Andrew Romano

Seven arguments Republicans should not be making against using reconciliation for health-care reform, and the one that they should.

In the world of political geekery, there are few activities as exhilarating as examining election returns and explaining why what happened happened—especially for journalists like me.

Is Obama too reasonable for his own good?

 The one small firework at today's otherwise unilluminating health-care summit was set off when Barack Obama interrupted his former presidential rival, John McCain, and told him to ditch the talking points about "unsavory" Democratic shenanigans. "John, we're not campaigning anymore," he said. "The election is over."For those of us who enjoy political theater—and I'm assuming that includes everyone who's watching the live stream and reading the Gaggle at 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon—this...

Earlier this afternoon, my Gaggle colleague Katie Connolly noted, quite correctly, that ""has never been used for this kind of major systemic reform." But to get a sense of exactly how much McConnell is overreacting, it's important to consider two other facts as well.

Yesterday, I wrote in this space about the GOP's "Ron Paul Problem," by which I meant the risk for potential presidential candidates like Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty of squandering whatever swing appeal they might have in 2012 by pandering to the fringe in 2010.

Update: for my follow-up post on "The Ron Paul Opportunity," click here. The conservatives who flocked to CPAC last weekend might not have seen eye to eye on everything, but one thing they did seem to agree on was that the conference's famous "straw poll" didn't really mean all that much─especially after organizers revealed that the winner, with 31 percent of the vote, was none other than 2008 presidential candidate and long time libertarian congressman Ron Paul of Texas.

  Absurdly premature presidential-election coverage comes in all shapes and sizes, but perhaps my favorite kind of story is the one that relies on current statistical rumblings to divine the contours of a race that hasn't even started yet.

Happy birthday, Stimulus! As you've surely heard—assuming, of course, that you're the sort of maniac who refreshes Politico 80 times a day and/or chooses to live in Washington, D.C.—it was exactly one year ago today that President Barack Obama and his merry band of Congressional Democrats (plus Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe) passed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009--a.k.a.

Can J. D. Hayworth─the former Arizona congressman turned talk-radio host who announced yesterday that he's running as the "consistent conservative" in the Grand Canyon State's 2010 Republican Senate primary─actually beat John McCain?

A bumper crop of CEO politicians are campaigning to run the country like a bottom-line business.

If "the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability tofunction," as F.

Everyone complains when presidents 'break promises.' But is that fair?

 Of all the ridiculous things that have been said about incoming Sen. Scott Brown (R) in the wake of his surprising win in true-blue Massachusetts last Tuesday—like that Brown somehow represents a nationwide repudiation of universal health care even though he voted for it and was elected by people who already enjoy it—perhaps the most ridiculous is the suggestion that he should immediately pass go, collect $200 million, and start running against Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential...

  Nine days ago, on Jan. 10, The Boston Globe carried a rather heartening headline for Democrats: "Senate Poll: Coakley Up 15 Points." Now, on the morning of the Massachusetts special election pitting "If Brown wins, and he may, it will be the biggest political upset of my adult life." So how did this happen? Despite all the Democratic hand-wringing, garment-rending, and finger-pointing already on display in the press, the answer, I think, is actually pretty simple: the Coakley campaign took...

Who will win the special election on Tuesday to fill Teddy Kennedy's old Massachusetts Senate seat? I have absolutely no idea. But to be fair, neither does anyone else.

Not that he isn't used to getting an early start.

Let's try a little thought experiment. Imagine you're some sort of alien life form newly arrived on planet Earth. You are neither liberal nor conservative, Republican nor Democrat.

Photo by Nick Davis, from Wikipedia. The dream, as a rather famous Democrat once said, shall never die. In this case, I'm not referring to the dream of a progressive future full of high-paying jobs, plentiful health care, and extremely large polar ice caps, although in the minds of its adherents, I'm sure these developments would be part of the deal.

It seems like the GOP does nothing but oppose domestic policy proposals. That's not a winning strategy for the future. 

Is Sarah Palin selfish? At this point, I'm sure there already are scores of passionate Palin fans poised to swarm the comments section and call me a commie for merely mentioning such a treasonous proposition.

Written by 2008 NEWSWEEK campaign blogger Andrew (Stumper) Romano, Absurdly Premature 2012 Watch is a weekly column that indulges our collective presidential-election fixation...even though the next presidential election is still, ahem, three years away.     In the 36 or so hours since President Barack Obama unveiled his plan to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, there's been no shortage of Republican reactions—especially from Republicans who want to run for president...

  There are four kinds of candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Politicians like Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Tim Pawlenty belong in the sure-thing category; we know they'll be running because, well, they already are.

  When it comes to the policies and politics of Barack Obama, it's no secret that liberals and conservatives don't see eye to eye. But according to behavioral sciencist Eugene Caruso of the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, these differences in perspective may literally be a difference in perception.

Written by 2008 NEWSWEEK campaign blogger Andrew (Stumper) Romano, Absurdly Premature 2012 Watch is a weekly column that indulges our collective presidential-election fixation ...

Well, what do I know?Last Friday, I predicted on this blog that incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine would defeat GOP challenger Chris Christie in my home state of New Jersey--a "wildly reckless prediction," as I put it, but a prediction all the same.

 Because it's Friday--and because I'm feeling a little mischievous, this being Halloween Eve and all--I'm going to make a wildly reckless prediction about the outcome of next Tuesday's gubernatorial election in my ancestral homeland of New Jersey: incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine will beat GOP challenger Chris Christie by a hair.

Maybe. But that's exactly why they should see it.

Last week, Ramin Setoodeh and I had the honor of interviewing Maurice Sendak, Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers at Mr. Sendak's house in Connecticut. It was the only time the creative team behind Where the Wild Things Are would be getting together to speak to the press.

Today in "Breaking News That's Been, Like, Totally Obvious for Months Already": Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the former veep hopeful and recovering mullet victim, wants to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.