http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/ en Copyright 2008 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:33:57 -0400 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.36 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss A quick scan of the Sunday papers underscores that the central question in the Democratic presidential race remains: "When will it end?" To that end, there are two pieces you should make sure to read before the start of the political week tomorrow. The first comes from the Post's own Perry Bacon and Anne Kornblut, who scored an exclusive interview with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) in which she pledged to stay in the race to the Democratic National Convention in August -- assuming the issue of counting the votes of Florida and Michigan remains unresolved. "I know there are some people who want to shut this down and I think they are wrong," Clinton told the two reporters. "I have no intention of stopping until we finish what we started and until we see what happens in the next 10 contests and until we resolve Florida and Michigan. And http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/sunday_reading_when_will_it_en.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/sunday_reading_when_will_it_en.html Fix Picks Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:33:57 -0400 About six weeks ago, Gene Weingarten asked to sit down with The Fix for a chat. Having long admired Gene's writing for The Washington Post Magazine (and his infamous live online discussion), I readily agreed. Weingarten, it turned out, was planning a 24-hour marathon of political piggery. That is, he was going to entomb himself in a room at washingtonpost.com for an entire day and night, surrounded only by televisions, radio and the Internet. The result of his long day is the cover story in this past weekend's issue of the magazine. (You can also watch Gene's suffering here.) While Gene's goal in the piece was primarily to poke fun at the "pundustry" (a wonderful word that he invented), there is much wisdom about the state of news and politics in his story. Take, for example, Gene's analysis of the way in which the news business has been transformed by http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/fix_pick_gene_weingarten_and_t.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/fix_pick_gene_weingarten_and_t.html Fix Picks Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:00:21 -0400 Running for president is inherently an act of egotism. It requires a candidate to believe wholeheartedly that he or she alone is best equipped to run the country. Under the best circumstances, the self confidence required to run for president is balanced by the humility engendered by knowing the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans rest on your ability to do the job well. The best politicians are those who rarely, if ever, let voters see the self-confidence that underpins their ability to do the job. The less skilled, however, are unable to hide a confidence that often borders on arrogance -- a trait that stokes resentment rather than respect from voters. Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) is one of the most naturally gifted politicians on the national scene at the moment and may well be the most skilled orator since former president Bill Clinton. But according to the Associated http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/fix_pick_the_arrogance_equatio.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/fix_pick_the_arrogance_equatio.html Fix Picks Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:00:33 -0400 There is no more fascinating story for the truest of political junkies than the inner workings of a presidential campaign. Vast operations with budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars are built on the fly, Senior level staffers and consultants -- many of whom have long histories with one another -- are hired. And everyone is asked to play nice for the good of the candidate. Thankfully (for The Fix at least) they rarely do. And, in two new pieces -- one in the New York Times and one in the Los Angeles Times -- the fissures within the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) are exposed. The first piece, penned by Times lead political reporter (and Fix friend) Adam Nagourney, profiles Clinton senior adviser Harold Ickes who has taken a far more prominent role in the campaign to date. "Mr. Ickes's battles have often been as much http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/fix_picks_inside_the_clinton_c.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/fix_picks_inside_the_clinton_c.html Fix Picks Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:35:00 -0400 This week's Potomac Primary brought to the fore one of the most contentious questions in the world of political journalism: Should reporters vote? Almost every political reporter for the major newspapers, magazines and cable television outlets calls Virginia, Maryland or D.C. home (The Fix is a Virginian through and through), meaning that each one of us was faced with a choice when we got up Tuesday morning -- to vote or not to vote? The Politico's top brass -- former Post reporters/editors John Harris, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen -- penned a piece on Tuesday aimed at explaining the motivations behind why they do (Harris), don't (Allen) and sometimes do/sometimes don't (VandeHei). Here's a quick summary of their reasoning, although you should read the whole piece: Allen: "I'm part of a minority school of thought among journalists that we owe it to the people we cover, and to our readers, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/02/fix_picks_reporters_voting.