Mitt Romney has been quick to point out that he is not just another political lifer who knows nothing about life outside the Beltway. He’s not somebody who has spent his life far away from the realities of balance sheets and real-life decision-making. Instead, he actually has spent the bulk of his working life in the private sector—and that, he says, makes him a better choice for president than the incumbent.
Fair enough, although it’s hardly an original pitch. Read More
The Republican Party has been on the winning side of the past five mayoral races, which means that a generation of New Yorkers has come of age without realizing that there was a time not so long ago when Republicans routinely nominated sacrificial lambs for the city’s highest elective office.
As the mayoral campaign of 2013 approaches, there are signs that the Republican Party has no desire to return to the old days, when it was a nonplayer in municipal affairs. That no doubt explains the recent chatter concerning the party’s admiration of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
News reports indicate that the GOP would be more than happy to have Mr. Kelly’s name on the top of its ticket next year. And why not? Read More
The Republican Party’s presidential candidates may not agree on everything, but they seem unanimous about one thing: if they were prime minister of Israel, they would not have swapped more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for the return of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who had been held captive by Hamas for five years before his return last week.
That’s curious, to say the least. Read More
Admit it: when you heard that George Pataki was preparing a presidential campaign, you thought you heard wrong. Then you laughed. And then you laughed a little louder.
It’s O.K. You’re not alone. Plenty of New Yorkers very likely had the same reaction, just as they did four years ago when Mr. Pataki spent a few ill-advised months chasing votes in Iowa and New Hampshire before quietly giving up.
This time around, however, it might be wise to get past the laughter and sense of incredulity. Read More
Ed Lurie was sipping wine at the end of a long bar off of Union Square on a recent Monday evening and contemplating the future of the Republican Party. “I guess if you have a father-in-law who was president of the United States,” he said, “yeah, you could say you were involved in the state Read More
When the Bush administration brokered JPMorgan’s March takeover of Bear Stearns, it stirred many questions, not least: Should the government be in the business of bailing out big business, especially when it involves billions in public money?
Apparently, the Republican Party doesn’t think so. Here’s an excerpt from the section about housing in the Read More
