. On the one hand, everyone knew Newt Gingrich had baggage. Everyone knew he could be, ...

Updated: Fri Feb 10, 2012

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Chasing Equality for 02/08/2012

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Tuesday's ruling by a panel of three judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holding unconstitutional the California ballot initiative that aimed to take the right to marry away from same-sex couples is hardly the last word in the debate. The court's ruling, unlike that of the district court below, did not purport to decide whether states must, in the first instance, ...

Updated: Wed Feb 08, 2012

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Primary Purposes for 02/03/2012

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

If the goal of the primary process is simply to nominate a candidate, essentially to nominate the man or woman most likely to win in the end, then this primary season should be declared over. Clear the stage, and give it to Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich's promise to go the next 46 notwithstanding, you couldn't find anyone in Vegas to give you ballpark odds on his winning. And forget about Ron Paul ...

Updated: Fri Feb 03, 2012

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Ten Reasons Why Newt Gingrich Shouldn't Drop Out for 02/01/2012

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

10. It would be very boring. People would stop paying attention to presidential politics. Campaigns are unique learning experiences, as Professor Gingrich certainly knows.

9. He doesn't need his own plane. When you're running to make a difference, running to energize people, attract them to politics and stimulate a real debate, all you need is a plane ticket to a debate.

8. Withou ...

Updated: Wed Feb 01, 2012

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Clintonesque for 01/27/2012

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Clintonesque. That's what all the talking heads were saying about the president's State of the Union. And they didn't mean long.

Clintonesque means Barack Obama projected confidence and optimism.

It means he connected with his audience, that he looked and sounded BIG. Not a whine in sight. Not an excuse to be heard. He was the president.

And most of all it means he grabbed ...

Updated: Fri Jan 27, 2012

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Rooting for Newt for 01/25/2012

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Ask any honest Democrat, and they'll tell you what I'm about to tell you: We're rooting for Newt.

The death penalty for marijuana?

Replacing janitors with school kids?

Mining the moon for minerals?

Go, Newt.

It's not that the former Speaker doesn't have the smarts. Quite the contrary. He may be too smart for his own good — at least his own good in politi ...

Updated: Wed Jan 25, 2012

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Dear Democrats for 01/20/2012

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Me, worry?

Yes.

Every day I'm asked by Democrats whether to worry about Mitt Romney. Many of them, frankly, aren't. They tell me about his being a Mormon (unfair, but true, the prejudice is real) and about the right-wing attacks and the Bain business and his being rich and paying less in taxes than the rest of us. Won't all of that kill him?

Not necessarily.

In rever ...

Updated: Fri Jan 20, 2012

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About the Dog for 01/18/2012

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

There is a famous story (it may be apocryphal, of course) about Richard Nixon and his dog. No, I don't mean the Checkers speech, the one where Nixon saved his integrity by invoking his little dog, Checkers, and his wife's cloth coat. This one came later, after he lost, during the famous Bel Air fire. The story is that as he was fleeing his house, Nixon left his dog.

When it comes to frie ...

Updated: Wed Jan 18, 2012

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The People Have Spoken for 01/13/2012

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

The people have spoken — all 126,185 of them. That's how many votes turned Mitt Romney into the Republican nominee, for all intents and purposes. In a country with more than 300 million people, less than a tenth of a half of a percent have picked one of the two men who could be the next president of the United States.

You call that a democracy? It's a system that is almost too easy ...

Updated: Fri Jan 13, 2012

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Echoes of World War II in Normandy for 01/11/2012

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

No one told me that January is the wrong time to visit Normandy (until afterwards, that is). Most of the places we went to visit were closed. It was cold and wet and rainy. It took more than three hours each way. But I haven't been to France in fifteen years, and who knows (especially after this trip) when I will go again.

Our driver was an older gentleman, a retired executive who kept h ...

Updated: Wed Jan 11, 2012

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New Year's Resolutions for 12/29/2011

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

For the first few decades of my life, I always knew what my New Year's resolution would be: Lose weight. Get to the number on my license.

