John Cassidy's Blog, page 32

Hillary Clinton’s Ordeal Continues at the Democratic Debate

After suffering a shocking loss to Bernie Sanders in Michigan on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton didn’t get much relief at the latest Democratic debate, which was held in Miami last night. In fact, the event turned into something of an ordeal for the front-runner. The result in Michigan framed the debate, which was organized by the Spanish-language network Univision, the Washington Post, and Facebook. Clinton was asked tough questions, and her opponent, who was clearly revelling in the moment, displayed a bit of swagger.

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Published on March 10, 2016 03:52

Populist Triumph: Big Wins for Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump

In an election year that has already shattered many received wisdoms, add another one to the scrap heap: the idea that the Democratic and Republican Party establishments were finally getting a handle on the popular insurgencies that have shaken up their parties.

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Published on March 09, 2016 00:17

A Bloomberg Presidential Bid Was Always a Pipe Dream

We will never know which policies Michael Bloomberg would have emphasized had he jumped into the 2016 Presidential race. But one thing’s for sure: he’s in favor of full employment for political consultants and other operatives. According to the Times’s story on his decision not to run, the former mayor’s staff had “covertly assembled several dozen strategists and staff members, conducted polling in 22 states, drafted a website, produced television ads and set up campaign offices in Texas and North Carolina.”

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Published on March 08, 2016 14:02

Where Does Hillary Clinton Stand on Education Reform?

One of the most intriguing moments in Sunday night’s Democratic debate came when CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Hillary Clinton, “Do you think unions protect bad teachers?” In the Democratic Party, few subjects are as incendiary as education. On one side of the issue are the reformers, such as Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, who support charter schools, regular testing, and changing labor contracts to make it easier to fire underperforming teachers. On the other side are the defenders of public schools, such as Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, who are seeking to impose limits on the charter movement, modify testing requirements, and stand up for teachers.

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Published on March 07, 2016 12:45

Can Marco Rubio Survive a Disastrous Super Saturday?

As the vote tallies came in from Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Maine on Saturday evening, Marco Rubio wasn’t on the U.S. mainland. He was campaigning in Puerto Rico, which is holding a Republican caucus on Sunday, with twenty-three delegates at stake. Normally media-friendly, the Florida senator was largely absent from the cable news networks, which were busy reporting one blow after another to his already faltering campaign.

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Published on March 06, 2016 05:23

The Problem with the “Never Trump” Movement

Give one thing to the organizers of the Republican effort to stop Donald Trump from getting the G.O.P. nomination: they know how to make a negative ad. The sixty-second spot about Trump University that the Our Principles super PAC started airing on Wednesday is devastating. It alternates clips of Trump promoting the so-called school, which he launched in 2005, with accusations from the office of Eric T. Schneiderman, New York’s Attorney General, that it was a scam operation that bilked each student out of as much as thirty-five thousand dollars. After watching the spot, you are forced to wonder why on earth the Bush, Rubio, and Cruz campaigns didn’t put out something like it six months ago.

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Published on March 03, 2016 15:45

Could Donald Trump Win the General Election?

Last night in Palm Beach, Donald Trump’s new sidekick, Chris Christie, introduced the G.O.P. front-runner, who won seven of the twelve state races on Super Tuesday, as the next President. With Trump seemingly marching toward the Republican nomination, it’s a natural prospect to raise. But is it a realistic possibility? In five of the past six elections, Democrats have won the popular vote.* Surely a divisive figure like Trump couldn’t reverse that trend. Or could he?

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Published on March 02, 2016 15:51

Super Tuesday Results: The Trump Nightmare Continues

As a former reality-TV star, Donald Trump knows the importance of having a good set. So, for his proto-Presidential news conference after the polls closed on Super Tuesday, he chose a large, ornate room within the confines of his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort, in Palm Beach, where the membership fee is reportedly a hundred thousand dollars a year. On seeing the room, with its gilded panels, carved chairs, and huge chandeliers, Fox News’s Carl Cameron described it as “somewhere between the East Room of the White House and the Palace of Versailles.”

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Published on March 02, 2016 00:11

Donald Trump Is Transforming the G.O.P. Into a Populist, Nativist Party

Ever since last Thursday night’s televised G.O.P. debate, the Republican primary race has turned into a demolition derby. Marco Rubio, who for a long time portrayed himself as the young, positive, Kennedyesque candidate in the race, is now calling Donald Trump a “con artist” and throwing every other insult at the front-runner that he can, including, over the weekend, a thinly veiled penis-size joke. Trump, for his part, has been berating “Little Marco” at every opportunity, labelling him a “choke artist” who is too unmanly to be President. Meanwhile, Ted Cruz is attacking both Trump and Rubio.

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Published on February 29, 2016 15:30

What Hillary Clinton’s Huge Win in South Carolina Means

When the polls closed in South Carolina on Saturday evening, Bernie Sanders was more than a thousand miles away, flying from Dallas to Minnesota. Before he got on the plane, he called Hillary Clinton and congratulated her on her upcoming victory.

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Published on February 28, 2016 03:54