Should Republicans stoke the populist flames of their base or reach out more broadly, with a softer touch, to moderates and independents?
European adulation for Barack Obama is likely to hit reality in four areas.
A complicated system of filling political positions is starting to negatively affect our government's ability to function in a time of crisis.
The impetus for abolishing gubernatorial appointments to fill Senate vacancies is understandable, but getting rid of these appointments has its own set of problems.
A bill granting D.C. a full voting member of Congress may soon become law, but it will be unconstitutional.
Proponents of District of Columbia representation in Congress should try to craft a solution that will be mutually acceptable to both Democrats and Republicans.
Whoever is in power to draw new district lines will shape congressional majorities in the next decade.
How George W. Bush acquired and spent political capital--but then lost it irretrievably--defines his legacy.
The Constitution gives the House and Senate the right to judge their own election results and qualifications of their members.
Representative Nancy Pelosi is the strongest House speaker in a century.
Republicans must attract more moderates and non-Southerners to the party, or face another long period in the minority.
Millions of Americans are casting ballots early.
The financial bailout bill was seen as a must-pass by elites and congressional leaders, but viewed with great skepticism by large parts of the public.
Obama's campaign has more of the marks of executive experience than his status as a relatively junior senator suggests.
McCain's sense of honor reaches a high pitch when he takes on lawmakers.
In the Mississippi Senate race, Ronnie Musgrove might benefit from the Obama turnout effect, but not all is dim for Roger Wicker.
John McCain and Barack Obama are prudent to think about who will work in their administrations and toplan for the transition after the election.
The nonreligious white voters from the southwestern states could be Obama's key votes.
Each candidate has at least one major weakness that could conceivably sway the outcome in November.
For the next two months, we will see endless hand-wringing about vice presidential choices.
The best the Republicans can hope for in the House is not to fall to pre-1994 levels.
It bodes ill for Republicans that recent special congressional elections have not only seen party switches but also movements against the districts' partisan leanings.
Absent a major Obama scandal, Clinton will trail in the delegate count in early June--and Obama will be the nominee.
Hillary Clinton's only hope is for a major Obama collapse,but her win in Pennsylvania highlights his big weakness.
Chances forapprovalof the Delta-Northwest merger are equal whether it be during this administration orthe next;politics plays a very little role in the decision.
Barack Obama believes he can change the political map, but it is unlikely that thestates will change their political stripes.
2008 does not look like a promising year for women in politics.
Hillary Clinton's recent victory in Ohio may prove that she is more electable than Senator Barack Obama.
After her big wins in Ohio and Texas, what must Hillary do to wrest the Democratic nomination from Barack Obama?
Free trade is a growing issue in American politics, but changes in public opinion, congressional elections, and structural factors will likely put free trade instincts on hold in the near future.
The candidates in the 2008 presidential election,especially Clinton and Obama, have been spending "gobs" of money on their campaign, but Obama wants to make a deal on spending.
While John McCain is now the presumptive GOP nominee, the Democratic race will take many more weeks to resolve.
John McCain is close to grabbing a stranglehold on the GOP presidential nomination.
Republicans cannot hope to retake the majority in Congressunless they can win in competitive seats where moderates play well.
Mitt Romney's decisive win on Tuesday does nothing to clarify the Republican presidential race.
If Barack Obama gets more than half the black vote and a quarter of the white vote, and if black turnout is high, then Hillary Clinton's campaignwill be in trouble.
After Hillary Clinton's comeback in New Hampshire, the Democratic race should be competitive beyond Super Tuesday.
When GOP candidates open their Christmas presents, they will find the forces of chaos and disorder, as well as a sliver of hope that they can win the nomination.
Being in the minority is not desirable, so many Republicans are retiring. This makes it all the more difficult for the GOP to regain the majority.
Assessing the progress of election reform is difficult, as elections are still extremely decentralized with very different practices across states and even within states.
John McCain's fall from presidential frontrunner status has several causes.
By accepting money from supporters who hint at the violent overthrow of Congress, Ron Paul is not upholding his oaths to the Constitution and Congress.
Voting patterns since the 2006 midterm elections show that newmoderate Democrats make up for the loss of Republican moderates.
Tax policy is facing difficult problems as it runs up against tough fiscal reality.
