MARY ANN GLENDON’S FAILED “HAIL MARY”:
"I am a longtime admirer of Mary Ann Glendon, a former Ambassador to the Holy See as well as a scholar and innovative thinker on women’s issues. However, I was gobsmacked by her recent decision to refuse a prestigious award from Notre Dame because, as she discovered, she would have to share a podium with the President of the United States."
Ramesh Ponnuru Comments
Crittenden Replies
Maggie Gallagher Comments
Crittenden Replies at NRO
David Frum adds a comment and observation on Obama:
"Let me add here a personal editorial comment. A large part of the secret of President Obama's political success is his self-presentation as calm, judicious, and fair-minded - and his ability to depict his opponents as intemperate and extreme. You'd think by now that Obama's opponents would have figured out this trick. You want to beat him? Great. Be more calm, more judicious, and more fair-minded. Don't be provoked. Don't throw wild allegations. Don't boycott. Don't lose your temper.
Instead, we get Anger Theater. It's not smart. And it's not working."
Monday, May 4, 2009
Stan Greenberg on Resurgent Republic Polling
Stan Greenberg’s Open Letter to Ed Gillespie, Founder of Resurgent Republic, on Their Initial National Survey
"Dear Ed,
Congratulations on forming Resurgent Republic with the goal of replicating “on the right the success Democracy Corps has enjoyed on the left.” Like Democracy Corps, you are promising to become a resource for groups and leaders, enhanced by the public release of credible surveys and focus groups and, indeed, your first survey has been widely discussed and already used by Republican leaders. Well done.
You would probably be surprised if I didn’t have some reactions and advice to offer, as you explicitly state, you are “modeled on Democracy Corps.” Given your goal, I am perplexed that your first poll would be so outside the mainstream on partisanship"
"Dear Ed,
Congratulations on forming Resurgent Republic with the goal of replicating “on the right the success Democracy Corps has enjoyed on the left.” Like Democracy Corps, you are promising to become a resource for groups and leaders, enhanced by the public release of credible surveys and focus groups and, indeed, your first survey has been widely discussed and already used by Republican leaders. Well done.
You would probably be surprised if I didn’t have some reactions and advice to offer, as you explicitly state, you are “modeled on Democracy Corps.” Given your goal, I am perplexed that your first poll would be so outside the mainstream on partisanship"
Sunday, May 3, 2009
After the Recession
Obama on what comes next
"But part of the problem that we’ve got right now is that what it means to have graduated from high school, what it means to have graduated from a two-year college or a four-year college is not always as clear as it was several years ago.
And that means that we’ve got to — in our education-reform agenda — we’ve got to focus not just on increasing graduation rates, but we’ve also got to make what’s learned in the high-school and college experience more robust and more effective."
"But part of the problem that we’ve got right now is that what it means to have graduated from high school, what it means to have graduated from a two-year college or a four-year college is not always as clear as it was several years ago.
And that means that we’ve got to — in our education-reform agenda — we’ve got to focus not just on increasing graduation rates, but we’ve also got to make what’s learned in the high-school and college experience more robust and more effective."
Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp, Star on Field and in Politics, Dies at 73 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com:
"Mr. Kemp was secretary of housing and urban development under the first President George Bush and the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 1996. But his greatest legacy may stem from his years as a congressman from Buffalo, especially 1978, when his argument for sharp tax cuts to promote economic growth became party policy, one that has endured to this day."
I'd add that it was Kemp's outreach to African Americans in particular that set him apart from many in his party then and now. His constant focus on economic opportunity that crossed racial lines offered a chance for a Republican party that could appeal to black, and white and now-a-days to Hispanics. That could have transformed the party. The GOP could do worse than look back to Kemp for inspiration on tent building. Alas, he never won over a majority of his party to the promise of economic opportunity for all rather than mere tax cuts for their own sake. I have a soft spot for Jack Kemp.
P.S. From Kemp's "Letter to my grandchildren":
"The party of Lincoln, (i.e., the GOP), needs to rethink and revisit its historic roots as a party of emancipation, liberation, civil rights and equality of opportunity for all. On the other hand, the party of Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and now Obama must put forth an agenda that understands that getting American growing again will require both Keynesian and classical incentive-oriented (supply-side) economic ideas"
"Mr. Kemp was secretary of housing and urban development under the first President George Bush and the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 1996. But his greatest legacy may stem from his years as a congressman from Buffalo, especially 1978, when his argument for sharp tax cuts to promote economic growth became party policy, one that has endured to this day."
I'd add that it was Kemp's outreach to African Americans in particular that set him apart from many in his party then and now. His constant focus on economic opportunity that crossed racial lines offered a chance for a Republican party that could appeal to black, and white and now-a-days to Hispanics. That could have transformed the party. The GOP could do worse than look back to Kemp for inspiration on tent building. Alas, he never won over a majority of his party to the promise of economic opportunity for all rather than mere tax cuts for their own sake. I have a soft spot for Jack Kemp.
P.S. From Kemp's "Letter to my grandchildren":
"The party of Lincoln, (i.e., the GOP), needs to rethink and revisit its historic roots as a party of emancipation, liberation, civil rights and equality of opportunity for all. On the other hand, the party of Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and now Obama must put forth an agenda that understands that getting American growing again will require both Keynesian and classical incentive-oriented (supply-side) economic ideas"
GOP Big Tent/Small Tent
Specter of Change:
"No one knows why the chicken crossed the road, but why Arlen Specter crossed the aisle to the Democrats is a matter of rather less mystery, if intense debate. The why is quite simple: Free-range Republican, he was about to lose next year's Pennsylvania primary by a large margin, a problem he solved by changing his voter pool. But it was the how that is rather more pertinent: He was under attack from conservatives in his own party, opening questions less of whether the good and the best can be enemies than of whether removing the mediocre turns out to be worth it when the result is the worst of all worlds."
"No one knows why the chicken crossed the road, but why Arlen Specter crossed the aisle to the Democrats is a matter of rather less mystery, if intense debate. The why is quite simple: Free-range Republican, he was about to lose next year's Pennsylvania primary by a large margin, a problem he solved by changing his voter pool. But it was the how that is rather more pertinent: He was under attack from conservatives in his own party, opening questions less of whether the good and the best can be enemies than of whether removing the mediocre turns out to be worth it when the result is the worst of all worlds."
GOP Lessons from NY20
With a focus on tech issues.
"Though the result is different than we as Republicans may have hoped for, the NY-20 special election generated new levels of online activism on the Right that show that the conservative base is re-engaging in poltitics online in the Obama era."
"Though the result is different than we as Republicans may have hoped for, the NY-20 special election generated new levels of online activism on the Right that show that the conservative base is re-engaging in poltitics online in the Obama era."
GOP Outreach
National Council for a New America Formed
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) today issued the following statement upon releasing a letter announcing the formation of the National Council for a New America, a forward-looking, grassroots caucus intended to bring together Congressional leaders with a national panel of experts.
“The National Council for a New America will engage with and empower the American people to develop innovative solutions that meet the serious challenges confronting our country. It is the right time to begin a thoughtful conversation about the future of this country.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) today issued the following statement upon releasing a letter announcing the formation of the National Council for a New America, a forward-looking, grassroots caucus intended to bring together Congressional leaders with a national panel of experts.
“The National Council for a New America will engage with and empower the American people to develop innovative solutions that meet the serious challenges confronting our country. It is the right time to begin a thoughtful conversation about the future of this country.”
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