Wednesday, August 29, 2012
“Buyer beware” should be a rule in life, especially in politics. For example, in July 2011, I wrote a short commentary for The Michigan View that discussed Pete Hoekstra, then one of several candidates seeking the Republican Party nomination for the U.S. Senate. I wrote that Hoekstra had 9 victories in federal elections to his credit. I [...]
The idea that Republicans can’t find a candidate to take on Debbie “Dangerously Incompetent” Stabenow is depressing enough. But Michiganders are not alone in their reluctance to oust a non-entity of a senator, as long as that senator is a woman. Here in Minnesota, the conventional wisdom is that Sen. Amy Klobuchar is unbeatable. It’s [...]
The Club for Growth, a group that promotes lower tax rates, less regulation, free speech, and school choice, has issued a review of the political career of Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota. As Manny Lopez notes nearby, Gov. Pawlenty has come out against ethanol subsidies. He’s not as principled about it as I’d like; in his announcement [...]
As Republican activists start contemplating which candidate they will support for 2012, expect to hear more complaints about how there’s no Ronald Reagan. Such despair and longing is misplaced. Why? Reagan was not uniformly embraced by conservatives even during his tenure in office, so there’s a danger of putting on some rose-colored glasses before looking [...]
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
If past performance is in any way related to future results, all of the congressional races in Minnesota–and most in the nation–are over before they even begin. (Hint: In Minnesota, all the incumbents will win.) So says the work of 538, a project of the New York Times. Of 435 seats in the House, only 37–less than 10 percent–are truly in play. Cartel, anyone?