Hillary’s Legacy

I’ve got to agree with Ezra Klein:

Insofar as Clinton’s campaign was a trailblazing, historic candidacy, it’s because it consciously sought to ease the way for those who would come after Clinton. By proving a woman could be commander-in-chief, by proving a woman could win primary states, by proving a women could out-campaign the guys, the [...]

Was is the Schedule?

There’s an idea going around that the early primary calendar was a key factor in Obama’s victory over Clinton. I’m not sure I buy it.
Yes, the sequence of the early primaries was not exactly what Clinton wanted it to be. But what this reading forgets is that Obama wasn’t supposed to be the one who [...]

She Hit Her Ceiling

Slate has a piece up arguing that Hillary Clinton didn’t lost, Barack Obama won.
But evidence that Clinton ran a fairly OK campaign, while Obama ran one that simply got better and better, can be found in a chart reproduced in the Journal story from Real Clear Politics data, which averages the national polls since October.

But [...]

Count All the Points

Via Andrew Sullivan, a statement from Joe Dumars:
Yes, Boston has won four games and Detroit only two. But it’s hard to imagine a more arbitrary and undemocratic way to determine this series’s outcome than “games won.” It is, after all, a bedrock value of the game of basketball that all points must be counted. But [...]

The First

I’ve got to say that Dahlia Lithwick makes a good point about women and the Presidency:
We all know these double standards exist for females in public life—voters demand toughness but not bitchiness, confidence but not shrillness, authenticity but also glamour. If the Clinton candidacy has taught us anything, however, it’s that a woman can straddle [...]

Playing Politics with Trade

I’m a little late coming to this, but last week’s New Yorker article “The Free Trade Paradox” is really outstanding. One of the most disappointing things about this primary season for me was watching the Democratic presidential candidates parade around the country talking about their deep seated hatred of NAFTA and their desire to “renegotiate” [...]

Michigan and Florida

Charles Peters makes a good point in regards to the mess with Florida and Michigan situation that has gone largely unnoticed:
First primary of 2012 — October 31, 2011
The New Hampshire primary used to be in March. The present chaotic race to earlier and earlier primaries is a recent development, not required by tradition or reason.
The [...]

Veepstakes

Now that Obama is starting his vice presidential search process, its as good as time as any to take a look at the potential VP candidates on both sides. So how should Obama and McCain go about making their picks?
So it’s an idea the candidates might consider. But whenever they make their picks, there are [...]

Why the System is Broken

So, Hillary for President owes $20 million plus. You might think that Clinton stands to spend a lot of her next year or so fundraising to pay all of that back. But apparently not.
But these laws were written by, and for, politicians, so a situation like this is less problematic for her political future than [...]

Good for Us

I see via Matthew Yglesias that Americans don’t seem to have bought into John McCain and Hillary Clinton’s gas tax holiday idea. Its not much, but even the small majority that oppose the idea is progress. Obama’s strong stand and repeated attempts to explain the issue coupled with the universal disdain for the idea expressed [...]