David Plouffe has written the most important political book of the year. The Audacity to Win arrives at a crossroads moment for the Obama administration -- exactly one year after the election. While reading it, I found myself wondering what Candidate Obama would think of President Obama. Would he wonder how the candidate who got into the race because he decided "the people were getting hosed" became the president who decided that the American people can only have as much change as Olympia Snowe will allow? How did the candidate who told a stadium of supporters in Denver that "the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result" become the president who has surrounded himself with the same old players trying the same old politics, expecting a different result?
If Obama had really charged in there riding the forceful energy of the historic election, there really could have been an historic "first hundred days." Instead of what happened, which is the Obamas got a dog.
All the president's men know that a Republican sweep in New Jersey and Virginia will strike fear in the hearts of those swing state Democrats who now hold the future of health care in their sweaty moderate hands.
This is no time for buyer's remorse when it comes to Obama. Compare him to JFK and his first year record starts to look pretty good. For one thing, he's avoided disaster. Bravo, Mr. President!
In 2008, about 11,000 eligible but unregistered DC residents did not participate in the historic 2008 election. Same Day Registration could have made a big difference for many of these citizens.
As I watched Obama's victory speech a year ago, I thought that America was on the brink of a new progressive era. I believe that just as strongly one year later, as well as in the slogan, "Yes We Can."
Barack Obama raised our expectations through the roof with his stirring campaign. He needs to deliver change we can believe in. He needs to convince us that "yes, we can" is more than a political slogan.
If the Republican Party had half a mind, they would look at Palin's history of party divisiveness, polarization and destruction and take heed.
The Times published on the front page the name of a purported CIA-paid asset, Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of the Afghan president. This may be the most egregious compromise of a CIA operative in our history.
The only people who seem to stand outside the consensus that too-big-to-fail banks are unacceptable are those who hold power and are steering the process of financial reform.
Looking back on a year of LGBT rights activism under the Obama umbrella, I wonder just how much we have done to make LGBT rights a priority for Americans. The president himself has done little.
With the announcement of record Wall Street bonus pools and rising credit card fees, it is time to sit back and see where we go from here.
As we send more troops to stiffen Afghani government forces and to stabilize the state, that high-profile presence will serve to demoralize Afghani troops and ultimately to destabilize the state.
Genuine leadership means setting the agenda. It means taking tough stands. Leadership is a quality Barack Obama showed on the campaign trail. It is a quality he has failed to show as president.
Presidential candidate Obama revved up millions with his hope and change mantra. President Obama quickly replaced that with playing the Beltway game. And here we are, one year later.
The generation that is coming of age right now is gaining insight about environmental issues that were foreign to generations before them. They understand the magnitude of their decisions.
Searching for health information on the web can feel overwhelming. The power of the Internet is also its limitation--it provides information, but not guidance on how to sort what is credible and what is not.
Commandant General James Conway's opposition to the president on "don't ask, don't tell" could have many underlying implications. Some would say he should be taken out to the woodshed.
Chevron is a target of citizen protests in California, across the United States and around the world because of Chevron's role in climate destruction, public health abuse, and wars for oil.
