Columns, pieces and posts
I will vote Tuesday and so will most readers of this page because we love politics and history. We are interested, engaged, highly motivated. We not only care about our country but see the direct connection between the decisions made at the polls and the country’s literal future. But not everyone votes, as we well […]
You’re in danger. What you do or fail to do now could conceivably change the outcome Tuesday. So breathe deep, get serious and don’t get stubborn. Let’s start with the facts, which in many ways are on your side. It happened a quarter century ago. You always said that when you were young and irresponsible […]
Readers of this page are familiar with the policy questions at issue in the election. As president, George W. Bush’s natural inclination and stated intention is and will be to lower taxes, not raise them, to clear away regulation rather than create it, and to reform Social Security in a way that makes it more […]
On Saturday I went to the opening game of the World Series, at Yankee Stadium. I felt so lucky: I had a friend with tickets. It was so exciting, really inspiring. It had been two years since I’d been to the stadium, enough time for everything to look new to me—the soft, thick-striped grass, the […]
The third presidential debate was a public good, both informative and, once again, revealing of both presidential candidates. It seems to me that all three debates, now that they’re history, have been a paradoxical triumph: They were at times rote, stilted and even cringe-making, especially when Al Gore would take over and show his manly […]
Do you sense things are moving, immeasurably but perhaps decisively? I do. George W. Bush not only won the debate Wednesday night, but in a way that damaged a central assumption of the Gore campaign. That assumption is that Mr. Bush doesn’t know very much. But Mr. Bush demonstrated that he knows a lot, and […]
Candidates get better when they think they’re winning. Hillary Clinton has gotten better. She dominated yesterday’s debate. It was her show, with Rick Lazio playing a supporting role. Mrs. Clinton spoke at her lectern with the fluidity and concentration of an Al Gore, unspooling her answers in full paragraphs, with each reply telling the story […]
Dick Cheney won. Big time. But we’ll get to that in a moment. The more important thing to note at the top is that Americans won last night, and democracy won, because the Cheney-Lieberman debate was an authentic public service. First, it was inspiring. For the first time in years millions of Americans saw two […]
“He won the walk.” The speaker was a network producer just after Al Gore walked on stage, and she was right. The moment seemed emblematic of the evening. Both candidates strode out looking like big attractive men in big attractive suits, and shook hands, and Mr. Gore seemed to whisper something to George W. Bush, […]
Hello, Governor. Big weekend ahead. You’re practicing for the debates. Here’s an idea right off the top. You’re practicing, they say, with Judd Gregg. He’s playing Gore. That’s okay, but no one can really play Gore because Gore is so . . . changeable is a nice word. So go ahead with Sen. Gregg, but […]