You could see where this was headed from the start when debate co-host David Muir asked Vice President Kamala Harris the question Ronald Reagan asked Americans to ponder when he debated Jimmy Carter in October 1980: “Are you better off than you were

You can bet the farm on this one: In every future campaign, for any office, political strategists will prep candidates for campaign debates by having them watch one video and one video only: Kamala Harris’ performance against Donald Trump. On Sept. 1

Tyreek Hill, this go-round in a critical media lens, has the upper hand. He knows it. In recent interviews, the Miami Dolphins wide receiver is the patient teacher, talking about turning his recent brush with law enforcement into a positive. The foot

Of all the living Republicans who have run on a presidential ticket, only two are publicly backing Donald Trump: Sarah Palin, the 2008 vice presidential candidate, and JD Vance, Trump’s current running mate. Everyone else is going a different way. Tr

As the disastrous (for Biden) Trump-Biden debate June 27 did not include any of my recommended questions, I offer ABC moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis some questions they might consider asking Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in Tu

If you don’t tell a lie, my father used to say, you won’t have to worry about which version of your story you told last. Right, I agreed, but, with an attitude like that, ol’ Dad was well advised to avoid going into politics. That advice came to mind

If you don’t tell a lie, my father used to say, you won’t have to worry about which version of your story you told last. Right, I agreed, but, with an attitude like that, ol’ Dad was well advised to avoid going into politics. That advice came to mind

“As I said then, I say today, Israel had a right — has a right to defend itself.” This is militarism set in stone. The words are those of Kamala Harris, of course, in her extensive CNN interview last week – quick words that lead the charge and spew t

President Biden says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to win the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza by the terrorist group Hamas. As the saying goes “with friends like these, who needs enemies?” In his first s

It seems like it’s been dragging on for three years – which it has! – but now, with Labor Day behind us, the 2024 presidential campaign is officially underway. And it’s a totally different campaign than any of us expected, just two months ago. So muc

In case you somehow haven’t noticed, manhood is on the ballot. Even before President Joe Biden stepped aside to let Vice President Kamala Harris step up to be the Democrats’ presidential nominee, insiders from both parties were calling this the “boys

One relatively simple statement shows that Robert Kennedy, Jr. did briefly find shine as a political candidate.* Note the asterisk. It’s necessary, for there are a lot of caveats to that assessment. But Kennedy took a stab at explaining MAGA to its h

In television, the first thing you notice is what you see, not what you hear. It’s called optics and in the CNN interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz, what I first noticed was how small Harris appeared. Walz towered ov

As proud as I am to be part of the national press corps, at times I’m embarrassed by some of the nutty stuff I see or read in the media by people who should know better. After the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump, for example, it was wide

As I trek toward the Great Unknown, as life’s struggles seem to intensify, some odd questions keep recurring. Art – what is it again? Why does it matter? How does it matter? What does it mean to be “good” at it? That last question, in particular, can

CNN has won the “privilege” of conducting the first interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz on Thursday night, beating the promised “end of the month” deadline she had set. The Harris team had reportedly been “shopping”

The single most abused, misused and misunderstood word in American politics is “unity.” All presidential candidates vow to unite Americans. Nearly every pundit and public intellectual laments the lack of unity. “When America is united, America is tot

“I could be whatever you want. you just tell me what you want and I'm gonna be that for you.” ― Nicholas Sparks, “The Notebook” At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week, Vice President Kamala Harris seemed to mimic Joe Biden’s 2020

Perhaps the most memorable moment of this year’s Democratic convention came the night before Kamala Harris officially accepted the party’s nomination for president. It was no simple matter for anyone to follow a lineup of such stars as Oprah Winfrey,

Greetings from Chicago and, as Rep. Jamie Raskin called it, “The Democracy Convention.” My first convention, as a staffer for then-governor and presidential candidate Jerry Brown, was in 1976. As a delegate, volunteer, or reporter, I’d attended every

The Democratic National Convention was happening here in Chicago – my city – and I sat frozen at my desk, staring at my computer. Earlier in my life, yeah, I’d have gone down to the United Center, linked arms with the sane and outraged, joined the cr

The producers didn’t plan for the biopic about the life of Ronald Reagan to open so close to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, but delays caused by the pandemic and an actors strike led to its release on August 30. It seems easier to por

The best thing about Kamala Harris’ policy debut last week was the backlash. I don’t mean the political backlash; Harris’ attack on “ price-gouging” was probably smart politics. It amplified her campaign’s message that she’s “ fighting for the people

As one who sympathized and empathized with President Joe Biden, I was relieved when he decided to step aside for a younger generation of presidential contenders. Seeing the unmitigated joy — and relief — that seemed to erupt nationwide, suddenly I, t

The first Democratic National Convention I attended was in San Francisco in 1984. UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick indelibly labeled attendees “San Francisco Democrats,” because of their left-leaning policies. Forty years later it appears little has c

Ferguson, MO. The city’s name alone ignites racial qualifiers in the nation’s psyche. Attitudes about the city, as well as the St. Louis region, are a Rorschach test for bias and political points of view. Interestingly, this is especially true of peo

In normal years, which were not that long ago, students would look forward to returning to or entering college as freshmen. After violent anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations on some college campuses, many fear this semester might see a repeat

It’s always fun to be in San Francisco. It was especially fun last weekend when, during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump stunned California political reporters with his account of a near-death experience in a helicopter with former San F

I stroke the unknown . . . Bear with me as I finish my short walk. I was ambling through my neighborhood the other day, wielding a pair of walking sticks, “forcing myself,” you might say, to enjoy the beautiful afternoon but actually just plodding fo

Bring back Jay Leno! The former host of the“ Tonight Show” had a segment called “ Jaywalking” during which he would ask people on the street easy questions they often couldn’t answer. Leno : “If someone says they are going to Great Britain what langu