ArcaMax

You can bet the farm on this one: In every future campaign, for any office, political strategists will prep candidates for campaign debates by having them watch one video and one video only: Kamala Harris’ performance against Donald Trump.

On Sept. 10, Harris not only destroyed Trump, she gave a master class in political debate. Rule #1: ...Read more

You can bet the farm on this one: In every future campaign, for any office, political strategists will prep candidates for campaign debates by having them watch one video and one video only: Kamala Harris’ performance against Donald Trump.

On Sept. 10, Harris not only destroyed Trump, she gave a master class in political debate. Rule #1: ...Read more

It seems like it’s been dragging on for three years – which it has! – but now, with Labor Day behind us, the 2024 presidential campaign is officially underway. And it’s a totally different campaign than any of us expected, just two months ago.

So much has changed in so short a time. It was only on June 27 that Joe Biden totally blew his...Read more

As proud as I am to be part of the national press corps, at times I’m embarrassed by some of the nutty stuff I see or read in the media by people who should know better.

After the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump, for example, it was widely asserted as an article of faith that the election was, in effect, already over. Nope! Later...Read more

Greetings from Chicago and, as Rep. Jamie Raskin called it, “The Democracy Convention.”

My first convention, as a staffer for then-governor and presidential candidate Jerry Brown, was in 1976. As a delegate, volunteer, or reporter, I’d attended every Democratic convention since, but I decided to skip this one - until Joe Biden stepped ...Read more

It’s always fun to be in San Francisco. It was especially fun last weekend when, during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump stunned California political reporters with his account of a near-death experience in a helicopter with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, where Brown never stopped trashing his former girlfriend, Kamala ...Read more

Pinch me. The political skies have been cloudy for so long, it’s hard to believe we’re now bathed in sunlight. But are we ever! So real and so sudden. As Gilbert and Sullivan once rhapsodized, “Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen.”

Indeed, the world’s turned upside down in just the last two weeks. All for the better. Joe Biden stepped aside...Read more

At least, a few Republicans know better. No sooner had President Biden stepped aside and endorsed Kamala Harris than Speaker Mike Johnson summoned the Republican Caucus to an urgent session. It was important, Johnson urged his members, to avoid commenting on Harris’ race when criticizing her. No more “DEI identity” charges. “This ...Read more

Who says politics isn’t fun? We’ve seldom experienced the thrill of a political roller-coaster like we’ve taken in the last few weeks. For Democrats, especially, it’s been a wild ride.

Democrats went from worry, before the debate; to dismay, after the debate; to despair, after the Trump assassination attempt; to relief, after President ...Read more

President Biden said something hugely significant this week. Speaking at an NAACP event, Biden slammed Donald Trump for claiming that immigrants were “taking Black jobs.” “I know what a Black job is,” Biden told the crowd. “It’s the vice president of the United States.”

But he didn’t stop there. “Folks, because of you, I am ...Read more

There was a time, not so long ago, when Congress was full of heroes. John F. Kennedy even wrote a book about a few of them, which he unapologetically called “Profiles in Courage.”

But that was then, and this is now. Even Diogenes with his proverbial lamp would have a hard time finding profiles of courage in today’s Congress. It’s filled...Read more

This is how bad ideas, fueled by politicians desperate to curry favor with Donald Trump, can turn draconian.

Behold “Project 2025.”

Immigration attorneys have long been sounding the alarm about a 900-page policy draft written by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Our nation’s system of laws and policies governing ...Read more

This is the column I never wanted to write.

Let me start by admitting that I was one of those who complained most loudly when CNN scheduled this year’s first presidential debate at the end of June. It didn’t make any sense to put Donald Trump and Joe Biden on stage that early in the season, I insisted. By June 27, neither would have been ...Read more

It’s a good rule to think twice before using the word “never,” because you never know when an exception you hadn’t thought about will pop up. But I still think it’s safe to say that never – never, never, never!– have we seen a presidential election with such a stark difference between the two candidates. It’s like they don’t ...Read more