Andrew Rudalevige

As Barack Obama enters his second term, some already are wishing it over. Not just the House Republicans, either – but those who want to locate Obama’s place in The Annals of Presidential Greatness, deciding whether he is the 7th, 17th, or 37th best president of all time. In a new 538 post around this […]

David Hawkings makes an interesting point in today’s CQ/Roll Call Daily Briefing. He notes the historic nature of Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s ascension to the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee – but also that this only happened because two more senior Democrats on the panel chose not to take the job. This is linked to […]

The college football bowl season gets underway this weekend with an exciting doubleheader. First up is the Gildan New Mexico Bowl (featuring two five loss teams hoping to avoid becoming a six loss team—though apparently being a six loss team is enough to make it into the Little Caesars Bowl on December 26).  This is […]

Since the election President Obama has received a wide range of unsolicited advice regarding his legislative relations as they pertain to his second term agenda and, most immediately, avoiding a plunge over the fiscal cliff. A fair number of the comments, in an echo of the pre-election punditry that ultimately led to Nate Silver selling […]

It’s now several days after the election, and thus time for a new spate of speculation (e.g., here, here, here) about who might serve in the second term Obama cabinet. One hot prospect is White House chief of staff (and former OMB director) Jacob Lew heading over to the Treasury Department. Will Hillary leave? Will […]

Thanks to Will Nelligan for alerting me to this— Kent Germany of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center has produced an on-line exhibit giving – thanks to Lyndon Johnson’s proclivity for taping his telephone conversations – a fascinating view into LBJ’s response to Hurricane Betsy, a Category 4 storm which made landfall in New Orleans […]

Longtime senator Arlen Specter (R, er, D-PA) has died and is being largely lionized as a man of the now-missing middle. As one such headline suggests, “Centrist Sen. Specter Died Fighting for Moderation.” But my colleagues have not shown a lot of love (see here and here, for instance) for various paeans to self-described independent […]

No, really. Politico says so.  Apparently mostly dogs and Texas landscapes. If you want a presidency studies spin, all I’ve got is that Dwight Eisenhower enjoyed painting too, as you can see below. Some of his finished efforts can be viewed here, along with analysis thereof by the British TV art critic (and nun) Sister […]