Ken shares his thoughts on political news and history in his blog.
What’s a primary day without talking about the dramatic Tea Party vs. Establishment feuds going on in the Republican Party? Today’s primary in Nebraska, however, is more nuanced, as the leading candidates are just about equally conservative. There’s more to it than what we’ve seen in other states. The story line from the beginning fit …
The primary that kept us up late last Tuesday was perhaps the most inconsequential of all of them. It was the Democratic contest in North Carolina’s Second Congressional District, a seat held by Rep. Renee Ellmers (R) since 2011 and one that has become much more Republican following the latest round of redistricting. But one …
Say what you want about Rand Paul, but he has been very meticulous in the steps he’s been taking on the road to his probable bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Well aware of how his father failed to broaden his support during his own White House runs — and cognizant that many fringe …
So we’ve had our little teases. A Texas primary here, an Illinois primary there. Throw in a couple of special congressional elections. Nice, but hardly satisfying. Well, starting this month, the primaries come non-stop: three states on Tuesday the 6th, two on the 13th and six more on the 20th. And let’s not forget the …
There was an intriguing story the other day by Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times about the possibility and advisability of Hillary Clinton — should she become the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016 (a fair assumption) — picking a woman as her running mate. The article acknowledged the arguments against such a move. Democrats …
You remember Rep. Michael Grimm? He’s the Staten Island Republican who made national headlines the night of the State of the Union address, when a TV reporter asked him on camera about an ongoing corruption investigation that was said to include the congressman. Grimm walked away but later, with the cameras still rolling, he came …
There was a button we used in a recent ScuttleButton puzzle that listed two candidates — “Re-elect Joe & Art/Vote Republican” — candidates whose identity we don’t know. In fact, we often come across buttons whose origins have escaped us. Thus, every now and then we post some of these unknown items, in the hope …
The 19th Congressional District in southwest Florida is solidly Republican and has been since it was created in 1972. Vacant since Rep. Trey Radel (R) resigned in January following his arrest for buying cocaine from an undercover cop, the winner of today’s GOP primary will likely be the district’s next House member. But it’s been …
In nearly every obituary for Basil Paterson, the longtime Harlem political powerbroker who died at age 87 last week — and usually in the first sentence — it said he was the father of former Gov. David Paterson. While that is true, it doesn’t begin to describe the role he played in establishing and nurturing …
An exciting week for music, as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame got some new inductees: Brian Epstein, Andrew Loog Oldham, Kiss, Cat Stevens, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Nirvana, Peter Gabriel, Linda Ronstadt and The E Street Band. Everyone knows their influence on music. But we shouldn’t forget the influence on politics that …