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    The War We Are In

    by Christopher Manion

    These are not the best of times. In fact, some folks say that the Catholic Church in the United States confronts today the greatest challenge in its history. Things were already tough before the November elections, but now they’re in…

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    The GOP and Social Issues: Sophomoric Arguments at the Wall Street Journal

    by John Londregan

    A common trope in social policy debates is to claim that the public’s changing opinion on the policy at stake, rather than the policy’s moral or substantive justifications, merits changing the platform of one’s preferred political party. This notion seems…

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    Cultural Crisis and the Long Game: Fr. Lonergan’s Contemporary Relevance

    by R. J. Snell

    The Church, it is sometimes said, thinks in terms of centuries, not years or decades … or election cycles. Without intending to minimize the importance of this upcoming election and its implications for economic and foreign policy matters, it’s worth…

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    Quixotic Rick Santorum

    by Christian Tappe

    I half expect to stumble upon a YouTube video of Rick Santorum galloping through a field, lance in hand. Coming upon a small hill, he spurs his trusty steed onward, picking up speed as he nears the crest. Suddenly, he…

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    The Three Possible Romneys

    by Jason Jones

    Should prolife voters support Mitt Romney? By this I first mean “in the primaries” of course, but beyond that I mean to ask “ever.” Conversely, supporters of legal abortion should be equally repulsed by the former Massachusetts governor—as should anyone…

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    White Collar Mitt vs. Blue Collar Rick

    by Michael Barone

    Rick Santorum won big victories in three small contests in the Republican presidential race last Tuesday. In doing so, he reshaped the oft-reshaped nomination battle once again. But he has not installed himself as the favorite, and neither he nor…

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    Box-checking Obama in a Liberal Cocoon

    by Michael Barone

      It’s unusual when a reporter sympathetic to a politician writes a story that makes his subject look bad. But Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker has now done this twice. The first time was in an article last April…

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    The Flaws of Mitt and Newt

    by Steve Chapman

      Newt Gingrich has an exquisitely sensitive moral antenna, and Mitt Romney’s remark suggesting indifference to the poor sent it quivering. “I am fed up with politicians in either party dividing Americans against each other,” he said. Yes, he did….

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    Ron Paul: Reactionary or Visionary

    by Patrick J. Buchanan

    After his fourth-place showing in Florida, Ron Paul, by then in Nevada, told supporters he had been advised by friends that he would do better if only he dumped his foreign policy views, which have been derided as isolationism. Not…

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    Romney Buoyed by Good Luck — and Hard Experience

    by Michael Barone

    Napoleon is supposed to have said that the quality he most valued in his generals was luck. In the current race for the Republican presidential nomination, Napoleon’s favorite would clearly be Mitt Romney. One lucky break after another has helped…

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    A Colorblind America

    by Linda Chavez

    Could anyone have imagined even a few years ago that the 2012 U.S. presidential race might end up as a contest between two black candidates? I certainly couldn’t have. Yet, with Republican candidate Herman Cain’s recent surge in popularity, the…

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    Obama Team Split on How to Rally Unruly Coalition

    by Michael Barone

    President Barack Obama obviously is scrambling in his attempt to win re-election. He has proclaimed himself the underdog and has given up his pretense of being a pragmatic centrist compromiser in favor of harsh class warfare rhetoric. But it’s worth…

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    Is Herman Cain a Contender?

    by Michael Barone

    Is Herman Cain a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination? It’s a question no one in the pundit world was asking until the past week. Cain has never held public office. When he ran for the Senate in Georgia…

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    Hearing ‘God’s Call’

    by Paul Kengor

    New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is being urged to seek the Republican presidential nomination. There is a genuine groundswell for Christie. Asked last week at the Reagan Library whether he will enter the race, Christie gave a very interesting answer….

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