Judge Michael Mukasey may not be the best choice for attorney general because he lacks the management background and experience to run the Justice Department.
The numberof absentee and mail ballots should be reduced or they must be better tracked.
Political trends predict that2008 may see a small shift in congressional seats, but big changes are unlikely.
There is a fine balance between presidential and Congressional power, especially in times of crises.
The history of Democratic competitiveness instatewide races gives Democrats hope in this Republican stronghold.
Senator Barack Obama just cannot seem to close the gap with Hillary Clinton.
As Virginia is becoming less Republican, Mark Warner has a good chance of winning a Senate seat for the Democrats.
A terrorist attack or natural disaster could seriously disrupt our political system unless we take steps to deal with such catastrophes.
RepublicanPartyprospects in the 2008 Senate races have gone from dim to dismal.
Karl Rove was crucial not only to the electoral successes of President George W. Bush, but also to the making of thecurrent Republican Party.
The GOP is unlikely to benefit much in the 2008 elections fromthe claim that Congressional Democrats have been too heavy-handed.
Paper trails will one day provide a useful check on the accuracy of electronic voting machines, but Congress should not rush to implement them.
Ohio State Law Journal
August 1, 2007
Congress'sseemingly democraticright to establish the line of succession after the vice president is unconstitutional and potentially catastrophic.
Successful presidential candidates now seem to be those who amass a plethora of small donors through wide-reaching messages.
The outlook for the GOP is gloomy for both the 2008 presidential and congressional elections.
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg would have to overcome enormous odds in order to become afactor in the 2008 presidential election.
Gubernatorial appointments to fill vacancies are good for the U.S. Senate, but it would be even better if such appointments were truly temporary.
Congress should avoid meaningless gestures, such as the vote of "no confidence"on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Fred Thompson couldvery wellascend to the top tier of the GOP's presidential candidates, but it will not be easy.
The presidencies of Harry Truman and George W. Bush are looking more and more similar every day.
There are some improvements that can be made to the immigration compromise without threatening its political viability.
The Constitution has the final word about which entities can have Congressional representation.
Senators are dominating the 2008 presidential campaign, but if you are a senator who passed up this race, there is always 2012.
The Democrats are setting deadlines for withdrawal from Iraq in September to appease their antiwar base and give themselves more time to peel off GOP votes.
The president's new proposal is tougher on illegal immigration than his earlier one and it faces an uphill battle in Congress.
How are scandals shaping our political landscape?
One hundred days is not long enough to judge the legislative sucess of a Congress.
Congress was not constitutionally intended, nor is it well-suited, to conduct direct diplomacy around the world.
As fundraising heats up for the 2008 presidential election, who will come out on top in the next quarter?
The course of the war in Iraq will be determined by the election results in November of 2008 and not by the 2007 supplemental vote in Congress.
As political power flows from the executive to the legislative branch, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may get washed outwith the tide.
The percentage of Americans belonging to unions is dropping, but the 110th Congress is the most pro-union Congress in a generation.
ACongress that attracts experienced people is one better able to carry out the people's will and withstand outside pressures.
Can Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) beat the other Democratic presidential candidates?
As New Hampshire changes, so will the 2008 election.
Taxation with representation in D.C. could mean a constitutional amendment.
It is difficult for Congress to limit President Bush'scourse in Iraq.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney hopes thatmany key Republican endorsementswill helphim win the White House in 2008.
With Bush at the low point of his presidency, will his attempt to find common ground with Congressional Democrats bear much fruit?
Both Republicans and Democrats have chosen cities for their conventions in regions that they hope will break them out of the current stable red-and-blue map.
Tonight, President Bush will sing from John McCain’ssongbook, but McCain himself may pay the political price.
What can we expect from the Democrats' "Six for '06"?
If Democratic complaints aboutpoor oversight in the 109th Congress are to be taken seriously, they should start by revamping the committee structure.
The end of the year is a time to look back at what political predictions were right and when they were off the mark.
With the midterm elections behind us, how does the political terrain in Congress look for both parties in 2008?
Republicans will live to fight another day, but let there be no mistake, they took a beating last week.
While there are some prominent moderates in the incoming Democratic class, there were far more Republican moderates swept out of office.
Many Americans will vote well before Tuesday, and while the convenience of choosing your day to vote is appealing, convenience should not be the only rule by which we run our elections.
