It’s entirely reasonable to say the war in Iraq was a disaster. Maybe you disagree, or maybe you think that’s too harsh, but it’s an arguable proposition. To Jeb Bush, though, it’s an attack on his family, and therefore out of bounds. When Donald Trump attacked the war as a “big fat mistake” during the […]

What we saw in New Hampshire was a political earthquake. The headlines were dramatic – fittingly so: “Sanders, Trump Stun America,” CNN declared on its website. The American Prospect summed it up with a tidy statement: “The Establishment Sinks.” The establishment didn’t just sink in New Hampshire – the earth swallowed it whole. Whether this […]

In a North Country snowstorm, when the winds howl down from the notches, the people of New Hampshire know how to communicate. They don’t whisper. They shout. And the shout that roared down from the hills to the cities, the seacoast and the anxious nation beyond the state’s natural boundaries had an unmistakable message: Outsiders […]

Last week, Gov. Paul LePage broke with decades of tradition to deliver his “State of the State” remarks in writing, rather than in a speech to the people’s elected representatives in the State House. Frankly, I was happy to do without the pomp and circumstance. Unfortunately, the governor’s letter amounted to an eight-page, insulting, not […]

Sometimes I think I learned more politically relevant lessons playing ball than anywhere else. If nothing else, sports teach realism: what you can do, what you can’t, how to deal with it. Also, what’s the score, how much time’s left, and what’s the best tactic right now? It helps to know the rules, and it’s […]