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Political Commentary

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November 11, 2008

Unions' Creepy Push Against Secret Ballot By Froma Harrop

The first campaign promise Barack Obama should break is to push through the Employee Free Choice Act. That harmless sounding piece of legislation would let union organizers do an end run around secret-ballot elections: Companies would have to recognize a union if most workers signed cards in support of it.

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November 8, 2008

Triumph of Temperament, Not Policy By Michael Barone

The Democrats' victory -- and Barack Obama's -- was overdetermined and underdelivered.

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November 8, 2008

The Bitter End By Susan Estrich

For many California voters, especially those who supported Barack Obama's presidential bid, election night had a bright beginning and a bitter end. The state overwhelmingly supported the next president.

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November 6, 2008

Loose Ends By Debra J. Saunders

Elections do not deliver neat verdicts. The 2008 race so handily won by President-elect Barack Obama shouted that the American public wanted to see reform in Washington. So it just doesn't seem right that John McCain, a true reformer in the GOP, lost, while Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, holds a thin lead in his re-election bid -- even though Stevens was just convicted on seven felony counts for violating federal ethics laws.

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November 6, 2008

The Landslide That Doesn't Feel All Liberal By Froma Harrop

The young and minority voters who swept Democrats to triumph call this the start of a new day. The many not-young whites who also backed Barack Obama might frame it a bit differently. To them, it's a hopeful return to an older day. Do not dismiss these older Caucasians. Without their considerable support in swing states, Obama would not have won.

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November 6, 2008

In with the New By Debra J. Saunders

In the end, American voters serve as the great equalizer. When one party goes too far, voters snap the leash, as they did on Tuesday.

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November 6, 2008

America's New Political Center By Joe Conason

When George W. Bush looks back someday on the wreckage of the past eight years, even he may someday realize that he missed his most important political opportunity in the months after 9/11. Despite his lackluster performance on that day, Americans stood with him as the symbol of the nation, displaying a steadfast and sober unity we had not felt for decades.

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November 6, 2008

Yes He Did By Susan Estrich

Four years ago, he was a State senator from Illinois. Four years ago, the idea of electing a black man as president of the United States was a fantasy.

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November 5, 2008

To Conservatives Who Are Thinking About Tomorrow By Tony Blankley

In regard to attitude, America's conservatives could do worse than to be moved by those lines of Robert Blake from another place and another time on behalf of a similar sacred cause then not yet realized.

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November 4, 2008

Is Obama Swiping the Tax Cut Issue? By Lawrence Kudlow

Wouldn't it be the height of irony if Barack Obama wins this election as the Ronald Reagan tax-cutter? His tax plans are severely flawed, and his campaign narrative to support them is all wrong.

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November 4, 2008

Bankrupt with the Facts - By Debra J. Saunders

The blog headline read: "Obama Tells SF Chronicle He Will Bankrupt Coal Industry" and the author charged that the audio of the meeting with Obama "(had) been hidden from the public."

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November 4, 2008

Helping the Right 'Homeowners' By Froma Harrop

The Treasury Department is working on a $40 billion, $50 billion -- who's counting anymore? -- plan to guarantee perhaps 3 million "at-risk" mortgages. Now that the Wall Street players have been taken care of, the time has apparently come to bail out some little people.

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November 2, 2008

The Unexpected Campaign Season That Was By Debra Saunders

The biggest loser in this 2008 election is obvious even before the first vote has been counted: conventional wisdom. Remember last year when Hillary Rodham Clinton was considered the shoo-in for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, after which she was supposed to waltz into the Oval Office?

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October 31, 2008

The Final Days By Susan Estrich

It is time for this election to be over. It is time because it has been going on for what feels like a lifetime, because the final days have been full of noise and fury and very little light, and because we need to start solving problems rather than just debating them.

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October 30, 2008

Newspaper Endorsements Still Count By Froma Harrop

Do newspaper endorsements influence voters? I refer to the candidate picks printed on the biodegradable news products that digital and cable commentators dismiss as "old media" but talk about nothing but.

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October 30, 2008

Questions about Obama By Debra J. Saunders

Barack Obama has waged a brilliant, disciplined campaign for the White House. To the extent that Obama's campaign demonstrates his strategic and organizational abilities, the junior Illinois senator has the potential to be a great leader.

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October 30, 2008

Sarah the Scapegoat By Joe Conason

Writing a post-mortem for John McCain's presidential candidacy would be premature. But if and when that moment comes next week, toxic staff infection will be listed as a primary cause of death.

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October 30, 2008

The Last Word--Almost By Larry Sabato

These are our 2008 election projections as of Thursday, October 30. We will make final adjustments and tweaks on Monday afternoon, November 3, and post them to the website. At that point, we will attempt to call the few remaining toss-ups.

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October 29, 2008

Is Obama Secretly Sensible? Don't Bet on It By Tony Blankley

As Obama's election has seemed to become more likely in the past six weeks, a quiet but public debate has arisen among both Republicans and Democrats that wonders which Obama we might get.

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October 29, 2008

The Back Room By Susan Estrich

I have one word of advice for the fancy folks at the Republican National Committee who shelled out $75,000 at Neiman Marcus and $50,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue, among other places, to dress Sarah Palin and family: Loehmann's.