From National Journal, After Gonzales: At the top of the To Do list for the next attorney general will be seven challenges, including repairing a battered Justice Department, reducing political interference with the department's decisions, establishing credibility with the public, and patching up relations with Congress. From Slate, a serialization of Ronald Reagan: A Graphic Biography (and an interview with author Andrew Helfer). How Bush betrays Reagan: Bush idolizes the Great Communicator. But Reagan's successes came because he didn't follow his conservative ideology. George Bush, meet John Major. A review of Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush by Robert Draper (and three excerpts).
Andrew Gelman and Delia Baldessarri (Columbia): Partisans Without Constraint: Political Polarization and Trends in American Public Opinion. Andrew Gelman and Cexun Jeffrey Cai (Columbia): Should the Democrats Move to the Left on Economic Policy? From Financial Times, Barney Frank believes a new deal with business is the best way to achieve equality. Jonathan Chait on how economic crackpots devoured American politics. An article on how California conservatives are down, but they're far from out. A splash of primary colour: Republican Joel Neuberg has run for president in every election since 1992 yet remains largely unknown to California’s voters. A review of Living Blue in the Red States. John Judis on why 2008 will be a great election for Democrats in the Senate. A review of The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics by Matt Bai.
Christine B. Williams and Girish J. “Jeff” Gulati (Bentley): Social Networks as Viral Campaigns: Facebook and the 2006 Midterm Elections. Richard Hansen on Law and Dis-Order: The imploding system for choosing the next president. From The New York Observer, a look at why conservatives love Rudy. Rudy and Barack are all wrong about how they can win in '08. Whose 9/11 Is It? Is the Clinton campaign trying to supplant Rudy Giuliani on the Sept. 11 pedestal? What Hillary Hides: The former first lady may offer more of the same: a penchant for secrecy and good-and-evil politics. Hillary's Prayer: For 15 years, Hillary Clinton has been part of a secretive religious group that seeks to bring Jesus back to Capitol Hill. Is she triangulating—or living her faith. Inquisition 2008: Presidential candidates are getting barraged by the media on questions about their prayers, their sins, and their beliefs on religious doctrine. A look at how Fred Thompson channels L. Ron Hubbard.
