Governor Pawlenty is right where he should be – both running the state in his final year of office and getting out to the hustings, raising money for Republican candidates ahead of this year’s elections.  more

For all their faults, the Kennedys knew the folkways of Boston – and the Red Sox starting pitchers. They won elections. Coakley lost.  more

Count on McDonnell to win the governor’s race and Cuccinelli to be the next attorney general in Virginia. Republicans really need to step up the effort for Bill Bolling’s reelection campaign for lieutenant governor though in the next few days.  more

Contra Gusher, instead of “golden handcuffs” let’s call it “preventive diplomacy.”  more

At a minimum, Republicans must endorse the concept of universal access to health insurance – health insurance for all who want it. At the same time, we should not have an individual mandate for healthcare with the system as it exists now.  more

Health reform was trumpeted as the chief accomplishment of Romney’s one term as Massachusetts’ governor. Yet his plan’s reliance on an individual mandate raises many questions as well.  more

In Saddam Hussein’s now-released interviews stating that he was more fearful of Iran than the U.S. and thus had to maintain the fiction of a robust non-conventional weapons capability, it seems a remarkably poor strategy.  more

The Jobs section of the Washington Post today, Sunday, July 5, only has a total of three pages of actual listings… And the Washington area has weathered the recession reasonably well.  more

As the Boston Red Sox visit Nationals Park for an interleague series this week, let’s compare the fan experience in both cities:
1. In D.C., Nats Dogs are $4.50 vs. Fenway Franks ($4.75) in Boston. But the Fenway Frank is a vastly superior (and bigger) product – worth your extra quarter and then some.  No   more

This weekend, delegates to the Republican Party of Virginia convention have two important decisions to make: who will be the nominee for Attorney General, and who will serve the remainder of the term as Chairman of the RPV. We’ve had a very healthy AG debate, and I’d be comfortable with any of the candidates.
For Chairman, however, the   more

One of the famous slogans of the Sixties (originally taken from a Berthold Brecht poem) was, “What if they gave a war and nobody came?” Well, what if a nation conducts a nuclear test and no one really notices?
With South Korea distracted by the suicide of former President Roh and the US distracted by everything, if   more

And the Federal Trade Commission listens!
Any suggestions from our commenters as to what small annoyances of modern American life Republicans can try to solve? To perhaps let people know that we’re on their side?  more

You know those annoying calls claiming that your car warranty is about to expire (even if you don’t have a car or just bought a new one)? Which you can get (as I do, often) even if your home or cell phone number is on the National Do Not Call Registry?
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) knows all   more

During last year’s campaign, my favorite pessimistic Republican, Bucky Katt of Get Fuzzy told his owner Rob (a Democrat) that “your guy [Obama] puts the demo in Democrat.” We saw that in Trinidad last weekend at the Summit of the Americas, where the President missed a huge opportunity to show global leadership on trade.   
The final communiqué   more

One interesting aspect of learning French is the set of faux amis (“false friends”), words that either look like their English equivalents but have sharply different meanings or words for which the direct English translation doesn’t capture the sense of the French.  For instance, the verb gagner normally means “to win,” for instance a prize   more

Huffington Post has a headline: “Obama on Pirates: Declines to Answer Question.” According to the story,
The president was asked about the incident as he met with U.S. homeowners about refinancing mortgages. At the close of a Roosevelt Room event, the president was asked by a reporter if he were concerned about the piracy incident.
Obama responded: “Guys, we’re talking   more

Tomorrow’s the day for the Virginia State Central Committee meeting which will decide whether Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Jeff Frederick will stay in office.  58 of the 77 central committee members support a change in leadership, joined by all five U.S. House members from Virginia, our candidate for Governor Bob McDonnell, and Republican leaders in the   more

I’ve read a lot of libertarian drivel over the years (legalize all drugs, withdraw from NATO), but this piece from the Ludwig von Mises Institute (discussed in a Washington Times column on March 30) really takes the cake. 
Jeffrey Tucker of the Institute suggests that we really shouldn’t worry too much about the collapse of the   more

Korea may have lost the finals of the World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium on Monday night, but according to the Wall Street Journal, South Korea is about to get a big win for its economy with the forthcoming and possibly imminent conclusion of a European Union-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA). And we’re the   more

RPV Chairman Jeff Frederick has now sent his responses to the charges (reported here at FrumForum.com) placed against him by the State Central Committee, to his email list from votejeff.com (which he used last year). It’s not on the RPV site, unless someone has posted it separately to the RPVNetwork.
I’m posting this in the interests of   more