Des Moines — If the endless intonations of “God Bless America” at political rallies and in political speeches have any payoff at all, a blizzard will sweep Iowa on Jan. 3, rendering the Iowa GOP presidential caucus meaningless as their Creator keeps thousands of right-wing evangelicals homebound and, at long last, voiceless. That sentiment echoes [...]

Having for years emaciated education and other public services, the powers that be in California are considering raising taxes. That’s right, the great unmentionable suddenly has become fit for conversation in mixed company. While on the subject of taboos, I would fix responsibility for making it virtually impossible for years to have rational debate on [...]

The New Hampshire Union Leader’s Nov. 27 endorsement editorial, “For President, Newt Gingrich,” drew a lot of attention. Having written and edited many endorsement editorials over the years, my take on the Union Leader’s effort may be somewhat different. For starters, it ran on the front page and was not the usual anonymous voice of [...]

What took so long? Why, many months into the presidential campaign, with Newt Gingrich at or near the top in the preference polls, did the press not raise questions sooner about his character flaws and money-grubbing ways? Connie Bruck and the New Yorker waved warning flags about Gingrich many years ago, on Oct. 9, 1996, [...]

Where is the like of Hubert Humphrey when the Republicans so desperately need him — particularly when it comes to the Iowa GOP caucuses? The late Democratic U.S. senator and vice president (1911-1978) came to mind because of the continuing failure of just about any Iowa Republican, save one or two maybe, to speak up [...]

Republican presidential candidates are flooding into Iowa attempting to reach and influence the tiny sliver of GOP voters who actually will express a candidate preference at the much-hyped Jan. 3 “first-in-the- nation” Iowa caucuses. If past experience is a guide, the press will go ga-ga over the event, but most Iowa Republicans will have nothing [...]

Greenville, S.C. – Bolstered by his rising poll numbers and looking ahead to that night’s foreign policy debate, Newt Gingrich opened his first South Carolina campaign office with wife, Callista, at his side on Saturday. As he rises to compete in the top tier of GOP hopefuls, voters are taking a closer look, and conservatives [...]

CNBC commentator Rachel Maddow believes Herman Cain is a “performance artist” and his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination is “performance art.” Could be. It could be also that Cain is a satirist and his campaign a satire on presidential politics. Satire: the use of “irony, sarcasm and ridicule to attack the follies of humankind.” [...]

While no one could ever say Condoleezza Rice has strayed far from Republican beliefs – in a recent appearance in Charlotte, N.C., she touted “low regulation and low taxes” as economic solutions – the views of President Bush’s Secretary of State on immigration and education reform reveal just how much the party itself has changed. [...]

With two months to go before the Iowa Republican Party caucuses on Jan. 3, 2012, here is a one-question multiple choice quiz for you. Q: Which of the following characterizes the Iowa GOP caucuses? A. What a mess! B. Our long national nightmare is almost over! C. Hey! Let’s do this again in 2016! D. [...]