Overview for FF Spotlight

More Nukes

If you want to curtail the emission of greenhouse gases - without a shocking hit to the American standard of living - nuclear power is the only currently feasible substitute. We've got a lively debate going on the economics of nuclear power. It began with Brad Plumer and Matt Yglesias arguing …

Written by David Frum on Saturday November 7, 2009

The Shootings at Fort Hood

Here are some images everybody should keep in mind today. Here are some images everybody should keep in mind today:

Written by David Frum on Friday November 6, 2009

Tea Partiers: Mad at Dems and GOP

Frum Forum spoke with protesters at the Tea Party rally on Capitol Hill about whether they supported the Republican Party. The answers were surprising: the vast majority of protesters had no connection to the GOP and were just as likely to oppose the party as they were to support it. Yesterday, …

Written by Tim Mak on Friday November 6, 2009

Follow McDonnell, Not Hoffman

Bob McDonnell’s win in the Virginia governor’s race is the model the GOP should follow if it wants to recapture the political stage. McDonnell won the governor's race by ignoring polarizing social issues and addressing local concerns. Bob McDonnell’s win in the Virginia governor’s race is the …

Written by Crystal Wright on Thursday November 5, 2009

Terror Experts: No Rehab for Gitmo Detainees

Recently, the Washington Post reported that the Obama administration is considering sending Gitmo detainees to a Saudi "rehab program" for violent jihadists. FrumForum interviewed experts as well as former high ranking CIA officials, all of whom emphatically opposed the proposal. Recently, …

Written by Elise Cooper on Thursday November 5, 2009

Obamacare by Christmas?

Senator Reid suggested on Tuesday that the Senate may not pass healthcare legislation this year. If the Senate can't pass legislation before Christmas it seems unlikely that the sort of sweeping reforms touted by the White House will pass in an election year. With so much going on politically in …

Written by David Gratzer on Thursday November 5, 2009

Forget Exit Polling, Look to ObamaWear

When I spotted this display at the political paraphernalia shops in Union Station, I couldn’t help but feeling that maybe the tide has started to change. Mr. Pavelyev is probably right in telling us not to celebrate too much just yet—the Republican Party still has a long way to go. But …

Written by Stephen Richer on Thursday November 5, 2009

The Next GOP Battleground

For the Republican party to regain national party status, it will need to embrace moderates and reach beyond its bases in the South and interior. How long has it been since the Northeastern United States really mattered from an electoral standpoint? In 1960, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller …

Written by Brent R. Orrell on Wednesday November 4, 2009

An Ethics Lesson in Black and White

Black congressmen under investigation by the House Ethics Committee have charged that they are being unfairly targeted because of their race. If lawmakers of any color don’t want to be investigated, they shouldn’t engage in what looks like unethical behavior. Everything isn’t about race. Black …

Written by Crystal Wright on Wednesday November 4, 2009

Obama's Wake Up Call

Last night, by a 2 to 1 margin in Virginia and by almost as much in New Jersey, self-described independents sided with the GOP -- the same independents who backed Obama in 2008. I went to bed last night with a sense of satisfaction regarding my state of New Jersey that I haven’t felt in quite a …

Written by Brad Schaeffer on Wednesday November 4, 2009

NY-23: Wasted Money, Wasted Effort

The race in New York's 23rd served as a Phony War. It gave disaffected conservatives somewhere to spend their time and money, while the Republican establishment put it away on a grand scale in Virginia and New Jersey. The race for New York's 23rd Congressional district could have been so simple. …

Written by Thomas J. Marier on Wednesday November 4, 2009

McDonnell's Pollster Speaks...

...and it's worth hearing. He writes that his team "set out early to establish Bob as different than Republicans have been in the past few elections..." ... and it's worth hearing. He writes that his team set out early to establish Bob as different than Republicans have been in the past few …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday November 4, 2009

Don't Fear the Option (Yet)

Conservatives have plenty of reasons to dislike the idea of a public health care option. At the same time, however, the reasonably modest proposals currently before Congress won’t, by themselves, result in a government healthcare takeover. The passage of a sweeping healthcare reform bill sometime …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Tuesday November 3, 2009

Democrats Square Off to Face Kirk

Today, Alexi Giannoulias, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination to run for Senate in Illinois released internal polling suggesting that he is best positioned to take on likely Republican nominee Mark Kirk. Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) released an internal poll today …

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Tuesday November 3, 2009

Lost in Marrakesh

The AP reports that Hillary Clinton's latest round of shuttle diplomacy with Arab leaders “produced no sign of a breakthrough.” These failures though are not hers alone. They are the result of earlier missteps by the President, and an Arab world sending mixed messages about its commitment to peace. …

Written by Jonathan Schanzer on Tuesday November 3, 2009

Obama's Worst

The Obama administration has launched American troops into a much more intense fight in Afghanistan while hesitating to add the reinforcements for which the troops' commanders clamor. Ten months into his administration he has developed doubts about the war he once declared a war of necessity. Seems …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 3, 2009

Those Magical Obamas

In today's Examiner , Byron York, that master of the deadpan, reports on Michelle Obama's remarks at a recent mentoring event: "[P]eople ask [my mom] all the time, 'What did you do to create Michelle Obama?'" Mrs. Obama told the audience." Byron York, that master of the deadpan, tells this …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 3, 2009

A Famous Victory?

Conservatives are preparing to hail a Doug Hoffman victory in NY-23, if it occurs, as a mighty victory. This is a deeply unrealistic assessment. In two of the three most watched races in the country, the candidate of the president’s party is running neck and neck against his main challenger – in …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 2, 2009

Leave Larry David Alone

HBO and television in general is, as Larry David's critics note, far more likely to insult Catholics than adherents of almost any other religion. Only Southern Baptists and Mormons are in the running for this dubious honor. From a Christian perspective this should be a badge of honor rather than …

Written by John Vecchione on Monday November 2, 2009

Bachmann to America: Come Storm Congress

Last night, on Sean Hannity's program, Rep. Michele Bachmann urged the audience to: "come to Washington, D.C. [and] join me so we can go up and down through the halls, find members of Congress, look at the whites of their eyes and say, 'Don't take away my healthcare.'" Rep. Michele Bachmann is …

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Sunday November 1, 2009