The Republican presidential candidates, except for Ron Paul, haven’t been paying much attention to young voters in the primaries and caucuses so far. But any Republican nominee — which is to say probably Mitt Romney, or maybe Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum — had better be paying attention to them in the summer and fall. … Read more
As a dark curtain of rain drew near, my tour group made its descent down the hill, leaving the Ethiopian town of Lalibela behind us. In the distance, rows of lush green plateaus stretched out under the thunderclouds before plummeting down to the valley. Only one thing could cause us to look away from this … Read more
Those who take a certain pleasure in denouncing the evils of negative political advertising should have spent the last week in South Carolina. They could have plunked down in front of TV sets, especially during morning, early evening and late evening news programs, and by adroit use of the remote control seen one negative … Read more
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The crowd at the Fox News/Wall Street Journal debate in Myrtle Beach was feisty, with whoops and cheers for Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry, though not so much for Ron Paul. But it wasn’t nearly as feisty as the crowd that forced the shutdown of the … Read more
To win just under 40 percent of the vote in a primary with five active candidates is pretty impressive, even for a candidate like Mitt Romney, who started off with significant advantages in New Hampshire. Yes, he is well-known there because he was governor of next-door Massachusetts, had run before and owns a house … Read more
The Republican presidential race now moves from New Hampshire to South Carolina, but it’s really taking place in an upside-down Lake Wobegon — where all the men are homely, all the women are weak and all the candidates are below average. We are often told that modern campaigns generate rivers of pointless trivia and … Read more
A presidential campaign exposes candidates’ strengths and weaknesses. The strengths they’re eager to tell you about. So let’s look at the weaknesses. Start with Rick Santorum, whose poll numbers in New Hampshire and South Carolina have been surging since (by last count) he lost the Iowa caucuses by the Chinese lucky number of 8 … Read more
Elections are contests held during a moment in time between candidates who have records stretching back, often far back, into the past. So there is always a tension between the man (or woman) who is running and the moment. That tension is greater than usual when the contest is for the nomination of a … Read more
As a resident of New Hampshire, it’s hard for me to miss the spastic surges of activity that precede the upcoming Republican primary. On the one hand, I find this year’s contest refreshing, since it’s one of the first years since 1976 (when, as an eager 11-year-old, I cheered on Reagan’s challenge to the torpid … Read more
Election year has finally arrived, well after the beginning of a turbulent and unpredictable elections season, and voting begins on Tuesday in the Iowa Republicans caucuses. The few days of post-Christmas polling have shown the numbers oscillating and opinion changing in ways it hadn’t been earlier in the campaign. Pre-Christmas, Barack Obama’s job rating … Read more
When I managed Pat Buchanan’s presidential campaign in 1996, I learned that some states conducted fair and honest caucuses and primaries and that some did not. Iowa, historically the first caucus state, and New Hampshire, historically the first primary state, conducted their political business fairly. New York did not. Today Virginia’s political system is … Read more
LACONIA, N.H. — Three weeks out from the New Hampshire primary, and voters in the Granite State don’t seem to have settled firmly on one of the Republican presidential candidates. Or so one might conclude after interviewing voters in the Lakes region north of Concord in Laconia, which like the state as a whole voted … Read more
MANCHESTER, N.H. — “We’re not going to lose in New Hampshire.” So says Mitt Romney’s state coordinator, Jason McBride. Stuart Stevens, the Romney campaign’s TV ad-maker, expresses similar confidence. Asked if Romney might finish second in New Hampshire, his answer is an unhesitating “no.” Whether that confidence is well founded may determine the fate … Read more
Herman Cain, beleaguered by charges of sexual harassment, was all over Washington last week — an odd choice of venue, considering that the Iowa precinct caucuses are now just 58 days away and the New Hampshire primary 65. But as I learned when I sat next to Cain Friday morning during a long-scheduled taping … Read more
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 Romney maintain front-runner status or something close to it in polls of Republican primary voters … Read more
With the general direction of American politics trending towards more government control of ever-smaller areas of life, and with the citizenry’s ever-greater detachment from the exercise of said governance, it is rare and refreshing fruit when every now and then the people manage to strike a blow for some small freedom. I know, because I’ve … Read more
“Mama! Mama! Ma-maaaaa!” whined four-year-old Raphael as I changed his little brother’s diaper and quizzed his older sister on her spelling words. “What?” I answered him hastily. “I’m listening.” “No,” he pouted. “I want you to listen with your eyes.” Oh. That. Ever have a moment when you feel like someone … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Todd M. Aglialoro says that golf isn’t just a game… it’s also a crash course in virtue. “Yes!” cried the young man fiercely, “Footling game! Blanked infernal fat-headed silly ass of a game! Nothing but a waste of time.” The Sage winced. “Don’t say that, my boy.”  P.G. Wodehouse … Read more
Having come back from a two-week trek through Europe, I return this week to the subject of the virtues — this time, it’s Patience. Regular readers of mine might complain that here I’m preaching to the choir: Surely they of all people have mastered this virtue, if only by working their way through my labyrinthine … Read more
A while back, on the fateful day of April 15 that reminds each of us how much worse off we are than medieval serfs — whose “tax” to the feudal lord was typically capped at 10 percent — I promised to counterbalance my consideration of the Seven Deadly Sins with the Seven Contrary Virtues. Then, … Read more