George Will argues in Thursday morning’s Washington Post that the controversy over Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren’s native American roots — or lack thereof -- has “discombobulated” her campaign. Massachusetts voters apparently do not agree. The biggest surprise in the new Suffolk University poll out Thursday is how unfazed by the flap the citizenry there appears to be. It is not that people haven’t heard of the furor around Warren’s claim, based on family lore, that she is 1/32nd Cherokee, and the questions that have been raised about whether she reaped some professional benefit from the designation. How could they not, given the amount of coverage the story has received since it broke last month in the Boston Herald? In the poll, 72 percent ... Continue reading →
“Campaigns do what campaigns have to do,” Mr. James later told friends. But not everyone was as forgiving. “People were incredulous,” said one person who attended the dinner. “They could have waited a week.” Debates over how much to blame — and regulate — Wall Street have stoked tensions between Democrats and the financial industry ever since Mr. Obama took office amid a financial crisis. But now Mr. Obama is leveraging his bully pulpit and advertising dollars to argue that Mr. Romney’s career as a successful financial executive exhibited values that are not those of a good president. In doing so, he has not only drawn criticism from allies like Steven L. Rattner, the investor and former adviser on the auto industry, and Cory A. ... Continue reading →
5/23/2012 Republican incumbent Scott Brown (48 percent) clings to a one-point lead over Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren (47 percent) in the Massachusetts race for the U.S. Senate, according to a Suffolk University/7NEWS (WHDH-Boston) poll of likely general-election voters in Massachusetts. The poll result is well within the margin of error. Five percent of voters were undecided in a race that has drawn interest from across the country, even though the primaries are months away. The race has closed since a February Suffolk University/7NEWS poll showed Brown leading Warren 49 percent to 40 percent, with 11 percent either undecided or choosing someone else. “In both the February and May polls, Brown has fallen short of the coveted 50 percent mark for an incumbent, while Elizabeth Warren ... Continue reading →
A senior Senate committee staffer is headed to Washington’s premier nonprofit lobbying firm. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee staff director Dan Smith will start at The Sheridan Group next month. Smith will be a principal at the nonprofit advocacy organization. “I spent my entire professional career in the public arena,” Smith told The Hill. “I really wanted to take everything I’ve learned in the past 25 years and put it to work for clients that not only want to change laws but actually want to change the world.”Smith also served as chief of staff to Harkin and as Senate Agriculture Committee staff director. He is the founder and former president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Harkin emphasized Smith's contributions ... Continue reading →
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March 1972 The Party's Over What this country needs is some unvarnished political partisanship. by David S. BroderThe months leading up to an American presidential election are always a testy time. If times are even testier than usual, it is undoubtedly because the government itself is divided, with a Republican finishing a first term in the White House and the Democrats in control of Capitol Hill. The Senate is aswarm with presidential and vice presidential hopefuls, all trying to make partisan points at the expense of the Administration. Richard M. Nixon has lobbied for passage of the Administration's program, cajoling conservative Republicans to stay in line and seeking whatever support he can find on the Democratic side of the aisle. But despite cooperation from the ... Continue reading →
