Author: Elias Isquith
Health Care Is Not About Numbers
Romney made news today, at least in the left-of-center blogosphere, with the claim that, “[N]o one in this country dies because they don’t have health insurance” (an assertion I’d argue the former Governor of...
Simpson-Bowles Will Not Save Us
Responding to the tidal wave of criticism his recent, much-discussed, and epic freak-out inspired, Andrew Sullivan today offered his best distillation thus far of the presidential campaign’s fundamental dynamic
The Campaign Is a Performance
I maintain that Barack Obama was terrible during last week’s debate and that many liberals — goaded on by a political media desperate for a new storyline and thrilled with the prospect that November’s election...
Barry Goldwater, Paul Ryan, and… Me
I’ve got an essay up this morning at The Atlantic about the ways Paul Ryan does — and doesn’t — show the enormous influence Barry Goldwater still holds over the GOP today.
What Happened to Barack Obama?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jebDlVAcpGo] Perhaps the most commonly asked question in the wake of last night’s debate is, What the hell was wrong with Barack Obama? Some ideas are more plausible than others. My sense is...
The Romney Rebound
The first thing that should be said before any estimation of tonight’s debate is that, historically, presidential debates are not the “game-changers” all of the hype would lead one to believe. That doesn’t mean...
While David Brooks Is Not Mitt Romney, He Very Much Remains David Brooks
Have you seen today’s David Brooks op-ed yet? It’s a little weird; but, then again, he’s been a little weird ever since the campaign began in earnest (and, not incidentally, Romney began losing). In...
There Was No Civil Liberties Mandate
Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic has a widely read explanation of why he cannot, on moral grounds, do as he did in 2008 and vote for Barack Obama. It’s a long piece and it’s...
The Drone at the Door
Yesterday the international law clinics of NYU and Stanford released an in-depth study of drone strikes in Pakistan, looking at the controversial practice’s legality, efficacy, and how it affects innocent Pakistanis who must live...
Romney’s Noblesse Oblige
Of all the punditocracy’s many responses to Romney’s instant-classic 47 percent comments (it was a “gaffe” only insofar as Romney said what he actually believes to be true) the silliest ones have been from...
Left Unsaid: Why Barack Obama’s Convention Speech Was Far More Ambitious Than You Think
There’s a lot to say about Obama’s speech last night — besides the fact that, yes, as a performance it was underwhelming — but I think David Atkins gets closest to voicing my most...
Mitt Romney and the New Southern Strategy
The must-read piece of the day is by Tom Edsall of The New York Times and it concerns the Romney-Ryan campaign, which is fast-transforming itself from one that is monomaniacally focused on the poor economy,...
The Medicare Morass
It’s too soon to render a definitive judgment, but I’ve got to hand it to Romney-Ryan: So far, they’ve done a really good job confusing the Medicare issue.
The Independent Illusion
Greg Sargent published an interesting report yesterday from Colorado, where he’s been doing some old fashioned journamalism by talking to undecided voters in the Denver area. Greg writes that his findings should give both candidates...
Campaign 2012: The Return to Nixonland
By now, most of us have accepted that one of the central premises of Obama’s 2008 campaign — that he was the man to end the culture war and begin a new era of...
The New Anti-Romney Ad And The Death Of “Compassionate Conservatism”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj70XqOxptU] If there’s anyone out there who still worries Barack Obama may not have the mettle to run the salt-the-earth negative campaign that his stewardship over a lackluster economy requires, they need to...
The Mitt Who Wasn’t There
An ocean of digital ink has already been spilled in search of discovering the “real” Mitt Romney; a figure we’re supposed to imagine the candidate (or “unreal”) Mitt Romney has, for more than a...
Milton vs. Mitt
If it’s within 72 hours since the latest job report, that means it’s time for centrist and left-of-center commentators to excoriate the Fed for its continued refusal to do a damn thing about the...
Why The Presidential Election May Not Be As Close As You Think
Relying heavily on Nate Silver’s indispensable blog at the New York Times, Michael Tomasky sticks his neck out just a bit to argue this year’s election may not turn out as close as most expect:...
