The End is Here

The End of the Beginning Alas, it is now time to wrap up my Back Seat Driving column. The original idea for this column was to blast off to Mars so to speak and cover the alien yet oddly parallel universe of Democratic nomination politics from my experience in the GOP primary wars. With

2021-06-23T20:36:33+00:00March 9th, 2004|Featured Article, The Hotline|0 Comments

Backseat Driving

The End is Here. The End of the Beginning Alas, it is now time to wrap up my Back Seat Driving column. The original idea for this column was to blast off to Mars so to speak and cover the alien yet oddly parallel universe of Democratic nomination politics from my experience in the

2021-06-23T20:27:57+00:00March 9th, 2004|The Hotline|0 Comments

Vaudeville in Virginia

On Saturday I went down to Richmond to catch dinner and a show. The candidates were playing the Virginia Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner and I wanted to see the candidates one last time before the race fizzles out. Sharpton opened the show bringing the house to its feet with his usual act. He

2021-06-23T19:26:10+00:00February 9th, 2004|The Hotline|1 Comment

Put a Fork in It

If you listen carefully tonight, you'll hear a sharp crackle as scores of candidate bones break. Five campaigns will end today, even if the candidates refuse to admit it and stagger on for another two weeks. Election nights must have drama, so there will be bushels of talk tonight about last stands in Wisconsin

2021-06-23T19:27:33+00:00February 2nd, 2004|The Hotline|0 Comments

Murphy Does Manchester

Manchester, NH — The GOP fuglemen sit on the sidelines here and watch, as lonely as Kucinich volunteers. The action this year in New Hampshire is on the Democratic side, with a big independent vote as well. Some Republicans can't resist the fun and sneak out for a little excitement on the bad side

2021-06-23T19:28:47+00:00January 19th, 2004|The Hotline|0 Comments

Two Weeks, Three Scenarios (And Only One Result?)

Two weeks until the Iowa caucuses and three things can now happen. Most likely? Dean steamrolls through Iowa and charges on to the nomination. Second most likely: Gephardt narrowly beats Dean in Iowa and sets up a sharp contest on Feb 3rd (Groundhog Tuesday), which could be a real opportunity to put the good

2021-06-23T19:30:26+00:00January 12th, 2004|The Hotline|1 Comment

Gephardt-Edwards Ticket Stopping Dean

It was two in the morning when my phone rang. I could hear a lot of arguing in the background. "Hello, Murphy ... How much! You guys are all for sale, what's your price? NAME IT!" I'd never spoken to John Kerry before. "Well, um, thanks Senator, but I'm a Republican and while I'm

2021-06-23T19:32:52+00:00December 15th, 2003|The Hotline|0 Comments

THE PRIMARY BACKSEAT DRIVING: The Debate Plague

For months the Democratic primary has been infested by a plague of cable TV debates and they've been a waste of time for nearly everybody, especially the candidates. Voters wait for the real debates on real local TV during the last weeks before the primaries. Those debates move numbers and should be treated with

2021-06-23T19:39:28+00:00November 24th, 2003|The Hotline|0 Comments
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