With all the usual caveats about reading too much into a single poll, let’s read too much into this new poll from Qunnipiac University: President Barack Obama is the worst president since World War II, 33 percent of American voters say in a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today. Another 28 percent pick President George […] Continue reading → 
The moon in 2020 will be just as round as it is today, but if the geeks at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have their way, it won’t orbit the Earth solo. The U.S. space agency is hoping to divert a small asteroid from elsewhere in the galactic neighborhood and robotically place it into […] Continue reading → 
Pentagon: “…additional flexibility should military options be required..” U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered an aircraft carrier moved into the Gulf on Saturday, readying it in case Washington decides to pursue a military option after insurgents overwhelmed a string of Iraqi cities this week and threatened Baghdad. “The order will provide the Commander-in-Chief additional flexibility […] Continue reading → 
President Obama evidently was caught by surprise by the scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs. So, apparently, was VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who evidently took at face value the corrupt VA statistics — and who, after a distinguished military career, resigned last week. One who was probably not taken by surprise is longtime Yale […] Continue reading → 
Erick Erickson Public Opinion Strategies, a Washington political shop, produced a chart last week that got much of the political press buzzing. The chart compared polling questions during incumbent friendly elections and, as they put it, “shellackings.” Their data suggests 2014 will be a shellacking for the Democrats. But, contrary to what many say, it […] Continue reading → 
Michael Barone, Second-term presidencies are an opportunity for bipartisan compromise. The institutional stars are in alignment to address long-range problems not amenable in other circumstances. The president is barred from running for a third term and thus does not have to worry about his next campaign. In Congress, members of the president’s party, with some […] Continue reading → 
Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush showed courage in breaking his “read my lips: no new taxes” campaign pledge to broker a 1990 budget compromise that may have cost him re-election two years later, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said on Sunday. The organization honored the 41st U.S. president with its 2014 Profile in […] Continue reading → 
In the race to attract cybersecurity experts to protect the government’s computer networks, the Department of Homeland Security has a handicap money can’t fix. Navigating the federal hiring system takes many months, which is too long in the fast-paced tech world. “Even when somebody is patriotic and wants to do their duty for the nation, […] Continue reading → 
Albert R. Hunt If you want to wager on who the 2016 Republican nominee will be and have only one choice, the best bet may be former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. However, the odds overwhelmingly suggest the former governor won’t win the nomination — assuming he even runs. This underscores, more than any other time […] Continue reading → 
Debra J. Saunders, Barbara Bush was right when she pooh-poohed son Jeb’s interest in running for the White House in 2016. Forget political dynasties — Bushes, Kennedys and, yes, Clintons — the former first lady told NBC last year. “We’ve had enough Bushes.” She also said: “There are a lot of great families, and it’s […] Continue reading → 
Analysis: North Korea acts up again; how should West react? Another week, another North Korean provocation. It might seem an understandable reaction to news Monday that North and South Korea had exchanged hundreds of shells across their western sea border. The incident occurred a day after Pyongyang had warned it was preparing to test another […] Continue reading → 
Albert R. Hunt Michael McFaul, who recently stepped down as U.S. ambassador to Russia, says President Vladimir Putin is riding “an ugly nationalistic fervor that’s off the charts,” and is likely to escalate tensions with the U.S. and Europe over Ukraine. McFaul, who left his post as ambassador last month to teach at Stanford University, […] Continue reading → 
Jeb may be up for it By all appearances, former Florida governor Jeb Bush is a man on a mission. His itinerary for the next several weeks includes stops in Tennessee, New Mexico and Nevada to appear with Republican candidates in this fall’s elections or help them raise money for their campaigns. And then he […] Continue reading → 
“Jeb Bush shows strength across many of the poll’s crosstabs and was the choice of 22 percent of the respondents compared to his 16 percent in our November poll,” said Doug Kaplan, the president of Gravis Marketing, the Florida-based polling company. Bush polled lead among Catholics with 18 percent to former Arkansas governor Michael D. […] Continue reading →