Politics

Machiavelli was not the cynical toady for tyrants that seems to be his reputation. He was a small-r republican, who believed that a practical politician needs to combine principle and grit to accomplish anything, particularly anything great and lasting.

Conventional wisdom doomed Harry Truman's re-election bid in 1948 by not one, but two third party challenges. But a deeper look at history suggests that those challenges might actually have helped Truman win.

Most years, Congress raises the debt ceiling as quietly as possible, at the last moment, with little debate and less suspense. Not so this time.

In his darkest script for us, bin Laden could probably not have imagined that our deficit would reach a percentage of GDP only exceeded by World War II.

If you want to make money in the stock market, buy low and sell high. If you want to get and hold elective office in two-party America, secure your base in the primary and win the middle in the general.

From the moment Obama lost control of his Blackberry, he started to lose control of his people and his Party.

Obama may find with the 112th Congress that executive branch-only action may be the only path open to advance anything more than token parts of his agenda.

The simplest thing is to spend more on things that generate deductions. Give more to charity. Buy a new computer. Do more business travel: go more often, stay longer, upgrade accommodations.

A great deal of misinformation, spin, and overheated hype came out of last year's debate on health care. The most startling was the stark comparison between the overhead of private health insurance and Medicare.

The biggest difference from the health care debate is that the finance reform has the benefit of a clear villain: the banks. It is always easier to position against something than for it.

In the health care debate, the Republican Party broke the historic operation of the two party system, with consequences for both parties.

The health care bill passed, but neither side seems to realize that President Obama achieved one of the most difficult, easily the most complex, tactical political victories in our entire history.