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12 for ’12: The year in politics

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 15:00:00 +0000

To close out 2012, I’ve looked back at each month and selected one individual who loomed large in the news and whose story tells us something significant about the year in politics. This is an admittedly imprecise exercise. Not all months are created equally. There are some months when multiple people could have been chosen; in other months, the pickings were slim. And in some cases, the names I’ve chosen offer a reminder that in political journalism, what seems vitally important one day can seem trivial the next. Anyway, on to the list:

January: Newt Gingrich

To anyone who’d just been teleported from the year 1999, the scene in Charleston, South Carolina on the night of January 21 had to be impossible to fathom: There was Newt Gingrich, the man who’d been marched off the political stage by his own party after a disastrous four-year run as House Speaker, declaring victory in a Republican presidential primary. And not just any primary: South Carolina, a historically pivotal early contest. And not just a victory – an absolute landslide.

The year in sex

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:30:00 +0000

It was a good year for sex (it always is). Whether it was K-Stew's infidelity or kinky "mommy porn," we just couldn't stop talking about it. Here's a handy guide to what defined our sexual culture in 2012.

Infidelity, sex tapes and scandal -- oh my!

You would think it was 1998 from our shock at the power of sex to take down powerful men. But no, it's 2012, and we still find ourselves shaking our heads at the thought that David Petraeus could risk his position as head of the CIA by carrying on an extramarital affair with his biographer, that a team of Secret Service agents could put their jobs on the line for a Colombian prostitute or that Chinese politicians could be captured in flagrante at a sex party or fall for a so-called "honey trap." We're astounded that Kristen Stewart could possibly desire more than Edward Cullen himself or that 76-year-old Fred Willard could be arrested at an adult theater. And when our upstanding neighbors are revealed to be clients of the "Zumba prostitute," we still clasp our pearls.

Dear Mr. President: “Fix that”

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 01:01:00 +0000

Those of us who were still awake late into election night 2012 heard President Obama say, “I want to thank every American who participated in this election, whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time. By the way, we have to fix that." If I could ask President Obama to do just one thing over the next four years, I would ask him to use his leadership to “fix that.”

Twelve years after the startling disarray of the 2000 election, in too many states dismally bad election administration has become the expected course. Hours-long lines, malfunctioning voting machines, and hopelessly confusing ballots are the headlines potential voters see. How can we expect that busy citizens will not be deterred from voting by the thought of such barriers? Every botched election and new barrier to voting causes even more citizens to completely disengage from their own governance.

This year, we saw thousands of our fellow citizens still wait in those endless lines, cast provisional ballots and file complaints when they were illegally denied the opportunity to vote. American citizens are literally fighting for their right to vote. Now it’s time that Congress and President Obama step to that fight.

Poll: Pro-choice stance aids Obama

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:32:00 +0000

After the Democratic National Convention included an unapologetic defense of reproductive rights for women, there was some predictable centrist hand-wringing. Had Democrats "lost their way" on abortion? On "This Week," Cokie Roberts complained that the convention was “over the top in terms of abortion … Every single speaker talked about abortion, and you know, at some point, you start to alienate people.”

So this tidbit in the just-released Pew poll stands out: 48 percent of respondents preferred Barack Obama when it came to "reflecting your view on abortion." That's up by 13 points. Compare that to the 35 percent who said Mitt Romney reflected their views, following several weeks of Democrats working hard to equate Paul Ryan and the Republican platform with Todd Akin on rape and incest exceptions. (Despite Romney's current support of them.) Obama also enjoyed similar growth on issues like foreign policy and healthcare, suggesting an overall lift. But there is no reason to think anyone was pushed away by Democrats defending their support for access to abortion or contraception.

Peggy Noonan is wrong about your birth control

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:30:00 +0000

Peggy Noonan recently magnanimously pronounced Sandra Fluke "not, as Rush Limbaugh oafishly, bullyingly said, a slut. She is a ninny, a narcissist, and a fool." Why? Because "she really does think — and her party apparently thinks — that in a spending crisis with trillions in debt and many in need, in a nation in existential doubt as to its standing and purpose, in a time when parents struggle to buy the good sneakers for the kids so they're not embarrassed at school ... that in that nation the great issue of the day, and the appropriate focus of our concern, is making other people pay for her birth-control pills."

Since Noonan has a sizable platform and this apparently needs to be said roughly once a week, a quick review: Controlling one's fertility is an economic issue. So is the overall cost and provision of healthcare through private insurance -- paid for by "other people's" money, your money, your employer's, in a pool to lower risk, which is how it largely works in this country. Unintended pregnancy (and ovarian cysts, in the case of Fluke's testimony) still costs that pool far more than preventing that unintended pregnancy. (As for "a nation in existential doubt as to its standing and purpose," such doubt must hit home for the ever-rambling Noonan.)

Walsh to Fluke: “Get a job”

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 19:40:00 +0000

Tea Party Rep. -- and definitely not a deadbeat dad -- Joe Walsh thinks it's about time "student for life" Sandra Fluke got a job.

