Chris Weigant is a political commentator.

He has been a regular contributor to Arianna Huffington’s The Huffington Post since June of 2006, and also writes on his own website, ChrisWeigant.com.

As “Tom Paine” Chris wrote the book How Democrats Can Take Back Congress in 2006, which (while obviously dated now) still has a lot of good advice for Democratic candidates today.

You can email Chris from this page.

Chris lives in sunny Northern California with his lovely wife and (mostly) well-behaved cat.

Blog Entries by Chris Weigant

Friday Talking Points [101] -- Count Me With The Misfits

2 Comments | Posted November 13, 2009 | 07:42 PM (EST)


[Update: Well, it looks like Friday the 13th bit me on the hind end. I wrote the entire beginning to today's column without closely checking my facts. Therefore, it is totally and utterly wrong. Since this is the first time I've made an error of this monumental proportion, I will...

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President Obama at Fort Hood Memorial

Posted November 11, 2009 | 03:40 PM (EST)


[Program Note: I am honoring Veterans Day this year by taking the day off. Instead of a column, today I present the transcript of President Obama's remarks at yesterday's memorial service for those killed in the tragedy at Fort Hood in Texas. I thought it fitting to reflect that any...

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Cold War's End -- The Wall Comes Down

8 Comments | Posted November 9, 2009 | 08:17 PM (EST)


It must be a little hard to understand, for anyone reading this under the age of about 30 or so, the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago. Because one event has become historical shorthand for an immense change in the dynamics of not just our...

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Friday Talking Points [100] -- Whigging Out

26 Comments | Posted November 6, 2009 | 07:34 PM (EST)


I will explain that silly subtitle in a moment, but first we've got to delve even deeper into rampant silliness. If such silliness and unseriousness does not appeal to you, then I strongly suggest you skip down and begin reading with this week's Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week award....

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One Year After Obama's Election: Still Smarter...Than The Alternative

22 Comments | Posted November 4, 2009 | 06:57 PM (EST)


The day before I cast my vote for Barack Obama, I wrote a column titled "Barack Obama Is Smarter Than Us." By "us," I meant the legions of us lefty bloggers out here, who second-guessed his campaign on a daily basis for nigh on two years. I included myself...

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Obama Poll Watch [October 2009] -- Flattening Trends

1 Comments | Posted November 2, 2009 | 06:30 PM (EST)


Is the absence of a trend a trend?

Much like Sherlock Holmes' non-barking nocturnal canine, the remarkable thing about President Barack Obama's poll numbers last month was that nothing remarkable happened. Both trendlines were pretty flat for the month, which was the second month in a row of little movement....

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Heart-Stopping Hallowe'en Horror, Left And Right

7 Comments | Posted October 30, 2009 | 06:37 PM (EST)


Happy Samhain, everyone, if that isn't an inherent oxymoron.

For those of you who expected (and were, of course, waiting for with bated breath... what the Hell is bated breath, by the way?) Volume 100 of my weekly Friday Talking Points column, I will begin your Hallowe'en weekend by dashing...

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From The Pentagon To Monty Python: The Internet Turns 40

18 Comments | Posted October 28, 2009 | 07:58 PM (EST)


Tomorrow is the internet's fortieth birthday. Its creators are even throwing it a birthday party at the University of California, Los Angeles, the origin of the first message ever transmitted over what we know today as "the internet," on October 29, 1969. If you're wondering what the first message...

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Media's Credibility (Not Public Option) Is What Is Dead

109 Comments | Posted October 27, 2009 | 10:22 AM (EST)


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today announced that the public option (Charles Schumer's "opt out" plan, in particular) will be contained in the bill he moves to the Senate floor. This is an absolute shock to the media, since they have been obsessing over only one bill out of a...

