blogging the beltway

Current House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn sent a somber letter to his Democratic colleagues today announcing his intention to run for House Minority Whip in the 112th Congress. After lamenting “disappointing defeats,” Clyburn made a clear bid for the job, writing, “My record of leadership in our Caucus has prepared me well for the…

Harry Reid’s recent summation of his tight Senate race with Tea Party upstart Sharron Angle—”But for the economy, there wouldn’t be a contest here”—reminds me a lot of former DC Mayor Marion Barry’s most famous pronouncement: “Outside of the killings, DC has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.” In other words, that’s…

In the middle of last month, a New York Times/CBS News poll revealed that only one in 10 Americans knew they’d received President Obama’s signature tax cut. Today, more terrible news for the administration: A Bloomberg National Poll conducted Oct. 24-26 finds that by a two-to-one margin, likely voters in the Nov. 2 midterm elections…

If you think it would be tremendously exciting to interview President Obama, you should know that things tend to be quite dry once you get past the thrill of meeting the most powerful man on Earth. With less than a week until the tremendously critical midterm elections, Obama is not taking any chances by speaking…

The White House’s last-minute push for black voters continued today, with senior advisor to the president Valerie Jarrett taking questions from black media during a conference call scheduled by the DNC. Jarrett’s opening statement, like much of the Q&A that followed, covered ground that’s been covered a lot in the past few several weeks: Though…

Good news for Americans worried about a Sarah Palin presidency come 2012—or worse, a Palin-Beck ticket: New York Times reporter Kate Zernike, author of Boiling Mad:Inside Tea Party America, says that her reporting doesn’t bear out concerns that the controversial ex-governor of Alaska could hold the highest office in the land, even with so-called “Tea…

The Democratic National Committee today debuted its latest attempt to court black voters for the midterm elections, this one a radio spot featuring President Obama. Titled “Vote,” the ad sticks tightly to what’s become the main Democratic talking point in the lead-up to Nov. 2: If the Democrats don’t win and keep both houses, the…

As black Republican congressional candidate Tim Scott’s impending victory draws nearer in South Carolina’s First District, Scott detractors from both sides of the political spectrum are making their anger known in the most craven yet modern way possible: via the Internet. Just this week, on the white supremacist message board Chimpout—to which I’ll not link—commenters…

An internal argument is brewing among the nation’s top Democrats, who are divided about what to do now that a federal judge has ordered the military to stop enforcing its controversial Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Following the ruling on Tuesday night, Barney Frank, the openly gay congressman from Massachusetts, said he was “very pleased.”…

I attended at the White House yesterday an event billed as a “black web summit.” Along with 20 others from outlets like Jack & Jill politics and The Grio, The Root was present for what could best be described as a meeting seeking to foster dialogue between the Obama administration and African American online media…