In TPM, Evan McMorris-Santoro reports that Walsh, R-Ill., was speaking at a campaign stop in Illinois on Saturday, and slammed Fluke's DNC speech, in which she expressed support for contraception coverage. "Think about this, a 31-32 year old law student who has been a student for life, who gets up there in front of a national audience and tells the American people, ‘I want America to pay for my contraceptives.’ You’re kidding me. Go get a job. Go get a job, Sandra Fluke," Walsh said.

From “slut” to speaker

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 03:20:00 +0000

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Here is why Sandra Fluke was onstage at the Democratic National Convention tonight -- and it's not just because so much of the week was devoted to a robust defense of reproductive rights in a bid for female voters. It's because of "Not the words I would have used," which is what Mitt Romney said when Fluke was attacked by Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators.

"Your new president could be a man who stands by when a public figure tries to silence a private citizen with hateful slurs," Fluke said tonight. "Who won’t stand up to the slurs, or to any of the extreme, bigoted voices in his own party." In other words, Romney is Limbaugh (is Akin, is Ryan). And Barack Obama is the guy who called her up and told her she was doing a good job by defending his healthcare reform bill's women health provisions for private insurers.

Shrillest DNC tweets

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 03:19:00 +0000

C'mon Elizabeth, how about a shout out to your fellow Cherokees?

— Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) September 6, 2012

Here's the Cherokee wanna-be and "you didn't build that" pioneer, Elizabeth Warren.

— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) September 6, 2012

The perma-smirk on Sandra Fluke's face is one of the reasons I'm a conservative.

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) September 6, 2012

Bill Clinton just impregnated Sandra Fluke backstage...

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 6, 2012

“Many women are shut out and silenced”

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:09:00 +0000

Some of you may remember that earlier this year, Republicans shut me out of a hearing on contraception. In fact, on that panel, they didn't hear from a single woman, even though they were debating an issue that affects nearly every woman. Because it happened in Congress, people noticed. But it happens all the time. Many women are shut out and silenced. So while I'm honored to be standing at this podium, it easily could have been any one of you. I'm here because I spoke out, and this November, each of us must do the same.

During this campaign, we've heard about the two profoundly different futures that could await women—and how one of those futures looks like an offensive, obsolete relic of our past. Warnings of that future are not distractions. They're not imagined. That future could be real.

Dems to ladies: You are important

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 17:57:00 +0000

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- We all know why the Democratic National Convention this week has included a robust and explicit defense of reproductive rights, with the unprecedented presence on the main stage of NARAL's Nancy Keenan, Planned Parenthood's Cecile Richards and activist Sandra Fluke. It's the same reason why the Republican National Convention last week plopped onstage all the women it could find, even as it confined open discussion of abortion rights to two men, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum.

Ladies, if it hasn't been drummed into your head yet: This campaign season, you are important. The question is, will reproductive rights actually make the difference with women voters?

The right cannot deny that there is a gender gap, but they can plausibly argue that abortion rights aren't driving it. The National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru has pointed out that Gallup poll data shows no significant correlation between gender and opinion on abortion, and it hasn't changed much: "In 2007, they found 46 percent of men and 45 percent of women calling themselves 'pro-life.' In 2011, the numbers were 46 and 44. The most recent data point we have, though, from 2012, does show a bigger gap than usual: 53 percent of men and 46 percent of women identified as 'pro-life' in Gallup’s 2012 poll. (Both men and women were more likely to call themselves 'pro-life' than “pro-choice.')"

Personhood USA’s second wind

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 20:40:00 +0000

President Obama is in Colorado today, making his pitch to that swing state's voters in general and, in particular, to women concerned about the gleeful stripping of their rights. (Obama's introduction by Sandra Fluke, whom he called "one tough and poised young lady,” is a helpful reminder of the latter.) His timing couldn't be better: Two days ago, Personhood Colorado delivered its signatures to get on the November ballot for the third time, in a quixotic but potentially electorally significant bid to get a fertilized egg classified as a person in the state constitution.

Colorado, a state containing multitudes -- both Boulder and Focus on the Family -- is also the headquarters of the Personhood movement. Its doggedness is matched only by its uninterrupted failure. This year alone, the movement has tried and failed to get on the ballot in eight other states. Last year, Personhood got on Mississippi's ballot and was trounced. And there's strong indication that the movement is actually hurting its own cause, most recently when Colorado elected Democrat Michael Bennet in the 2010 Senate race after his opponent, Ken Buck, briefly endorsed Personhood.

CainTV: Wackier than Palin

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:45:00 +0000

Remember last year when Herman Cain unleashed the world's most amazing campaign ad? Remember how, right after you talked yourself down from the dark fear that the creepy smiling man could ever occupy the White House, you started wishing for an entire network exactly like that catchy "I am! Americaaaaaa!" clip? Well, the Fourth of July isn't American Christmas for nothing, folks.

On Wednesday, our greatest foe in the war on "sissy pizza" answered your prayers and launched "a bold solution to the rampant ignorance being thrust upon the people of this nation by lazy and blatantly biased news media outlets." Welcome to CainTV, the Web network whose motto brags, "We are not stupid." And nothing says "We are not stupid" like a rant against billionaire "Warren Buffet" [sic]. I remember him. He's the guy who made his fortune in Sizzler sneeze guards, right?