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Friday Talking Points [99] -- Misdirection

53 Comments | Posted October 23, 2009 | 09:10 PM (EST)


When a stage magician makes a flourish, causing a puff of smoke and a flash of light to appear, there's a reason for it. It is called "misdirection." It is meant to dazzle the audience with a shiny object, so that they don't notice what is going on elsewhere on...

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Want Healthcare Reform? Pick Up The Phone.

7 Comments | Posted October 21, 2009 | 07:32 PM (EST)


It's crunch time, people.

For those not versed in the way Washington works (and the glacial pace of Congress), the last couple of months may have been a little frustrating. The marathon effort to reform our nation's health care system began in early spring, continued throughout the summer, and is...

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Holder's Baby Step On Medical Marijuana

47 Comments | Posted October 19, 2009 | 08:06 PM (EST)


The Obama Justice Department made news today by codifying a previously-announced policy of ending raids on medical marijuana dispensaries which comply with state laws. Even though medical marijuana is legal in fourteen states -- over one-fourth of the country -- it is still illegal under federal law (the Controlled Substances...

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Friday Talking Points [98] -- Newsiness

11 Comments | Posted October 16, 2009 | 08:59 PM (EST)


I have to admit before I begin that I don't watch cable television "news" during the day, because I consider it largely to be a waste of my valuable time.

Which, I have to say, the whole "balloon boy" episode proved beyond any reasonable shadow of a doubt.

The cable...

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Halftime At The Healthcare Reform Superbowl

17 Comments | Posted October 14, 2009 | 07:07 PM (EST)


[The scene: a football locker room. Hundreds of Democrats are sitting on benches, to hear Coach's halftime pep talk, in the Health Care Reform Superbowl. Some appear exhausted, some appear battered. Enter Coach, downstage.]

OK, people, that was a good half. We made some mistakes, we took some hits, but...

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Max Baucus Has Only Himself To Blame

98 Comments | Posted October 12, 2009 | 06:30 PM (EST)


The big news today on the healthcare reform front is the health insurance industry attacking such reform by releasing an industry-written report, one day before Senator Max Baucus' committee is (finally) scheduled to vote on their version of a healthcare reform bill. The report, from America's Health Insurance Plans...

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Friday Talking Points: Is Opt-Out The Answer?

18 Comments | Posted October 9, 2009 | 09:01 PM (EST)


In a surprising turn of events today, the Nobel committee awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize to "Not George W. Bush." The chairman of the committee was quoted saying, "Lordy, Lordy, we were so happy to see the United States run by someone who wasn't George W. Bush -- even...

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Republican Leaders Join In Honoring New Rotunda Statue Of Radical Socialist Woman

1 Comments | Posted October 7, 2009 | 04:39 PM (EST)


There are sins of commission in the way we're taught American history as children -- such as the fable about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree (which never actually happened). Then there are the much more prevalent sins of omission -- which conveniently gloss over the parts of American...

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Obama Poll Watch: Obama Halts His Slide

24 Comments | Posted October 5, 2009 | 05:55 PM (EST)


As October dawns (well, actually, we're more into mid-morning October, as it were -- see Program Note, below -- perhaps "as October gets underway," that's better) it's time again to take our monthly look back to see how President Obama is doing in the opinion polls. This month, the news...

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Friday Talking Points [96] -- The Impressiveness of Alan Grayson

25 Comments | Posted October 2, 2009 | 07:47 PM (EST)


First, let's get rid of the distractions this week. Chicago will not be getting the Olympics in 2016, even after President Obama went over to Copenhagen on a personal charm offensive. While I think Rio is a good choice, personally (come on -- it's not just Rio's first Olympics, or...

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Washington Post Looking for "America's Next Great Pundit" -- Could It Be You?

7 Comments | Posted September 30, 2009 | 07:55 PM (EST)


The Washington Post, one of the leading newspapers in the country, has announced on its website a contest to name "America's Next Great Pundit." In an enticing blend of reality television contests and print journalism, they are going to run a contest to see who deserves to be printed on...

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