News today of House ethics investigators looking into dozens of members and staffers is a huge news bomb that will effect everything that happens between now and the 2010 election. This goes to the heart of the trust between Americans and their elected officials, and how it plays out will...

"This is the most polarized I've ever seen it," has been the echo of scores of political observers. The visceral reaction towards the ideas of others is, if not the worst, high, as we approach 2010.

The fact that any development is up for criticism shows just how divisive...

A year ago, it was clear that most Americans wanted health care reform. They still do. But along the way, Washington has cut them out of the process.

This summer, lawmakers took a lesson from town hall meetings back home. Members endured angry, scared voters. Some of the protesters were...

After months of missed opportunities, tense town hall meetings, and an American public with too little information on what a health care overhaul would look like, President Obama today brought the freshly finished plan from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus straight to the people.

The President has accomplished...

August recess was no day at the playground for legislators visiting their home districts. Main Street is looking worse each day. Folks back home are angry, and a vocal group has proved it in town halls. New Hampshire is no exception. White House control over the bill, and the legacy...

The loss of Senator Kennedy is enormous, to his family, to his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and to the country. In this moment, let's do one thing: for those of us who were graced to know Sen. Kennedy and the values he represents, pass it on to...

Watching bad strategy play out is frustrating, mainly because it undermines the genuine philosophical beliefs of voters and lawmakers, and partly because so often it repeats past mistakes.

President Obama is repeating the mistakes Hillary Clinton and President Clinton's administration made when they rolled out health care. The mistakes recurring...

At the Grammy's, Jay-Z rapped with Coldplay in the song "Lost," and what he said bears repeating:

"It's only half if they like you. There ain't even the half what they might do.
Don't believe me, ask Michael. See Martin, see Malcolm...
See success and it's...

When President Obama takes his case for health care to the American people tonight, his job is this: re-energize the large base of Americans who were adamant about the issue a year ago.

Senator Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi can talk about health care until they are blue...

Both President Obama and Senator McCain had a message about how change happens: from the bottom up. Obama made his case better, and had a better handle on what people envisioned at this time.

Now, nine months after giving Obama the clearest electoral victory since Ronald Reagan, tangible signs are...

You may not like Sarah Palin's voice, or winks, or nods, or language. But she has a perfect storm brewing, and told Andrea Mitchell as much. She can't afford more ethics allegations, and Limbaugh says she can't afford to stay above the lower 48, or let the media define her...

Republicans get hungry fast. Having just digested the lack of leadership in the GOP, mainstream Republicans appear to be coming out of denial. The shock and awe of the election of President Obama, unease over Senator McCain, the leadership of Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich has all come...

New Hampshire in 2010 is very much in play from Senate to dog-catcher, and that could present a challenge for Democrats in 2010 if other states follow suit -- which they often do. I'm not saying 2010 could be Obama's 2006, where that many seats go to the other party,...

Today's USA Today/Gallup poll shows the GOP with lower party favor than it has had with voters since before Watergate (i.e. people like the party less than during Nixon's resignation.)

The most recognized figures "leading" the party are: Limbaugh, former VP Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, who has not held office...

After months of contentious debate over gay marriage, the NH has approved same sex marriage, making it the sixth state to do so.

The House-passed legislation legalizes gay marriage with the conditions added by Governor Lynch that protected religious entities from having to perform same sex marriages if they do...

Having covered the Clarence Thomas hearings as a field producer for C-SPAN in 1991, I am only partially consoled to see the formality of the Senate meetings today with Judge Sonia Sotomayor introduced into what so far has seemed from the Republicans to be an informal backroom meeting of the...

I see that the old Pat Buchanan is back. The one that was a pro-white, protectionist, anti-progress candidate who came in close behind Dole in Iowa and won New Hampshire's Primary in 1996. Remember him? The guy who used hate-talk and race-baiting to gin up a populist movement?

You can...

The first Supreme Court confirmation hearings I covered as a journalist were the Clarence Thomas proceedings. There, as a young field producer for C-SPAN, I found myself in the middle of history in real time. This was back in the days when cellphones had to be carried in a big...

In picking Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama looked past her immaculate bio and the diversity she represents. In so doing, he also picked a Judge who did a couple things that will make it hard to peg her as liberal activist judge.

She has been well vetted. She was on...

Dear Rush,
I see that you have tried to resign from a position I named you to, along with others in the "drive-by media," on Hardball Wednesday, May 13. Here's the transcript:

MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. Time for the politics fix. Joining me Jennifer Donahue of the New...