Three GOP presidential hopefuls have qualified for the final debate before the Iowa caucuses. They are Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and Ron DeSantis. Haley and DeSantis will participate in the January 10 debate at Drake University, five days before the […]
Republican Party
Could a Nikki Haley/Chris Christie tag-team derail Trump?
Whatever you think about former New Jersey governor Christie, he deserves heaps of credit for standing up to the Trump in the way he has done this year. I thought his performance at the last GOP debate (University of Alabama) […]
Robert Kagan: “Will the people who selfishly refuse to put their own ambitions at risk finally act to save our democracy?”
Last week we brought your attention to Robert Kagan’s Washington Post piece on the potential of a Trump dictatorship should he be elected in 2024. Kagan was back at the post yesterday with a piece titled, “The Trump dictatorship: How […]
And then there were four…
Believe it or not, there is another GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday night. This one is at the University of Alabama. Are people still watching these things? (I mean people other than political junkies like me?) The field is […]
Liz Cheney, one of the most conservative politicians in the United States, is pulling for Democrats in 2024
Here is Kelly Garrity at Politico: Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney would rather cede power to Democrats than see members of her own party win in 2024, she said, calling a Republican majority a “threat,” and warning of an existential […]
Koch political network endorses Nikki Haley
Americans for Prosperity Action, a libertarian conservative super PAC affiliated with billionaire Charles Koch and his late brother David Koch, is endorsing Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary race. Here is a taste of the press release: At a […]
Nikki Haley’s 3-2-1 GOP primary strategy
Nikki Haley is surging in New Hampshire with a little more than two months to go before the January 23, 2024 primary. Can she win the GOP nomination? It’s a long shot. But according to journalist Ron Brownstein she has […]
The pro-life movement has been “co-opted by GOP anti-abortion politics”
Bernard Prusak is the Raymond and Eleanor Smiley Chair in Business Ethics at John Carroll University. Commonweal has published his piece, “The Pro-Life Movement: Less Popular Than Ever?“, on the eve of the Ohio 1 abortion referendum. Here is a […]
The party of nihilism
Nihilism: “the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.” Here is a taste of Peter Wehner’s recent piece at The New York Times titled “Republicans Have Chosen Nihilism”: Mr. [Allan] Bloom believed a truly […]
“I want to keep politics out of schools”
I’ve been doing some last minute homework before I enter the ballot box tomorrow. As I was researching my local school board candidates I was struck by how many of them use their platforms to say something like this: “Politics […]
RFK Jr.’s candidacy may hurt Republicans more than Democrats
Here is the latest from Politico on the independent presidential candidate with the family name: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is collecting checks from past Donald Trump donors at a much higher rate than former Joe Biden contributors, a sign the […]
The GOP debate stage is narrowing
Still no Trump, but next week’s debate in Miami will include Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie, and Tim Scott. Scott just made it. Here‘s Allison Novelo at CBS News: Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has secured his spot […]
Mike Johnson is the 56th Speaker of the House
I will have more to say about this in tomorrow’s feature at CURRENT. In the meantime, here is CNN: The Republican-led House elected Rep. Mike Johnson as the new House speaker on Wednesday – a major leadership change that comes three […]
Mike Johnson wins first round of GOP Speaker of the House voting, but he doesn’t have a majority
The House GOP is trying to pick another Speaker nominee after Tom Emmer dropped out of the race earlier today. In the first round of closed-door voting, Louisiana’s Mike Johnson garnered the most votes: Since Fleischman received the lowest number […]
Danielle Allen: There are three parties in the House of Representatives and the Democratic Party is the largest
Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen believes that Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the House Democrats, should be Speaker of the House. Why? Because she believes there are actually THREE parties in the House: The Freedom Caucus, the Old Republican Party, […]
Any House member who voted to certify the 2020 election has no real chance of being Speaker of the House in today’s GOP
Earlier today, the GOP caucus chose Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer as its candidate for Speaker of the House. Hours later Emmer dropped out of the running. This leaves five candidates: Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee Mark […]
Steve Scalise drops out of Speaker race
Yesterday the Republican Party nominated Lousiana’s Steve Scalise as their choice to replace Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. Today Scalise withdrew his name from consideration. Here is CNN: Rep. Steve Scalise announced he was dropping out of the speaker’s race […]
Gallup: 63% of Americans want a third major political party
Here is Jeffrey Jones at Gallup: WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sixty-three percent of U.S. adults currently agree with the statement that the Republican and Democratic parties do “such a poor job” of representing the American people that “a third major party […]
Political thinkers weigh-in on the ousting of Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy is no longer the Speaker of the House. What happened? Politico has gathered some experts to discuss the current state of the Republican Party. Contributors include historians Mary Frances Berry, Joanne Freeman, and Joshua Zeitz. Here is Freeman: […]
The GOP clownshow rolls on
In 1910, the House of Representatives voted to remove Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon, an anti-progressive Republican (as opposed to the progressive Republican presidents Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft) from Illinois. Here is Hillsdale College historian Joseph Postell: […]