Unlike Some, Newt Knew When To Quit

Original publication date: November 10th, 1998 Until last Friday, when House Speaker Newt Gingrich resigned, one could rightfully ask, “Whatever became of the fine art of resignation?” Until Friday, the leader of the Republican majority in Congress and the second most powerful political leader in the land, was clinging to his office in the face…

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‘Big Sky’ primary would shift power

If the 10 states of the Intermountain West (including the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest states) can agree on a common date for a year 2000 Western regional presidential primary — what my colleague Rick O’Donnell and I call the “Big Sky” primary — then a new and more influential role for the New West…

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The West wields expanding power

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rapid population growth in the West and unprecedented gains by the Republican Party in the region are dramatically changing America’s political landscape and will greatly expand the influence of the Western region on national politics. This is one of the punchlines of “Western Political Outlook,” a new report released today at the…

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Presidents Day a poor substitute

In the old days, Americans celebrated the birthday of the man who is regarded as the “Father of his Country,” owing to his service to our nation – as commanding general during the Revolutionary War and as our founding president. His name was George Washington and we celebrated his birthday on Feb. 22. For more…

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Despite spin, truth matters

Despite the White House sex scandal, President Clinton’s poll numbers are soaring. One new poll shows a record-high 72 percent of the American people approving the way he is “handling his job as president.” At the same time more than half think the president had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Have the…

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Gen. Powell’s crafty strategy

I had this conversation with myself driving home the other day — about Gen. Colin Powell. It went something like this: Left Brain: Why would Colin Powell get involved in this Haiti misadventure? Pulling President Clinton’s chestnuts out of the fire? That doesn’t make sense. And praising Bill Clinton’s leadership? James Carville already has that…

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New Majority Shows Its Might

The culture of Washington is dominated by questions of “who’s up, who’s down; who’s in, who’s out,” to which most normal Americans say, “Who cares?” We saw it during the election: Media reports were dominated by misleading polls (what happened to Clinton’s 15-point margin?), mindless reports on misleading polls and vacuous assessments of the “who’s…

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Polls’ accuracy turns on turnout

Public opinion polls have dominated the 1996 election cycle. One reason: There are simply more polls. Example: According to the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, there were 10 presidential “trial heats” between September 1 and election day in 1968. This year that number will exceed 125. Even worse, the horse race aspect of the…

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Hope, fear fuel Clinton campaign

With less than 50 days to go before the presidential election on November 5, the Dole campaign is in trouble. National polls continue to show President Clinton with a commanding lead — most around 15%. The outlook in the state-by-state electoral vote — the one that really counts, where it takes 270 out of 538…

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Dole makes all the right moves

All of a sudden, this autumn’s presidential contest is looking more competitive. One reason is the reality of the broad foundation of core votes for any truly conservative candidate. Another is that voters are beginning to pay attention — and will really tune in after Labor Day. And, finally, Republican hopeful Bob Dole has made…

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Tried-and-true campaign themes

Former Colorado governor Dick Lamm’s race for the Reform Party’s presidential nomination adds a new thematic dimension to the 1996 presidential campaign. And, make no mistake about it, thematic coherence is important. Reason: Leaders communicate best by telling stories and by linking their messages to one or more of four dominant themes in American culture…

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Twixt mandarins and mainstream

Many Americans feel their government, the media and other major institutions of American society have been hijacked by aliens — by people who not only do not share their values but who are downright hostile to widely accepted ways of thinking about many of the critical issues of the day. Political, social and economic elites…

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Alexander has vision for us all

Republican presidential aspirant Lamar Alexander was in Denver this week, another in a string of visits to important post-New Hampshire Republican primary states. With the campaign of Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole collapsing in New Hampshire, Iowa and Arizona, where rookie Steve Forbes is already in first place or challenging Dole in most of the…

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Six key qualities of nation’s best

The American people will choose a president this year. They may re-elect William Jefferson Clinton or select a new president. Whatever happens between now and Election Day on Nov. 5, we are going to have many opportunities to think about what we want a president to be — and what we want him to do.…

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No revolution won without pain

Is Speaker Gingrich being unreasonable in the budget debate? Should the Republicans be more compromising? The answer, in my view, is a resounding “No!” It is important for the Republicans to stand firm because the current debate is about new choices, not variations on the theme of more government, more taxes and more spending. The…

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Principle-driven change a new idea

