Politics

Here is something important you need to know about Tim Russert: On the night Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, even a casual viewer could tell Tim was beside himself with the joy of watching history unfold before his eyes. In that slightly over the top, nearly hokey way that characterized his love of…

Barack Obama’s selection of a vice-presidential running mate is an easy and obvious thing in the minds of many. To wit, he can do nothing but bring Hillary Rodham Clinton onto the ticket. He simply must do so, the logic goes, if he hopes to have a chance of winning the general election. It is…

Amy Alexander’s essay dismissing the bereavement faced by Hillary supporters prompted me to make a few conclusions of my own from my vantage point as an Obama supporter working as a political organizer with Clintonites over the past two years. All I can say is: Wow! This piece is intense. What immediately came to mind…

As the country braces for a bruising general election fight between John McCain and Barack Obama, I can’t help but wonder whether young black voters are going to matter at all. Four years ago, you couldn’t even think about the presidential election without having someone toss you a “VOTE OR DIE” T-shirt or tell you…

The Democrats appear to be quickly moving to unity after a delayed but, in the end, very powerful concession speech from Senator Hillary Clinton. She endorsed Obama with stentorian clarity. She also pledged a committed fight to secure victory for the Democratic ticket in the fall. Bravo! One cannot have watched this prolonged primary season…

One day, one hour and 47 minutes after three bullets struck him down in a Los Angeles hotel kitchen, Robert Francis Kennedy, the junior senator from New York and likely Democratic presidential nominee, died at 1:44 a.m., June 6, 1968. It would take years, decades even, for historians to make sense of that single event.…

What if Bobby Kennedy’s bodyguard Roosevelt Grier had spotted the gun a few moments earlier and wrestled Sirhan Sirhan to the floor before he could fire the fatal shot? What if Kennedy hadn’t died only a few hours after he won the 1968 California Democratic primary, but had gone on to win the nomination and…

Monday is the official start of my Obama inauguration diet. Having secured the nomination, I believe that Barack can beat John McCain in the general election. This means that after months of binging on the primaries, I have just over six months to get in shape, and I have a lot of work to do.…

Hillary Clinton’s decision to end her campaign and endorse Barack Obama this weekend means that Obama is now assured of the Democratic nomination for president, and that Clinton’s historic bid to become the first woman to win the White House will end in disappointment. But the “women question” that has dogged Obama at times during…

Something is wrong. Perhaps the trouble lies with me, though I think it lies elsewhere and that I’m not the only one experiencing this creeping sense of dread at a point when I should feel ecstatic. Fighting off the scourge of political cynicism has been a more formidable challenge in the past few months than…