Republicans have struggled this election season to “energize the base”. First, they trotted out Rudy Giuliani in drag and the base screamed “too East Coast.” Christian Conservatives didn’t think much of John McCain either remembering his comments from the 2000 race. Then Mitt Romney appeared to have the lead only […]

The “free market” is one of the most powerful frames conservatives use to advance their agenda. How many times have you heard the phrase “leave it to the market” or “let the market do its work”? This argument has been applied to everything from the breakup of AT&T to social security to just about every argument conservatives have about fighting “big government”.

The reason this argument is so effective is that most people can clearly see how the “free market” has brought many good things into their lives. The idea of a “win, win” situation is understood from daily transactions. When markets function properly, people often benefit.

The issue is that certain conditions are necessary to maintain this functioning “free market”. The Rockridge Institute has one of the best summations I’ve seen of the underlying assumptions of a “free market”.

I just finished David Kuo’s Tempting Faith, a book that in all honesty I have to admit I purchased because of his insider’s view of Bush’s “compassionate conservatism.” As advertised and promoted, Kuo featured some great quotes and examples of how the administration dismissively treated evangelicals and faith-based initiatives once […]

A good sign that you have a solid vision is when other candidates start using it. For this reason and for his consistency, Barack Obama wins this week’s Message of the Week Award. Obama has been preaching a message of change and hope since his book, The Audacity of Hope, […]

Don Lichter from the CMPA returned my e-mail: Dear Mr Akadjian, Thank you for your thoughtful note. For us the choice of outlets is a matter of resources and logistics – we simply can’t do more in real time. For several elections we did the 3 broadcast nets; we added […]

Dear Donald Rieck and the Center for Media and Public Affairs, While interesting, I’m worried that your election study showing FOX to be the most “fair and balanced” in election coverage uses a conservative definition of the media. Conservatives and FOX News would argue that to be “fair and balanced” […]

As Americans, we spend more on health care than any other nation and get less. Why is this the case? Just for a second, I’d like to ask you to tune out all that you’ve heard about health care and to think like an insurance company. I used to work […]

While researching the Huckabee coverage, I thought I remembered seeing a brief blurb in the news a while back in which a senior Whitehouse official called the evangelical Christians nutjobs. Digging further, I found out that David Kuo, a former Bush speech-writer, wrote about this in his book Tempting Faith. […]

The Republican race for President has certainly taken an interesting turn recently. As Rudy Guiliani’s campaign sinks faster than the Titanic or the “Straight Talk Express,” Mike Huckabee is now the GOP front runner. Yet many stalwarts of the Republican right have come out against Huckabee. Ann Coulter recently said […]

Here’s a selection of a few Benjamin Franklin (the original self-made man) quotes from Bartleby’s and his Autobiography to remind us of some of his thoughts on America. Liberty “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Historical Review of […]