Political success often comes when candidates and campaigns make voters comfortable enough to give them, at least, the benefit of their doubts.
Op-Eds
Rich Lowry: The rise of the faux Libertarians
Democrats have sensed an opening as a more populist Republican Party puts less emphasis on freedom. If Democrats get away with their faux libertarianism, it will be a notable triumph of the freedom to mislead.
Clarence Page: Maybe it’s in the air. A timely step toward semiretirement
As one who sympathized and empathized with President Joe Biden, I was relieved when he decided to step aside for a younger generation of presidential contenders.
Rich Lowry: Kamala Harris is no investor
Like any huckster working in a boiler room, Harris is hoping to find people credulous enough to believe what’s too good to be true.
Cal Thomas: Reagan: The movie
The film gets Reagan’s toughness and convictions right, but it also displays something absent from so much of today’s politics. They include his sense of humor (YouTube has a collection of some of his better jokes) and the fact that he treated even his adversaries with respect.
Austin Bay: The Biden-Harris Afghanistan bugout, 3 years on
The withdrawal seeded two hot wars with nuclear warfare potential — Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, and the Israel-Iran war involving four Iranian proxy armies.
Elliott Epstein: Rearview Mirror: Harris-Walz are spinning up a campaign of ‘happy’
Politicians invariably promise to campaign “on the issues.” It’s a high-minded notion, but hardly accurate. Elections are more about feelings than rationality.
Hal Phillips: RiverWatch: Sprint vs. marathon: For Harris and American voters, less may prove more
The Democratic Convention has come and gone. Yet nothing feels rushed. Both tickets are still in our collective faces every day.
Froma Harrop: Gutsy Republicans are quiet stars of the Democrats’ convention
Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine the sanctity of the vote should scare those who share his worldview as well as those who don’t.
Cal Thomas: San Francisco plus 40
Vice President Kamala Harris is dangerous because no one knows what she believes and the few things she said she once believed — no fracking is only one example — she has flipped on without explaining why.