Politics

Noxubee County, Miss., occupies a special place in American political history. The abusive power of the county’s storied political machine isn’t so remarkable, nor is the fact that a corrupt black Democrat built it. Plenty of jurisdictions have, through the ages, boasted the same ugliness. Noxubee’s distinction is that this tiny, majority-black town is where…

The Obama campaign office in Hampton, Va., started buzzing the moment Hill Harper walked into the door. The cherub-faced actor and now political-activist worked the small storefront office on a recent Saturday, shaking every hand. He wore jeans and a t-shirt. As a semicircle formed around him, he pressed his palms together, prayer style, and thanked…

Not since the civil rights movement, when stars like Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Sammy Davis Jr. led marches and protest rallies, have so many black Hollywood denizens actively engaged in the political process. In his bid for the presidency, Barack Obama has engaged a new cadre of African-American celebrities, drawn to his campaign’s themes…

Sept. 29, 2008—The Sarah Palin Effect is over. Palin and McCain joined forces last week to make sure that no one took them very seriously, and they did every thing they could to help Obama open up a small but increasingly solid lead on McCain. With the Palin bump neutralized, Obama’s still nagging concern are…

Despite its failure in the House yesterday, a massive taxpayer-financed bailout of the nation’s various financial institutions remains a near certainty. Black taxpayers in particular, who have been disproportionately affected by the housing crisis, have reason to be anxious about how they will fare in the rescue scenario. If only numbers runners held the kind…

John Boehner wept. Roy Blunt fiddled. Nancy Pelosi lamented. And on a day when the stakes could not have been higher, or the situation graver, nothing worked in Washington. On one of the most chaotic and stunning days on Capitol Hill in recent memory, the 110th Congress rejected the $700 billion proposed bailout of troubled…

The Sarah Palin Effect is over. Palin and McCain joined forces last week to make sure that no one took them very seriously, and they did every thing they could to help Obama open up a small but increasingly solid lead on McCain. With the Palin bump neutralized, Obama’s still nagging concern are those Hillary voters…

If  you have not made up your mind about whom to support for President, last night’s debate about foreign policy and the ongoing economic crisis may not have helped you. Neither Republican John McCain nor Democrat Barack Obama committed a major gaffe or landed a knockout punch. Neither expressed a new idea. So I suggest…

“…She swallowed the spider to catch the fly— I don’t know why she swallowed the fly…” When Sen. John McCain shows up in Mississippi tonight, after two solid weeks of Wall Street bailout headlines, he and Sen. Barack Obama will square off in the most anticipated presidential debate in almost 50 years. McCain still believes…

The first presidential debate scheduled for the University of Mississippi tonight is being held hostage be John McCain’s deep concern for the economy, but plans remain in place for the showdown, which would give Americans the first opportunity for a side-by-side comparison of the two White House hopefuls. A clear win by either side will change…