What Arianna calls timidity, I call patience.

Campaigning is not the same as governing. In 2007 and 2008, Obama never needed Congressional approval for the executive decisions his campaign made. He never had to worry about securing Joe Lieberman's vote. Governing is more complex, certainly less pure, and noticeably...

Dear Senator Lincoln:

As you know, yesterday you were among a small group of Democrats who voted against including a public option in the bill you will report out of the Finance Committee. As you also know, earlier this year, you went on record supporting a public option, only...

I wrote an article on HuffPost a couple of days ago that spoke, among other things, about Barack Obama's ability to mobilize the Democratic base. One commenter responded with this: "With all due respect Mr. Loewe, Obama's base is also furious....with him." Another said: "The author neglects a critical logic....

I keep hearing that the Democrats are totally screwed come November 2010, that the midterms are going to be a bit of a bloodbath. Democrats have an outside shot of losing control of the House, according to Charlie Cook. A one in three chance according to Nate Silver....

Deep breaths, folks. Deep breaths.

During the campaign, we were a lot like this. It didn't matter that Obama was consistently walloping McCain in the polls, or that our most credible political analysts were predicting a landslide. It didn't matter. Everywhere you'd go, wherever Democrats were hanging out, they'd be...

Well, she didn't quit to run for president.

Nobody would do that, could possibly do that, could at any point be told by any person that an idea that crazy might actually work out. It's not just that it's irrational; it's that it's insane. There is no political playbook...

On Tuesday, Democratic primary voters in Virginia will have the chance to decide a neck-and-neck race for the gubernatorial nomination between former state Delegate Brian Moran, state Senator Creigh Deeds, and long-time Democratic fundraiser Terry McAuliffe.

A new PPP poll shows Deeds leading with 27% to McAuliffe's 24% and Moran's...

This morning President Obama announced Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee to replace Justice David Souter on the United States Supreme Court. In his press conference unveiling the choice, Obama described Sotomayor as an inspiring woman with a distinguished career, holding a "depth of experience...

Over the weekend, President Obama named Utah Governor Jon Huntsman as the next Ambassador to China, a masterstroke of political strategy.

Huntsman may be the most important person you've never heard of. He's a moderate Republican governor in one of the most conservative Republican states, where, until the time of...

During the first 100 days of his presidency, Barack Obama's political team scored a number of big victories. With few exceptions, the political strategies they've employed have been effective, helping to lay the foundation for a broad domestic and foreign policy agenda. Here's how the administration stacked up:

Dealing with...

In what will certainly be the biggest political story to cap off the first 100 days of the Obama administration, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) has announced he will be switching parties. Once Al Franken is seated in Minnesota, an inevitability expected to happen shortly, the Democratic party will have a...

There was a point not long after the 2006 midterm elections when observers began to note that Republicans were in truly terrible shape, that a staggering number of Senate and House Republicans were acutely vulnerable in their re-elections, and that in all likelihood, if the GOP failed to reconnect with...

The New York Times is reporting that the White House intends to jump-start a new debate on immigration reform this year, a move in line with promises made by the president during the campaign season. Not surprisingly, there is some trepidation among Democrats as to whether an issue as...

The race to fill the Congressional seat left vacant by Hillary Clinton's Senate replacement is too close to call, with Democrat Scott Murphy ahead of Jim Tedisco by only 65 votes. Absentee ballots have yet to be added to the tally, suggesting the race will almost certainly hinge on which...

Roughly four years ago, the Republican Party was on top of the world. President Bush had just been re-elected. Both the House and the Senate were controlled by the GOP. The Democratic Party had a bumbling message, so nuanced that it was becoming increasingly difficult to explain. Republicans had an...

With apologies to Tippecanoe...and Tyler too.

This is your chance. Come out from the shadows. I know you haven't been a political party in 150 years, I get that. But this might just be the chance of a century.

The leaders of the Republican Party have just finished convincing...

In 50 minutes last night, the president of the United States used his first speech to a joint session of Congress as a launching point, a chance to transform the bulk of his entire campaign platform into the core of a bold first year agenda. In one of his most...

Losing the presidency must be pretty tough. It's worse than losing a Super Bowl -- at least then you're a worthy prospect for the following year. It's worse than losing the gold -- at least that gets referred to as "winning the silver." A presidential loss signals the beginning of...

Last Tuesday afternoon, President Obama met with forty three of the forty nine Blue Dogs, an increasingly influential group of fiscally conservative Democrats, to discuss changes to the stimulus package. The big topics of discussion: fiscal responsibility, balancing the budget, and reducing government spending, an agenda with uncanny resemblance to...

Yesterday, in the face of a chorus of news organizations calling on him to step down, Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination for HHS Secretary. According to NBC's Andrea Mitchell, upon reading Tuesday morning's New York Times editorial about his confirmation, he concluded he would be a distraction to the cause...