Saturday punditry.
WaPo:
In the aftermath of the Tucson shootings, which prompted a national outpouring of criticism of the harsh tone of the nation's political discourse, the GOP confronts a political environment that has changed dramatically since the party's big victory in November. Obama, who appeared weakened and on the defensive in the days after the midterm elections, has emerged as a stronger and more resilient adversary than Republicans anticipated just 10 weeks ago.
FactCheck.org:
A ‘Job-Killing’ Law?
House Republicans misrepresent the facts. Experts predict the health care law will have little effect on employment.
Political Correction:
One year ago, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele had a blunt message for his critics: "If you don't want me in the job, fire me. But until then, shut up." Today, members of the RNC did just that, despite the party's success in November, voting to replace the gaffe-prone Steele with Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus.
In electing Priebus, the Republican power brokers defied House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who endorsed and campaigned for pharmaceutical industry lobbyist Maria Cino. Coming less than two weeks after Boehner took the gavel, the snub suggests relations between the party establishment and the House GOP may not be any better in the new majority than they were during Steele's rocky tenure.
Tom Jensen/PPP:
Sarah Palin's biggest obstacle to the White House may not be her remarkable level of unpopularity with Democrats and independents. Her more immediate problem is that she simply doesn't have much support in the vital early Republican states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Florida....
If Mike Huckabee doesn't run that will definitely help Palin in these early states but regardless of that she has a lot of work to do in them if she really ends up making a bid for the White House.
She'll have even less after her small-minded video this week. Fewer, even if doubly committed, supporters does not win elections.
Eugene Robinson:
The powerful elegy that President Obama delivered in Tucson was a big step toward his long-held goal of transforming the nation's choleric and dysfunctional political culture. Subsequent steps will be harder - but no longer seem impossible.
Charles Blow:
You can’t claim the higher ground in a pit of quicksand.
Concocting connections to advance an argument actually weakens it. The argument for tonal moderation has been done a tremendous disservice by those who sought to score political points in the absence of proof.
Except that there was far less of point scoring than there were accusations of same, and the argument actually has not been done a disservice (that's an opinionated rush to judgment on its own driven by the desire to proclaim 'we are better than thee" by the journalists who have mostly ignored, and are still ignoring, the issue up until now.) But other than that, he's right. For a better take, see Gene Robinson above and see The Hill, below.
The Hill:
In a letter to members of Congress today Murkowski and Udall propose Republicans and Democrats sit together during the State of the Union address. Currently, the tradition is for Democrats and Republicans to sit only with members of their party during the presidential address. The proposal comes after an earlier one by Udall where the Democrat and Republican leadership would sit together during the presidential address.
So far, 21 senators and nine members of Congress of both parties have endorsed the proposal.
Ezra Klein:
It's hard to imagine that Hillary Clinton or John Edwards would've done anything all that differently. For all the sound and fury of the primary, the state of the party and of the country told you a lot more about who would be in charge and what they'd be doing than did the rhetoric of the candidates.
That's not meant as a criticism or an endorsement, really. I tend to be sympathetic to that type of institutional pragmatism: The White House isn't a great place to try and wing it. And certainly the specific priorities and tendencies of the president matter for how all this machinery gets used, particularly when it comes to foreign policy. But it's really strange to sit back today and try to recall what the bitter fights between Clinton supporters and Obama supporters were all about.
Gail Collins:
Chapter 1 depicts Pawlenty’s Inauguration Day, with a great deal of attention paid to the outgoing governor, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, a former professional wrestler. This is possibly because the guy who helped Pawlenty write "Courage to Stand" previously performed the same chores for Hulk Hogan.
Anyway, Pawlenty asks Ventura if he has any advice for him, and Ventura says: "Nope." This is definitely a book highlight.