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/02/fix_picks_reporters_voting.html Fix Picks Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:30:43 -0400 Regular Fix readers know we have long believed (and written) that the best -- and perhaps only -- way for Barack Obama to defeat Hillary Rodham Clinton is to turn his campaign from a traditional test between two candidates and into a movement in which a vote for the Illinois senator is a vote for something bigger. Following Obama's Iowa caucus victory, we thought that movement had begun. We even wrote a post from a packed New Hampshire event entitled: "The Movement Has Begun." Three days after we penned that post, Clinton defeated Obama in New Hampshire -- proving us and the rest of the political cognoscenti wrong. Since then we've been re-examining our "Obama as Movement" frame and trying to figure out whether it is still operative or not. So, you can imagine our interest when we came across a piece written by Matt Bai of the New York http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/01/fix_pick_obama_too_much_moveme.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/01/fix_pick_obama_too_much_moveme.html Fix Picks Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:42:41 -0400 Regular readers know that Stu Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, an invaluable political tipsheet, is a close friend and mentor to The Fix. So when Stu speaks, we listen. On Friday, Stu penned an online column taking issue with the media's coverage of Sen. John Kerry's (Mass.) recent endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama. Among those Stu singled out for overstating the impact of the Kerry endorsement was, you guessed it, The Fix. "Even my good friend Chris Cillizza of washingtonpost.com seemed to accept that the Kerry endorsement was a significant plus for Obama," Stu wrote. "He, like many others, cited Kerry's '3 million-plus person e-mail list from his run for president,' which he said 'should be a financial windfall for Obama's campaign.'" The main point of Stu's column is that there is almost zero precedent for an endorsement drastically shifting votes in a presidential race. "Even if some http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/01/fix_pick_stu_rothenberg_takes.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/01/fix_pick_stu_rothenberg_takes.html Fix Picks Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:58:48 -0400 DES MOINES, Iowa -- Seated in the airport today at 5:45 a.m. local time -- waiting to head back to Washington after a whirlwind tour of the state the last few days -- the Fix got caught up on some neglected reading. The most intriguing piece we came across amid that mass of reading was penned on New Years Day by the New York Times' lead political reporter -- Adam Nagourney -- and ruminates on the idea of an Iowa caucus tomorrow whose results raise more questions than they answer. (The Fix is a sucker for "what if" scenario stories.) "What if at the end of Thursday, the three leading Democrats -- former Senator John Edwards and Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama -- are separated by a percentage point or two, leaving no one with the clear right of delivering a victory speech (or the burden of conceding)?" http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/01/fix_picks_what_if_iowa_changes.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/01/fix_picks_what_if_iowa_changes.html Fix Picks Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:48:00 -0400 After a HUGE response to a post earlier this month on the best state politics reporters around the country, we decided to provide a final list of all the people nominated by The Fix community. Thirty-three states are covered. If yours isn't, stand up and be counted in the comments section below. A word to the wise: Save this post for future reference. We sure will. * Arkansas: John Brummett * California: Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub, Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton, San Francisco Chronicle reporters Phil Matier and Andrew Ross, and Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters *Delaware: Delaware Grapevine editor Celia Cohen * Florida: St. Petersburg Times columnist/politics editor Adam Smith * Georgia: Bill Shipp, Southern Political Report Editor Tom Baxter, InsiderAdvanatge Georgia editor Dick Pettys. * Idaho: Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey * Illinois: Capitol Fax Blog author Rich Miller * Indiana: Howey Political Report editor Brian http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/12/clip_n_save_the_best_state_pol.