Politics

If there was ever any doubt about Sen. Barack Obama’s ability to connect with the American people, as his strategically brilliant campaign has shown he’s capable of doing, that doubt should soon be put to rest, in the wake of a personal tragedy now facing the Democratic nominee—the same tragedy faced by millions of Americans…

I have been living outside of the United States for the better part of five years. So imagine my surprise when I returned in September, to find that we are now making Americans prove that you are a “real American.” It is no longer enough to just have a valid passport and driver’s license, or…

“Would black people riot if Sen. Barack Obama didn’t win the election?” That was the question a white man in Memphis recently asked a racial reconciliation group with which I am involved. After five years of being a columnist for the daily paper in Memphis, I wasn’t surprised by the absurdity of his query. Many…

On Election Day, the relationship between Jewish-American voters and Barack Obama will be like a big midterm in a graduate course on coalition politics. It’s a trust walk between the Democratic Party’s two most reliable constituent demographics and a test of the bond between two minority groups that have marched arm-in-arm at times and feuded…

Since 1964, one thing that’s been as inevitable as death and taxes has been that Virginia would wind up in the red column in presidential elections. The Old Dominion’s loyalty to the Republican Party was so secure that GOP candidates made only token appearances in the state. This year things are different. If the polls…

“Because I do what the facts tell me, Captain…” – Capt. Richard Davenport from A Soldier’s Play (1981) The true importance of any political endorsement is debatable. But this one is big, since it involves America’s most recognizable military hero declaring a preference that could help undecided centrist Republicans and independents make up their minds.…

I am glad there will be no debate this week. I skipped them all. Okay, I watched them in bits and pieces on YouTube after the fact. But I couldn’t take the intense emotion of the actual events. It’s not that I’m sitting on the sidelines. I am politically involved and well informed. But the…

“Because I do what the facts tell me, Captain…” – Capt. Richard Davenport from A Soldier’s Play (1981)   The true importance of any political endorsement is debatable. But this one is big, since it involves America’s most recognizable military hero declaring a preference that could help undecided centrist Republicans and independents make up their minds.…

Kendra Reddick lives in Ohio and can’t decide which presidential candidate deserves her vote. Like thousands of voters across the Buckeye State, Reddick is a values voter. She typically only backs politicians who share her conservative, fundamental Christian beliefs. So four and eight years ago, Reddick, a black 42-year-old, middle-school history teacher in Cleveland Heights,…