After my son was born and I was really fat for the first time (which came as a shock when I finally figured it out since I'd been convinced that I'd been fat all my life), I finally figured out that if I treated losing weight like I did everything else ...

Updated: Thu Dec 29, 2011

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A Second Look at the Death Penalty for 12/28/2011

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

I still remember back in 1988 sitting in a Chinese restaurant when then-Governor Bill Clinton took a napkin and listed on one side the Democratic governors who were against the death penalty and, on the other, those who were for it. In its time, the issue was the third rail in American politics — the line that divided those who could win because they were considered tough on crime and tho ...

Updated: Wed Dec 28, 2011

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Reality Bites for 12/23/2011

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Gingrich balloon is leaking air. He is beginning to look more and more like Howard Dean. The latest Rasmussen caucus poll shows him dropping three points behind Mitt Romney (23 to 20) after leading him by 13 points (32-19) just a month ago.

I won't say I told you so, but I did. The nomination process is controlled by ideologues, but even ideologues — and sometimes especially i ...

Updated: Fri Dec 23, 2011

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Christmas Choices for 12/21/2011

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Right around now is when people start fretting over creches in the public square and arguing as to whether publicly funded Christmas symbols violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment. And right about now is also when certain Jewish groups begin insisting that the answer is to place a Hanukkah menorah right next to that creche, which leads atheists to complain about a plague on bot ...

Updated: Wed Dec 21, 2011

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Welcome Home for 12/16/2011

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

"He finally said something," the man in the elevator said to no one in particular as he turned away from the little screen that entertains us with traffic, weather and news as we ride up and down between floors.

I figured "he" was President Obama, but I got to my floor too quickly to see for sure.

As it turned out, what he said "as commander in chief and o ...

Updated: Fri Dec 16, 2011

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The New Chelsea Clinton for 12/14/2011

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton's debut on NBC's "Nightly News" is drawing plenty of attention, as well it should. Since her father's election nearly 20 years ago, the Clintons set an example of real family values by doing everything they could to keep Chelsea out of the spotlight and allow her to live as normal of a life as possible. By all outside indicators, it worked. She ha ...

Updated: Wed Dec 14, 2011

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The New Frontrunner for 12/09/2011

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

It was just at this time in 2003 — on December 9th, to be exact — that former Vice President Al Gore endorsed insurgent candidate Howard Dean, making him the official frontrunner and nominee-apparent in the Democratic race for the president. Looking back, many people said the endorsement was the kiss of death, but that wasn't really the case. Gore — then and now — was mu ...

Updated: Fri Dec 09, 2011

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Gulnaz's Story for 12/07/2011

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Gulnaz is an Afghan woman who was raped. For reporting it, she was sentenced to three years in prison. Her baby — a child of the rape — cries in the background. Her punishment for appealing her sentence was that it was increased to 12 years. She has been in prison for two and a half years, and her baby is with her.

The EU commissioned a documentary examining the way Afghanist ...

Updated: Wed Dec 07, 2011

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UnOccupy LA for 12/02/2011

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles is no longer occupied. After two months of Tent City across from City Hall, the LAPD finally moved in after midnight on Wednesday to disperse those who remained after multiple warnings. All told, some 300 Occupiers were arrested by the 1,200 police officers who conducted the final eviction. Later that morning, sanitation workers arrived in protective gear to clean up the 30 tons of ...

Updated: Fri Dec 02, 2011

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The Campaign Against Romney for 11/30/2011

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

On Monday, the Democratic National Committee unveiled a new ad targeting Mitt Romney. The 30-second spot (there is also a four-minute version on the DNC's website) is made to look like a movie trailer about "the story of two men trapped in one body."

"Mitt vs. Mitt" focuses on Romney's alleged inconsistency on two issues: 1) abortion, on which he pronounced himself s ...

Updated: Wed Nov 30, 2011

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