While imperfect, the electoral college has generally served the republic well. It forces candidates to campaign in a variety of closely contested races, where political debate is typically robust.
Palin's blatant lack of competence and preparedness needs no belaboring. What's critical is that substantive, serious Republican leaders either wouldn't or couldn't declare, before or after the election, 'This is not what our party stands for. We can and must do better.'
Now that Donald Trump has won the presidency despite losing the popular vote, there's a growing cry to rethink, or even abolish, the electoral college. This would be a mistake.
The mistake we made in the 1990s was overestimating the potential of NAFTA's positive impact.
It's logical and fair to allow only registered or self-identified Democrats to choose their party's nominee (although numerous states do have open primaries). Letting more non-Democrats choose the nominee doesn't guarantee success in a November general election. And it does nothing to encourage people to join and work for the party.
The chief of staff has to reflect and sometimes complement the strengths of the president he serves.
You can use all the flowery words in the dictionary, but sooner or later, you have to let people know where you stand.
If we don't set the rules for commerce in the Asia-Pacific region, China will.
I was Al Gore's campaign chairman in 2000, when he won a half-million more votes than George W. Bush but lost the presidency.
No one knows the Senate better than Joe Biden; he lived there for 35 years.
Most people who talk about either entitlement cuts or revenue - when you have to put pen to paper, it is much more difficult.
When the manufacturing decline began in earnest in 2001, the main culprits were the offshoring of jobs to China, with which we have no trade deal, and automation.
Sanders insists the party adopt 'the most progressive platform ever passed' at its Philadelphia convention. Since when does the runner-up get to dictate the platform?
Most Republicans and the business community extol the virtues of trade, depicting it as an engine of economic progress, while most Democrats and unions attack the exportation of American jobs, claiming that trade agreements are destroying our economy.
Lots of people throw around phrases of 'no-fly zone,' and they talk about it as though it's just a game - a video game or something. Some people who throw that line out have no idea what they're talking about.
There are some who want to move us back to the days when we were protectionists and keep all goods off our shores.
Party leaders aren't responsible for every candidate's gaffe.
There is no path to middle-class prosperity without tearing down barriers to American exports.
The Microsoft actions announced today are exactly the kinds of industry initiatives we need. Microsoft is using its resources to bring real privacy protection to Internet users by creating incentives for more websites to provide strong privacy protection.
The Republican establishment's 2008 embrace of Palin set an irresponsibly low bar. Coincidence or not, a batch of nonsense-spewing, hard-right candidates quickly followed, often to disastrous effect.
