Should Ezra Klein’s notion of limiting the use of the filibuster actually find support on the Senate floor, it raises the specter of a simple majority of Republicans in 2015 undoing the Health Care plan that required a 60 vote Democratic plurality in 2009. Definitely in the “be careful what you wish for” category.

After having an electoral stake pounded through its heart last November, after being exposed to the searing media morning light of a “permanent realignment” in the “center-left” American electorate, with a silver bullet in the brain of a “broken GOP brand”, and with a garlic necklace strangling it’s “sixty’s culture war” neck, the corpse of “Divided Government” seemed dead and buried in the media for the foreseeable future. But last week the undead meme was walking again

The Senate remains the best chance to divide this government in 2012. Predictions three years out are indeed foolish, but barring some as of yet unrevealed scandal close to the President, I expect he will be reelected. The best chance to restore fiscal rationality in 2012 is for Republicans to take the Senate, and that will take two election cycles. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, and the first step is for Republicans to pick up a couple of seats in 2010.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd has had better days. Looks like the AIG bonus scandal just found a political whipping boy: Dodd just admitted on CNN that he inserted a loophole in the stimulus legislation that allowed million-dollar bonuses to insurance giant AIG to go forward – after previously denying any involvement in writing [...]

If you thought $700 billion was a lot of money, well.. It is. But $2 trillion is.. ridiculous. This is Danielle Ivory from ANP. Congress and the new administration have been focusing their attention on strengthening oversight for the Treasury’s TARP program, but meanwhile few are paying any attention to the Federal Reserve. Since September, [...]

Hi, this is Danielle Ivory from the American News Project. My colleague, Lagan Sebert, and I just published a new video on the bailout and a lack of serious oversight. Today, Henry Paulson urged Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion of the bailout money. But no one seems know what banks [...]

One of the oddities of current elective politics is not who the media covers, or in what tone they cover them, but rather the insipid approach to issues most people find important. For instance, gas prices. Andrew Leonard wrote about gas prices and the presidential election at Salon earlier this week. To his credit, he [...]

This podcast covers the results of the Iowa Caucuses. We discuss the significance of Huckabee’s victory, the state of the Republican race after Iowa and we also dissect Obama’s victory and analyze the rest of the Democratic race. [Listen Online] [Subscribe to 2008Central.net's Presidential Election Podcast] Feel free to email us questions/suggestions for next week’s [...]

He really underperformed here, even though he moved his entire family here last year. But the other second tier candidates didn’t do much better. You should see Biden and Richardson dropping out soon enough too. We shall see…

[Re-published from 2008Central.net. We will update this post on Donklephant periodically, but for the latest check out the live blog at 2008Central.net] 9:00: Reminder, Dems: Obama, Edwards, Clinton; GOP: Huckabee, Romney, Thompson/McCain/Paul 9:09: Andrea Mitchell calls it a “remarkably bad outcome for Hillary” 9:10: Matthews says the Clinton comeback begins now. 9:11: John Edwards is [...]

[Re-published from 2008Central.net. We will update this post on Donklephant periodically, but for the latest check out the live blog at 2008Central.net] 2:00: And we’re here. First question about balancing the budget. Richardson shockingly talks about being a governor. Biden blames bad Republican priorities. Dodd talks about how everything is complicated and there needs to [...]

[Re-published from 2008Central.net. We will update this post on Donklephant periodically, but for the latest check out the live blog at 2008Central.net] We’ll be live blogging the event. 2:07: Only 3 topics will be discussed during the debate: (1) Iran and the lessons of Iraq, (2) relations with China and how they affect us here [...]

This podcast covers (1) problems with Bill Richardson’s campaign, (2) the reality of Mike Huckabee’s recent momentum, (3) Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama argue over a Novak Column, (4) the significance of experience in the 2008 election, (5) Fred Thompson’s troubles and (6) more… [Listen Online] [Subscribe to 2008Central.net's Presidential Election Podcast] Feel free to [...]

From the Politico daily newsletter: Fractured results in the initial primaries and caucuses disrupt Mitt Romney’s plan to rack up a series of convincing wins ahead of the big states where Giuliani expects to run well. It’s harder to build a head of steam when you’re fighting gnats, and any success the also-rans achieve will [...]

Hmm….could Dodd steal Richardson’s dark horse status? Here’s certainly been impressive in the debates and positions himself credibly as somebody who knows his stuff inside and out. From Politico: Chris Dodd’s campaign is set this week to announce a quite major labor endorsement: the International Association of Firefighters, according to a source familiar with the [...]