Here is an election-night guide that will help you gauge whether the Democratic wave is just a ripple or a tsunami.
What does Barack Obama need to do to position himself for a potential presidential candidacy?
In 2004, nearly one quarter of votes were cast before Election Day. What happened to the days of voting on Election Day?
1992 was dubbed by some as the “year of the woman,” but almost every congressional election has seen an increase in women, and this one is no exception.
Is former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) the straw that broke the elephant’s back?
While the political currents on the mainland are moving against Republicans, those around Hawaii swirl against an ensconced Democratic old guard.
Republicans have prided themselves on finding sympathetic voters and getting them to the polls even in very Democratic places. The Chafee-Whitehouse race will put this effort to the test.
John Fortier commented on H. R. 5388, a bill that would givethe District of Columbia a voting representative in Congress and increase Utah's representation by 1 member.
Republican districts along the banks of the Ohio River are in danger of losing their incumbents in the midterm elections.
In normal times, Northeast Republicans’ moderate message can win over districts in suburbia, but the war may knock off a significant number in 2006.
Can Congress be an effective independent player in a world where party interests are unified and magnified?
Commentary on the potentially negativeimplications of recent federal court decisions upon the Texas districts that elected Henry Bonilla and Tom DeLay.
In our world of polarized parties, a moderate may not prevail.
Whyhave we seena decline in the number of governors in the Senate?
Speaker Pelosi will have to work hard to make a melodious whole out of the opposing strands in the Democratic party.
In order to really take over Congress, Democrats need to defeat freshman Republicans.
Will the LULAC v. Perry decision open the door to a flood of middecade redistrictings? Probably not.
Four upcoming primaries expose the tensions in both parties.
Sometimes the shifts of elite Washington opinion are not based on underlying reality.
If Democrats do win the House, a bitter internecine battle can only hurt how they govern.
If things are not bad enough for Congressional Republicans at the national level, then look to the Empire State, where already-poor Republican prospects are looking bleaker.
With Democrats likely to gain seats in the fall, are we likely to see more party switchers? Probably not.
In this country, we have a separation of powers, which means that the executive branch shouldn’t be poking around legislative offices without consent from Congress.
The recent plan to give D.C. full voting representation in the House of Representatives is much-needed, ingenious and blatantly unconstitutional.
Congress is right to honor Porter Goss, but it should also let the director of national intelligence continue to grow in stature.
Focus on November's tough midterm elections, not President Bush's leadership,has curbed Congressional Republicans' appetite for rebellion.
It’s election night, and the country has just selected its next president, but the vice-presidential candidate has just recently died. Who will serve as vice president?
The recent Wyden-Grassley amendment to the lobbying-reform bill represents a positive change.
Immigration reform is not dead, but it will take some fancy footwork to pass it in the 109th Congress.
In the past week, Tom DeLay and Andy Card announced their departures, albeit under very different circumstances.
Vulnerable incumbents like to tout their clout. This campaign season, they will ask voters: “Do you want to lose all of my power and seniority and be stuck with an ineffective freshman?”
What ifElectoral College reformersamended the Constitution but didn't ask Congress?
There has been a lot of talk of the disappearing middle in Congress, but few have noticed that there is a growing and moderate force in Congress. It is congressional Hispanics.
Representative Mark Kennedy of Minnesota isthe Republicans’ best chance to pick up a Senate seat.
Diplomats argue over the shape of the table, politicians over the shape of the district.
We can’t police the pillow talk of public servants and their partners, but we can insist on full disclosure of familial relationships and limitations on lobbying contacts with relatives.
The wiretapping controversy has set up a classic confrontation between the executive and legislative branches.
Is it time for a third party? Not a chance. America is a two-party country and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
If an underestimated team from western Pennsylvania can win the Super Bowl, then maybe an underestimated Republican senator from western Pennsylvania can win reelection.
Since November, the president has tried to get himself back on track, and the State of the Union was the most prominent effort to make a case for the remainder of his second term.
Justice Samuel Alito, the Senate and the nation owe a great debt to the Gang of 14.
With the election next week, the elected majority leader could soon become the Speaker of the House or alternatively might be quickly deposed in a larger leadership shakeup.
Good fences make good neighbors, or so House Republicans believed when they passed a tough measure to combat illegal immigration.
