Sometimes when I am disappointed by my lack of eloquence or intelligence, I think about how RFK was originally a shaky speaker or how Barack Obama was once shy and I start feel better. Not that I want to run for president, it is just good to remember that my idols are humans too and that they also had to work at building their arguments and ( Read more... )

And here's why: It is actually counterproductive for insurers to compete on giving us the best care. It's not simply that they're not doing it, but given the structure of the marketplace, they shouldn't do it. Imagine insurer X creates the best damn diabetes protocols in the country. And they begin advertising this fact. What happens on Day Two? ( Read more... )

This is an interesting post. Two reasons ( Read more... )

One thing that attracted me to Obama is his unwillingness to attack, he'll make contrasts with his opponents but he won't accuse them of eating little babies. This made sense to me, if you just discuss differences in positions, then your opponent looks bad when they start the attack ads. However this article suggests that said strategy might not ( Read more... )

I just learned that Reed is bringing in Harold Ford Jr, head of the DLC, to speak during Black History Month. I am tempted to ask why he thinks it is helpful to say that Harry Reid is stabbing the troops in the back when he says we are not winning in Iraq. He is pro-life, voted for the Iraq war, the bankruptcy bill, the constitutional amendment ( Read more... )

A post from tpm about Gordon Smith's recent remarks on the Lott resignation. Back in the day he supported Lott's resignation after Lott stated that he thought Thurmond's presidential run would have been great for America. Now he calls it a "great wrong" that has been righted since Lott regained a leadership position. Just more proof that he is a ( Read more... )

This Saturday the infamous Jon Tester (D-MT with two fingers on his right hand) will be holding a fundraiser for my man Jeff Merkley. I just got an email saying tickets are 15$ for students, if I were still here I'd go cause that is mighty cheap for a newly minted US Senator ( Read more... )

I was cleaning out my office today and it was sad. As excited as I am to go out and getting involved in politics, the idea of leaving the bubble is scary; building a new relationships is difficult, particularly if your going to be working on a campaign.

Most of you know that I love the American Prospect: in fact I just renewed my subscription for a two year period. So I'll give you a fucking important link to their group blogSo the National Intellegance Estimate states that Iran discontinued its nuclear program in 2003 and probably hasn't restarted it. Best part, the AP article about said ( Read more... )

I've spent the last two hours in bed reading political blogs. No one should be surprised, yet it has been a fascinating two hours. I've ordered even more books for my vacation, so I'll have six non-thesis books with me over vacation (3 health care, 3 miscellaneous current event books). I thought I'd share two of the highlights of my blog surfing ( Read more... )