Pete Spiliakos

 Matthew Continetti has a terrific column about how the Center for American Progress was able to connect liberal fundraisers, grassroots activists, intellectuals and Democratic politicians to move the Democratic party and the political culture to the left. By 2008, even though the various . . . . Continue Reading »

Henry Olsen has written a fascinating and important article about the voting habits and worldview of the white working-class. Republicans aren’t doing so well with them. Olsen reports that Obama won non-southern whites who earn less than $45,000. Mitt Romney did a mediocre-to-lousy job of . . . . Continue Reading »

 A cold has severely damaged my already limited thinking abilities. I just rewatched “The Way of the Gun”. I saw it about a dozen years ago and remembered it as an enjoyable and darkly funny action movie with an exceptional performance by James Caan. Seeing it again, the movie, for . . . . Continue Reading »

At least Mike Lee takes an occasional interest in the struggles of middle-class and working poor families.  My On The Square column is on how the Republican establishment and Tea Party populists each have self-serving and self-destructive illusions about persuadable voters. . . . . Continue Reading »

Some Republican donors, consultants, and lobbyists are deeply unhappy with the government shutdown and debt ceiling strategy being pursued by Tea Party-affiliated conservatives like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. Their fear”that it is damaging the Republican party and threatening the economy while having no hope of achieving its original goal of defunding Obamacare”is probably correct. But things are worse yet, for the tactical error of the Tea Party Republicans is only one such mistake made by Republicans in the aftermath of the disastrous 2012 election… . Continue Reading »

The shutdown/debt ceiling fight is just too depressing a subject to keep up a running commentary. It was an unwise fight, but the Republican establishment that is saying “I told you so” to the defunders is, in its own way, just as delusional as the people who thought the threat of a . . . . Continue Reading »

One of the really irritating narratives to come out of the shutdown/debt ceiling debate is the idea that the shutdown drowned out coverage of the incompetence of the Obamacare exchanges. Funny, but the excellent Fox News program Special Report with Bret Baier managed to cover both stories. The . . . . Continue Reading »

I haven’t had much to say about the partial government shutdown/debt ceiling squabble because I find it simultaneously confusing, irritating, and boring. I wouldn’t have adopted the strategy of Ted Cruz and the House Republicans, but I hold out hope that all the huffing and puffing on . . . . Continue Reading »

George Will favorably passes on Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus’s plan to limit the number of Republican presidential debates in the 2016 cycle. Debates give “the oxygen of free publicity” to marginal candidates who have weak fundraising operations.” . . . . Continue Reading »

 While I appreciate Peter Lawler’s suggestion, I’m taking myself out of the running. The sight of me on the television screen does not go well with breakfast. Based on my Facebook feed, the two top candidates would be Mark Steyn and Ross Douthat. You would have something really great if . . . . Continue Reading »