Matthew Parks

In 2010, Republicans won a historic victory in the midterm elections, gaining sixty-three seats in the House and six in the Senate. They netted six governorships and twenty state legislative bodies. Although local factors always matter, this was an unusually nationalized campaign, driven by widespread concern over President Obama’s trillion-dollar deficits, health care mandates, and bank takeovers… . Continue Reading »

If NPR station manager Caryn Mathes had her way, the upcoming mid-term election would be meaningless. And if President Obama’s pre-election analysis of his party’s troubles is correct, it should be.  For America’s governing class, the scariest day of the year isn’t Halloween, but . . . . Continue Reading »

While a growing plurality of the American public rejects the specific initiatives of the Obama Administration (health care reform, the stimulus bill, “too big to fail”), the President and Democratic Congress have earned their high disapproval ratings largely by ignoring the fact that a . . . . Continue Reading »

Nowhere in the Constitution is the job of the president defined as “growing” the economy, getting re-elected, implementing a party platform, maintaining his approval rating, doing “big things,” impressing foreign dignitaries, or fulfilling the people’s wishes, whatever the intrinsic . . . . Continue Reading »