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A lot of fireworks and pent-up anger last week during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But, as Robert Barnes of the Washington Post points out, were any minds changed? Is he less likely to get confirmed? Barnes suggests no. Former President Barack Obama made his long-awaited return to …
One of the main complaints Democratic Party leaders heard from Bernie Sanders supporters in 2016 was the outsized influence of superdelegates — those elected officials and other party bigwigs who were automatic delegates to the national nominating convention who could vote for whichever candidate they preferred, regardless of how the primary results went. Sanders backers …
Read moreEpisode #243: Super News for Berniecrats, Super Memories from Joe Lieberman
We remember the life, career, and legacy of John McCain, the Arizona Republican senator who died last Saturday at the age of 81. We speak with four people who knew him well: Mike Murphy was McCain’s chief strategist during his bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000. Alan Simpson, the Wyoming Republican served together …
Chris Collins was a leading Republican congressman from New York, the first GOP House member to endorse Donald Trump in 2016. But his arrest last week on insider trading charges has effectively ended his political career. And now, as Randy Gorbman of radio station WXXI reports, it’s up to Republican leaders in the 27th District to come …
Read moreEpisode #241: Left Turn in Mass., Right Turn in Fla., A Turnaround in N.Y.
The special congressional election in Ohio’s 12th District is still too close to call. But just the fact that a Democrat almost won this longstanding GOP bastion is enough for Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of Inside Elections, to call it bad news for the Republican Party and a possible reason to worry for November. …
The “impeach Rod Rosenstein” effort is going nowhere, to no surprise, but that hardly means conservatives in the House Republican conference are backing down. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is running to head up the party in the House, and there may be several dozen members of the Freedom Caucus ready to back him. Jack …
The victory of Democrat Conor Lamb in a solidly Republican House seat in Pennsylvania earlier this year brought national headlines. Could the same thing happen next month in Ohio? Owen Daugherty of the Columbus Dispatch talks about the special congressional election in the Buckeye State’s 12th District on August 7, a seat that Democrats haven’t …
The almost surreal news conference in Helsinki between President Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin was the big story of the week, and we’ve got it covered. Amanda Sloat of the Brookings Institution reviews Trump’s relationship with NATO allies and discusses the reaction in the aftermath of Helsinki. Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican …
President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to succeed Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court has given the president his second chance to move the court in a more conservative direction. Burgess Everett of Politico reports on the senators who will be pressured by special interest groups regarding Kavanaugh’s confirmation. And Prof. Jeffrey Segal …
The announcement by Anthony Kennedy, the crucial “swing” justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, that is retiring has sent shock waves through both parties. And the battle to confirm President Trump’s nominee to succeed him will certainly consume the 2018 midterm elections. Court blogger Amy Howe talks about Kennedy’s influence, the list of potential successors, …