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/12/clip_n_save_the_best_state_pol.html Fix Picks Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:54:05 -0400 Anyone who follows politics (and political journalism) at all closely knows the name David Yepsen. Yepsen is the longtime political reporter and now columnist for the Des Moines Register -- Iowa's largest and most influential newspaper. Meeting with Yepsen has become de rigeur for aspiring candidates. Campaigns regularly hang on every word of his columns -- a kind word from Yepsen brings glee, a scolding from the scribe angst. The Post's Shailagh Murray -- a Fix favorite in her own right -- profiled Yepsen earlier this week. "Burly and vaguely academic-looking, with a shock of wavy graying hair, Yepsen is the journalistic embodiment of the Iowa caucuses," writes Murray. Murray also has some delicious details about Yepsen's life that even The Fix -- a dedicated Yepsenologist -- didn't know. Among them: * Yepsen wears a brass belt that reads "Newsman." AWESOME. * He drives a white Subaru and likes to http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/12/fix_pick_the_most_important_ma.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/12/fix_pick_the_most_important_ma.html Fix Picks Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:33:40 -0400 http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/12/fix_picks_reading_up_on_romney.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/12/fix_picks_reading_up_on_romney.html Fix Picks Wed, 05 Dec 2007 17:28:00 -0400 Trying to understand what benefit former president Bill Clinton brings to his wife's campaign for president is a delicate business. Hillary Clinton's campaign never addresses the matter publicly and looks askance at stories that seek to understand the relationship between the couple. The Clintons remain a fascinating study in love and politics. (AP file photo) But divining what role Bill Clinton plays in his wife's campaign and what effect his larger-then-life persona have on her chances at winning the nomination is essential to understanding not just her chances, but the shape of the overall campaign. No one in political journalism is better equipped to get inside the nature of the Clintons' personal and professional relationship than Ron Fournier of the Associated Press. Fournier got his start in political journalism in Arkansas in the mid 1980s working for the Hot Springs Sentinel Record and the Arkansas Democrat in Little Rock where http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/11/fix_pick_good_bill_vs_bad_bill_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/11/fix_pick_good_bill_vs_bad_bill_1.html Fix Picks Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:50:33 -0400 The Fix is jetting off to warmer climes on the left coast for the Thanksgiving holiday, which means we'll be posting less often between now and Monday. BUT -- before the Christmas shopping season begins in earnest on Friday morning -- we wanted to flag the one book that EVERY political junkie should want under the tree this year. The Almanac of American Politics is -- simply put -- the book The Fix would bring with him if he was stranded on a desert island. Not only does it have detailed information about each member of Congress and his or her district, it's filled with the sort of quirky facts and minutiae that make politics so great. (In the interest of full disclosure, The Fix worked as a researcher for the Almanac in his early days in journalism but has absolutely no ties to the current edition.) Reading the new http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/11/fix_pick_2008_almanac_of_ameri_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/11/fix_pick_2008_almanac_of_ameri_1.html Fix Picks Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:34:17 -0400 Regular readers of The Fix are familiar with our contention that Matt Drudge and his linkfest known as the Drudge Report are influential -- and growing more so -- in the world of presidential politics. So, we were very interested in a recent profile of Drudge that appeared in New York magazine, which is an attempt to understand not just the power of the Drudge Report but the man behind the throne. Although the story is long (10 pages on The Fix printer), make sure to read the whole thing as it effectively explains the new media world and how Drudge stands astride it. It also provides some fascinating insights into the personality of the notoriously press-shy Drudge thank to author Philip Weiss's analysis of Drudge's radio show. (That show is set to go off the air on Sept. 30 although there is no stated connection between that development and http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/09/fix_picks_understanding_matt_d.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/09/fix_picks_understanding_matt_d.html Fix Picks Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:39:33 -0400 When considering former Gov. Mitt Romney's (R-Mass.) chances at winning both the Republican nomination and the general election, we must view his Mormon faith as a factor. Reasonable people can disagree about how large a factor it will be but almost no one believes it will have no impact. Time and time again unaffiliated Republican strategists have told The FIx that if Romney wasn't a Mormon he would be the frontrunner for the GOP nod. As it is, he is one of three candidates in the so-called "top tier" -- former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) are the others -- but still faces real questions about his faith and how it fits into his governing philosophy. Now comes an Associated Press story out of Iowa late last week in which Romney acknowledges he is likely to give a major speech addressing his Mormon http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/07/fix_picks_romney_jfk.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/07/fix_picks_romney_jfk.html Fix Picks Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:16:52 -0400