Marc JohnsonNov 12, 20124 minA Lesson, A PlanIn the first blush of political defeat the tendency of many partisans – this is true on the right and on the left – is to take the wrong ...
Marc JohnsonNov 7, 20123 minTakeawaysFive initial takeaways from the voting yesterday: 1) In Idaho the controversial effort by top GOP leaders to “reform” education received ...
Marc JohnsonOct 30, 20124 minThe Right Call?The Obama campaign and its Super PAC allies spent all summer, as the favorite catch phrase of politics now holds, advancing that “narrati...
Marc JohnsonOct 23, 20123 minThe Big MoThe San Francisco Giants (happily for we Giants fans) clearly have what George H.W. Bush once called “The Big Mo.” The dejected St. Louis...
Marc JohnsonOct 12, 20124 minIf Obama Loses…The astute political analyst Charlie Cook nailed the essence of Mitt Romney months ago when he said the GOP nominee is “unencumbered by p...
Marc JohnsonOct 3, 20124 minExceptionalismMore importantly, every week is fashion week in Siena; a city that is to style what Boston is to baseball meltdowns. The old city, sittin...
Marc JohnsonSep 26, 20124 minSeven Rules of PoliticsToday no analysis – historic or otherwise – just seven rules collected over 35 years of reporting on politics, working on two statewide c...
Marc JohnsonSep 21, 20124 minBreak Out the Hand SanitizerThomas E. Dewey, of course, lost to the supremely unpopular Harry Truman in 1948 and is now remembered as perhaps the worst major party p...
Marc JohnsonSep 12, 20123 minThe Water’s EdgeVandenberg’s approach to foreign policy evolved over time, which is another way of saying he changed his mind. He went from a staunch iso...
Marc JohnsonSep 10, 20122 minThemes That RepeatYet, amid the dismal economic news, Roosevelt had succeeded in his first term in passing tough new banking regulations, massive public wo...
Marc JohnsonSep 5, 20123 minSo Old It’s New AgainDirty Harry probably didn’t know it, but his empty chair routine dates back at least to 1924 when a young, very upstart and very liberal ...
Marc JohnsonAug 29, 20124 minThe Death of FactsFOX News contributor Juan Williams, hardly an apologist for national Democrats, noted in a opinion column in The Hill today that the flat...
Marc JohnsonAug 27, 20125 minNary a WordFormer Republican Sen. Alan Simpson has one message in his post-Senate life as a truth teller about the nation’s fiscal health. Simpson i...
Marc JohnsonAug 21, 20123 minA Very Big TentThe two events and individuals would seem to have very little in common unless you consider that the very conservative Congressman and th...
Marc JohnsonAug 14, 20124 minThe VeepFor sure Ryan brings youth, partisan excitement, strong conservative credentials and a certain policy wonk attractiveness to the GOP tick...
Marc JohnsonAug 8, 20124 minOn Everyone’s ListYesterday I received, I’ve lost count honestly, what must be my 13th or 14th piece of mail from Mitt. On the same day I got a letter with...
Marc JohnsonAug 6, 20123 minUnfair? Sure…And Politics Always Isallegedly involving sex and an animal – against a political opponent. His staff pushed back arguing that the allegation was untrue, but J...
Marc JohnsonJul 26, 20122 minRomney in LondonBy the measure of world-wide Twitter trending (#Romneyshambles), not to mention the Brit papers, Romney’s visit to London has gone over t...
Marc JohnsonJul 17, 20124 minObama Reflects on Term – Sort OfIf Barack Obama holds off a determined and extraordinarily well-financed challenge from Mitt Romney and wins a second term in November it...
Marc JohnsonJul 16, 20125 minRetroactiveRomney Campaign Crisis Management There is an old truism in politics that holds “when you’re explaining, you’re losing.” By that standard...