Democrats, Republicans, and Homeless Voters
by Pete SpiliakosNeither Democrats nor Republicans understand the voters who switched from supporting Obama to supporting Trump. Continue Reading »
Trump Is No Pro-Lifer
by Robert P. GeorgeWhen candidates for high office are faking it in order to persuade a party's base that, appearances and past record to the contrary notwithstanding, they really, really are “with the program,” they step into dangerous territory. They need to say what the base wants to hear. Indeed, they need to . . . . Continue Reading »
What Kind of Nationalism Do We Want?
by Pete Spiliakos
The recent victory of the right-populist National Front in France and Donald Trumps' continued lead in the polls for the Republican nomination are exposing a hole in Western politics. A significant fraction of our population feels left out of our discussion and feels like its interests are being ignored.
Republicans: Listen Before You Talk
by Pete SpiliakosRonald Reagan was a “Great Communicator” largely because he was a great listener. Continue Reading »
Enough Talk About Entrepreneurs
by Pete SpiliakosIn the documentary “Mitt,” Romney talks about a business owner who was complaining about his tax burden. The business owner didn’t just pay income taxes. There were also the payroll taxes and gas taxes. Fair enough, but what about Romney’s infamous 47 percent comment in . . . . Continue Reading »
A Defender, Not A Democracy-Extender?
by Carl ScottOr how should we describe Mitt Romney foreign-policy wise? Is he a neo-con? A neo-neo-con? Honestly, I don’t know. I think Peter’s “Mender not an Ender” is the perfect description of the candidate domestically, “Blast from the Past , Mormon Version” is the . . . . Continue Reading »
Republicans: Character Counts
by Kate PitronePete Spiliakos has been complaining about Romney’s performance at the Republican convention and about the lack of definition and specification of policy in convention speakers as a whole . It didn’t bother me. I figured that the next week and all through the fall, Romney, . . . . Continue Reading »
Adventures In Humanizing
by Pete SpiliakosSome examples, 1. Reagan was pretty reticent personally but I think this selection from his 1980 debate with Carter works very well: I don’t know what the differences might be, because I don’t know what Mr. Carter’s policies are. I do know what he has said about mine. And I’m . . . . Continue Reading »
The Prevent Defense Is For Losers?
by Pete SpiliakosRoss Douthat writes something that strikes me as very right (well, he often does that.) Romney’s speech last night was extremely vague on policy. If you went into the night not knowing what Romney wanted to do, you left the night not having learned much of anything. It was all personality . . . . Continue Reading »
Thoughts On Last Night
by Pete Spiliakos1. Romney gave a win by default speech. The theory seems to be that what is holding the marginal voter(s) back from supporting Romney is that they think he is a guy who doesn’t care about anything but making a buck for himself and that “humanizing” (I hate that word) is the key to . . . . Continue Reading »
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