Overview for News

Tax the Banks? Who’s Obama Kidding?

UPDATED: Yesterday, President Obama announced his plans for new restrictions on financial firms. The President is right to insist that taxpayers recoup their investment in the TARP program, but as I pointed out last week, the administration should reconsider the proposed bank tax. Yesterday, …

Written by David Frum on Friday January 22, 2010

Brown's Strategy Won't Work for Every Race

While conservatives should enjoy the moment, they should also remember that Scott Brown's campaign model may not be the solution for every race coming up this year. Scott Brown is not... exactly my kind of candidate. My kind of candidate is and remains Bob McDonnell; attractive and articulate, …

Written by Thomas J. Marier on Wednesday January 20, 2010

The GOP's Northeast Resurgence

Chris Christie’s inauguration as the new GOP governor of New Jersey garnered little attention in the national press, overshadowed by Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts. But these two Republican wins in solidly blue states can offer important lessons for both parties. January 19 was the best day …

Written by Jennifer Marsico on Wednesday January 20, 2010

What's Next for the GOP?

The Republican task over the next year and beyond is very tricky: keep the base engaged and motivated without permitting the President to demonize Republican policy. Some Wednesday thoughts about Tuesday's Republican win: The Importance of Playing for Time Mr. Micawber , was …

Written by Brent R. Orrell on Wednesday January 20, 2010

A New Political Star is Born

The startling victory of Scott Brown in Massachusetts is not only a rebuke to President Barack Obama’s policies, it’s the emergence of a politician with unlimited potential and charisma. It’s tempting to say a new political star has been born. The startling victory of Republican Scott Brown in …

Written by Peter Worthington on Wednesday January 20, 2010

Tea Partiers Need to Learn the Right Lesson from Brown's Win

When their opponent is a Democrat, then the “base” is a powerful asset. It is when their opponent is a Republican that we get into trouble. In this morning's Chicago Sun Times , Carol Martin brings the argument that I have been making for almost two months into the mainstream Chicago Press. …

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Wednesday January 20, 2010

What Kind of Senator Will Brown Be?

Boris Shor crunches the numbers and suggests - as liberal as Olympia Snowe. Boris Shor crunches the numbers and suggests - as liberal as Olympia Snowe.

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 20, 2010

Harper's Dropping Numbers

A startling drop in the polls for Canada’s Conservative party, has both pollsters and pundits pondering the reason. A startling drop in the polls for Canada’s Conservative party, has both pollsters and pundits pondering the reason. Or, rather, pondering an explanation. The true “reason” for …

Written by Peter Worthington on Wednesday January 20, 2010

Happy Birthday to Us

Today is this site's one year anniversary. Like a neglectful parent, I'm not home for the party: I'm in Caracas Venezuela on a lecture tour sponsored by the Conciencia Activa Foundation and the U.S. Department of State. But we at FrumForum.com could not have asked for a better birthday present than …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 20, 2010

Obama Faces His Limits

On a personal level, the country finds Obama likeable enough. But his policies are meeting growing skepticism and resistance. Oddly, in the face of all this, Obama is preliminarily vowing to fight on. For what? To what end? Today the country awakened to a snapshot of clarity. Not the moral clarity …

Written by Lloyd Green on Wednesday January 20, 2010

Did the Dems Get the Message?

The Democratic leadership has said and seems to believe that they must pass the healthcare bill no matter what. But after the election in Massachusetts if the Democrats continue on this drive they will lose—and lose big. Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts Senate race vastly complicates the …

Written by Barbara Ledeen on Wednesday January 20, 2010

The Biggest Loser

After last night’s stunning defeat, the Obama White House is likely to blame others first, and ask hard questions later. But in the coming weeks, someone close to the President will pay dearly. Years ago, Martha Coakley told the Boston Globe that if things didn’t work out with her political …

Written by David Gratzer on Wednesday January 20, 2010

Not All Politics is Local

Scott Brown's landslide victory was clearly achieved by nationalizing the race around the most unexpected issue of all: healthcare. Almost everybody who follows politics knows the late Tip O'Neill's famous aphorism, "All politics is local." What most folks don't know about that statement is that …

Written by Gusher on Wednesday January 20, 2010

A Warning for the Dems and a Lesson for the GOP

Scott Brown’s win cannot help but create panic among the Democrats. By focusing on an unpopular health care bill and high unemployment, Brown provided a message that resonated with both moderate and socially conservative Republican voters. Scott Brown’s decisive win in the Massachusetts U.S. …

Written by Jeannemarie Devolites Davis on Wednesday January 20, 2010

Brown's Win a Lesson for Tea Partiers

The Tea Party movement has finally done what Frum Forum has long been urging: they supported a less dogmatic Republican in a moderate state. But how long will this detente between moderate and conservative factions in the GOP last? The Tea Party movement has finally done what Frum Forum has …

Written by Tim Mak on Wednesday January 20, 2010

Dems Running Out of Options

The Democrats have reached a fork in the road. And they have put Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in charge of the map and compass. You know you’re having a good evening when you get to quote yourself in a previous Frum Forum blogpost . As I wrote the day after the elections last November: …

Written by Brent R. Orrell on Wednesday January 20, 2010

Can Massachusetts GOP Ride on Brown's Coattails?

Exclusive : FF spoke to Scott Brown and Massachusetts GOP state chair Jennifer Nassour about rebuilding the Massachusetts Republican party. “Après moi, le deluge?” is a fair question for Scott Brown to ask. The real question at the heart of this most bizarre special election is whether …

Written by Byron Tau on Tuesday January 19, 2010

Don't Mess with the Sox

For all their faults, the Kennedys knew the folkways of Boston – and the Red Sox starting pitchers. They won elections. Coakley lost. [Mayor] Fitzgerald, meanwhile, basked in the reflected glow of his favorite team, elated at all the attention the Red Sox' winning ways had afforded him. Back …

Written by John S. Gardner on Tuesday January 19, 2010

Brown Should be Sworn in Quickly

The Democratic majority in the Senate has the power to seat Scott Brown, the obvious landslide choice of the people of the Commonwealth, on Wednesday. And it should. Martha Coakley has conceded a race that was not even close. The Constitution makes the Senate the "judge of the elections, …

Written by Henry Clay on Tuesday January 19, 2010

Freezin' for a Reason

FF Liveblogging Exclusive: In all my years of grassroots campaign involvement, I have never felt such palpable excitement from the voters – and I never would have expected it in Massachusetts, where I spent four years in college. To see how it has changed is surreal. This weekend I traveled …

Written by Rachel Hoff on Tuesday January 19, 2010