Reporting and commentary on the budget standoff between the Republican-controlled Congress and President Clinton have been interesting to watch — in the sense that it is interesting to watch a three-year-old try to tie his shoes. Reason: reporting on principle-centered people who are pursuing principle-centered objectives — such as the House Republican freshmen, who ran…

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States hoping to restore order

The concept of federalism is one of the major and original contributions of Americans — both to political theory and to the practice of government. But federalism is not working in America. State and local governments are increasingly viewed as administrative agents of an overreaching federal government. As Nebraska Gov. Ben Nelson said this week,…

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Women break ground in the West

For the past month the nation has been commemorating the 75th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, passed in 1920, granting women the right to vote. Since that time, the status and impact of women have soared in business, politics, community life and the professions. Men and women sympathetic to women’s suffrage began agitating to end…

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Candidates likely to broker a deal

Seven presidential hopefuls lined up in Denver on Saturday night to win the hearts and minds of Colorado’s GOP activists. Here we are, eight months before the first primary in New Hampshire (or Louisiana or Delaware, depending on how things work out) and nearly all the GOP candidates have fully developed messages and several (Bob…

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Another sign of party’s decline

U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s defection is more than just another seat on the Republican side of the aisle. It is another indicator of the increasing isolation and possible decomposition of the Democratic Party itself. Campbell, the only Native American in Congress, crossed from the Democratic to the Republican side of the aisle the day…

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Political clout shifts westward

For a long time — since World War II — the West and South have been America’s most rapidly growing regions. During the 1980s, more than 75% of the nation’s population growth occurred in just five states — two in the West (California and Texas) and three in the South (Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.)…

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Gingrish shakes, rattles and rolls

Media mavens and Washington-based mandarins have taken to describing Speaker of the House-elect Newt Gingrich as “reckless” and “out-of-control.” They would have us believe that — after the flush of victory wears thin — the new Republican leader will settle down, play by the rules of Washington, and things will get back to normal. In…

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Election verdict: Less is better

The tsunami we predicted in this column on Oct. 12 — Republican control of Congress for the first time in 40 years — happened on Nov. 8. However, the majority that carried the election is not, in my judgment, a New Republican Majority — as many Republicans are saving. Rather, it’s a New American Majority…

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These are days of discontent

As the 1994 election approaches, competitive races Hare beginning to tighten. That usually happens just before Election Day. Reason: Undecided voters make up their minds and potential turncoats who may have flirted with the “other” candidate come back to the party fold. But as partisan preferences shift back and forth, there is an underlying reality…

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Tsunami could sweep GOP in

Clinton “undertow.” That’s the label used by most Washington, D.C.-based political analysts to explain expected Democratic losses in the Congressional elections next month. However, losses anticipated by this “undertow” scenario are very modest. ABC’s veteran political editor, Hal Bruno, said last week that Republicans will probably “pick up 15 seats in the Senate.” Last Friday,…

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States’ rights debate rages on

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Consider this: “Our fathers knew, when they made the government, that the laws and institutions which were well adapted to the green mountains of Vermont, were unsuited to the rice plantations of South Carolina. They knew then, (and) we know now, that the laws and…

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40 years of lies turn people off

Polls tell us that Americans increasingly distrust government. In 1964, more than three out of four Americans (76%) answered “Always or most of the time” to the question: “How much of the time can you trust government to do what is right?” Today, according to aTime/CNN poll, only one in five (19%) gives the trustful…

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Crime bill feeds public cynicism

Why are Americans so cynical about Congress? Just examine the so called crime bill, passed by the House of Representatives this weekend when 46 Republicans joined House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., to resurrect the measure, which had failed to pass a critical vote in the House 10 days earlier. The lessons are many. Politics,…

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Don’t blame us for Clinton woes

As President Clinton continues to sink in the polls, pro-Clinton and pro-activist government pundits are beginning to blame the American people for Clinton’s political problems. Example: Respected Washington columnist William Raspberry recently opined that Americans are too obsessed with fitness for office and too little concerned about performance in office. Europeans, he said, don’t get…

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Public no longer tunes in Clinton

While the president’s people complain that his accomplishments are not appreciated by the American people, there may be something larger that explains Clinton’s problems with Congress and the American people, where his approval rating, now around 40%, continues to sink Clinton’s problem: tune-out. Consider George Romney, a respected auto industry magnate, a successful Republican governor…

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