Trading a lifetime in prison for a decade, Jack Abramoff has agreed to sing, not sotto voce but fortissimo.
If you are afraid of growth, move to Europe, or to Ohio.
Senators who look in the mirror think they see the next president of the United States. History, however, has shown that the reflection is that of a losing candidate.
Low poll ratings for Congress and President Bush, scandals, and history favor Democratic gains in the 2006 midterm elections.
DeLay’s political future depends on the equivalent of a royal flush.
In the House, with 231 Republicans, 14 is the magic number of Republicans that have to defect to prevent the assembly of a majority.
Tax reform. It still faces many hurdles, but developments have put this issue back on the agenda.
To filibuster or not to filibuster? That is the question that Senate Democrats may have to ask themselves about the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito.
Despite a major reorganization of homeland-security and intelligence functions in the executive branch, Congress’s committee system looks much as it did before Sept. 11.
Congress has failed in its duty to plan for the aftermath of an attack that would kill or incapacitate many of its members.
The Harriet Miers nomination has sown seeds of dissension inthe Republican ranks, pitting conservatives against the president and congressional leaders.
Bush is right that we need a militaryresponse to catastrophic events. Congress can assure that, while preserving the doctrine of posse comitatus with sensible and explicit exceptions.
The Hill
September 21, 2005
Congress deserves both praise and criticism for its efforts on election reform.
Australian
September 16, 2005
The United States often has been counted out and just as often has proved its critics wrong.
The Hill
September 7, 2005
John Roberts will be the next chief justice of the United States. He will not, however, get through either the Senate Judiciary Committee or the full Senate without significant opposition.
A trend may have started bringing more black representatives to Congress from non-minority districts.
November 2006 is still a long way off, but if early signs are any indication we will not see a major shift in either direction in the Senate.
The main reason for President Bush’s difficulties is that he has lost control of the legislative agenda, and that has much to do with his Social Security plan.
The filibuster deal recalls the story of the man who escapes his execution by promising the king that he will teach the royal horse to fly in a year.
Washington will not be the same without Lloyd Cutler.
The Senate should cut a deal that allows face saving on both sides but backs away from the bad precedents of judicial filibusters and their abolition.
Volume 1, Issue 3
March 17, 2005
Covers Social Security reform, a look back at the Iraq war, the oldest Congress, economic indicators, governors' races, party identification, and numerous public opinion snapshots.
The bottom line is that if Congress wants to investigate illegal drug use in a high-profile sport, one that is granted a special antitrust exemption, it has the power to do so.
The Continuity of Representation Act of 2005: Itstitle suggests that the bill provides for the continuity of Congress after a catastrophic terrorist attack. Sadly, it does nothing of the sort.
The Hill
February 17, 2005
For the 109th Congress, expect the South and West to stick up for their regional interests, the South to speak with a Republican voice, and the parties to be more clearly divided than ever.
The Hill
February 1, 2005
What themes in this year's State of the Union address will be carried by symbols, people, and ceremony?
Election Law Journal
December 1, 2004
The Hill
December 1, 2004
President George W. Bush has political capital to spend, but he must be careful in defining his mandate and mindful of difficulties that many second-term presidents have faced.
President Bill Clinton’s memoirs will have little effect on the presidential prospects of John Kerry.
Los Angeles Times
March 29, 2004
The United States should make plans to ensure the continuity of government in the event of a disastrous attack against the nation's leaders.
Roll Call
September 24, 2003
Did TheWest Wing'swriters faithfully represent the intricacies of presidential succession?
Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and Senate Judiciary Committee
September 16, 2003
The substance of the bill S. 148 places the Secretary of Homeland Security in the presidential line of succession in case of terrorists targeting government officials.
Bush should not adopt bipartisanship as a dominant strategy, but he has a history of working across the aisle that would be valuable for him to recall.
Washington Times
February 11, 2002
America is fighting that war with a 20th-century government structured for an earlier era's challenges.
The Washington Times
September 2, 2001
Analysis of overseas military absentee ballots in Florida raised serious questions about the fairness of the vote-counting process.
Washington Times
June 12, 2001
With change of party control in the Senate last week, doomsayers fear the combination of a Democratic Senate and a Republican president will bring gridlock or trench warfare.
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