PostPartisan - Quick takes by The Post's opinion writers - October 31, 2010

Pelosi sticks to it

I'm not the biggest Nancy Pelosi fan around -- and I'm certainly not a charter member of the fan club like my colleague Gene Robinson -- but I think there's something impressive in her decision not to fade away...

By Ruth Marcus | November 5, 2010; 1:24 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (72)
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Nancy Pelosi: House minority leader

The Tweet from @SpeakerPelosi was simple and to-the-point: "Driven by the urgency of creating jobs & protecting #hcr, #wsr, Social Security & Medicare, I am running for Dem Leader." In short, Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn't going anywhere. She's not...

By Jonathan Capehart | November 5, 2010; 12:50 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (93)
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Where does the SEIU get its political cash? Still won't say.

In his attempted rebuttal to my column on whether unions are funding their political activities with contributions from foreign and illegal workers, the SEIU's Jon Youngdhal defended his organization by claiming that "most" of the SEIU's political work was...

By Marc Thiessen | November 5, 2010; 12:47 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (47)
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Friday p-Op quiz: "Shellacking" Edition

Well, this was quite a week! Republican elephants chased quite a few Democratic donkeys out of the House to take control. An epic feat accurately described by President Obama as a "shellacking." Perhaps he will console himself on his...

By Jonathan Capehart | November 5, 2010; 9:58 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
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Ed Gillespie: hero of the 2010 elections

Ed Gillespie is one of the heroes of the 2010 election cycle. He built American Crossroads and American Crossroads-GPS, which raised more than $60 million to help fuel Tuesday's GOP takeover of the House, and aggressively supported Tea Party-backed...

By Marc Thiessen | November 4, 2010; 6:38 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
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Most disturbing results of election 2010

In one of Tuesday's most disturbing election results, the losing candidates didn't even have opponents. Three justices of the Iowa Supreme Court lost what is ordinarily a pro forma election to retain their seats. Not coincidentally, these justices were...

By Ruth Marcus | November 4, 2010; 2:56 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (38)
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GOP: Gay Old Party? More gays voted Republican than in 2008

If you want more data that gay men and lesbians are pretty much just like everyone else -- worried about the economy, freaked out about the direction of the country and perhaps ticked at the slow pace of change...

By Jonathan Capehart | November 4, 2010; 1:50 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (20)
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On 'Democrats in disarray' and other predictable punditry

You know those "Democrats in Disarray" stories are coming, and so do the party's strategists. So three of them launched a preemptive strike with a memo this morning on The Democratic Strategist Web site hopefully entitled "Democratic Unity After...

By E.J. Dionne | November 4, 2010; 12:06 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (95)
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Howard Dean is 'absolutely, categorically not running in 2012'

After the "shellacking" suffered by the Democratic Party, it's only natural that folks would start wondering if President Obama were in danger of facing a primary challenge in 2012. The name that keeps popping up is former Vermont governor...

By Jonathan Capehart | November 4, 2010; 11:44 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
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The Democrats' Plight: Worse than it seems

There's really no gentle way to say this, so I'm just going to be blunt: In some ways, the political situation post-Nov. 2 is even worse for the Democrats than it may appear. And I am not just referring...

By Charles Lane | November 4, 2010; 11:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
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How Castro and Chavez lost the 2010 elections

Lots of foreign leaders have reason to regret the outcome of the U.S. midterm elections, from the Norweigan Nobel peace prize committee to Russia's Dmitry Medvedev. But if there is one big un-American loser from Tuesday's vote, it's got...

By Jackson Diehl | November 4, 2010; 10:32 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (16)
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Martin O'Malley: the Democrats' rising star?

In an election defined by discontent, Maryland bucked the national mood Tuesday, voting for contentment in the person of Martin O'Malley, the Democratic governor. His triumph marked the birth of a new star in an otherwise demoralized national Democratic Party....

By Lee Hockstader | November 4, 2010; 10:29 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Money can't buy happiness -- or elective office

One of the lamest arguments against self-financed candidates running for office is that they are buying elections. Campaign graveyards are filled with moguls who thought their business success, boardroom acumen or deep pockets would easily translate to a ballot-box...

By Jonathan Capehart | November 4, 2010; 9:53 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Sean Bielat, sore loser

You gotta hand it to 35-year-old Republican newcomer Sean Bielat: He made Democratic Congressman Barney Frank work for re-election for the first time in about three decades. Bielat ran a spirited and substantive campaign, forcing Frank to answer hard...

By Charles Lane | November 3, 2010; 4:44 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (26)
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The NRSC's California gamble a bust

Monday, I wrote about the gamble the National Republic Senatorial Committee was taking in pouring $3 million into California during the final week of the election -- a spending surge that brought the committee's final investment in Carly Fiorina's...

By Marc Thiessen | November 3, 2010; 4:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
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Obama, Boehner and McConnell: a clash awaits

We've heard from them all now. President Obama. Presumptive Speaker of the House John Boenher (R-Ohio). Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). If the good cop/bad cop routine displayed by Boehner and McConnell today is any indicator the next...

By | November 3, 2010; 3:56 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
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Can Obama really compromise with the GOP?

Where -- if anywhere -- can President Obama and the incoming House of Representatives find compromise? A self-reflective Obama Wednesday came back to one issue in particular: energy policy. "I don't think there's anyone in America who thinks that...

By Stephen Stromberg | November 3, 2010; 3:41 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
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Can Jerry Brown and Andrew Cuomo govern?

Most of America turned red last night, but I was struck by the continuing blueness of two of the nation's largest states: California and New York. Voters there chose the old-time Democratic religion, in the form of governors-elect Jerry...

By Charles Lane | November 3, 2010; 12:46 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (13)
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Palinism's defeat in the 2010 elections

For all the Republican huzzahs this post-election morning, one of the interesting results of Tuesday's balloting is that it showed the natural limits of the politics associated with Sarah Palin and the Tea Party. Palin is such a vocal...

By David Ignatius | November 3, 2010; 12:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (56)
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How should Harry Reid say gracias? Con mucho humildad.

Latinos Tuesday helped save the Democrats from total defeat by coming through with outsized participation in a few showcase races, none more high-profile than that of Harry Reid. The Tea Party and Republicans gunned particularly for the Senate majority leader,...

By Edward Schumacher-Matos | November 3, 2010; 9:55 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (15)
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The 2010 elections and 'don't ask, don't tell'

An interesting outcome of the Republican tsunami is that two men on opposite sides of the debate over repeal of the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military went down in defeat. Rep. Patrick Murphy...

By Jonathan Capehart | November 3, 2010; 9:47 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
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That white working class

Plainly, the one mega-group in the electorate that Barack Obama has the most trouble reaching is the white working class. In the 2008 primaries, Hillary Clinton clobbered Obama in this group, which is why she defeated him in Pennsylvania,...

By Harold Meyerson | November 3, 2010; 2:22 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (28)
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The House/Senate split and the Tea Party paradox

There are still races to be decided, but it is now almost certain that while the House will be in Republican hands -- and by a very significant margin -- the Senate will remain Democratic. This will mark the...

By E.J. Dionne | November 3, 2010; 1:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (32)
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The simple explanation for the 2010 elections

Was the 2010 election about big government? Health care? Cap-and-trade? Democratic arrogance? An anti-elitist surge? Sure, these motivated some voters. But a few lines in the exit polls tell the big story about this year's campaign. Sixty two percent...

By Stephen Stromberg | November 3, 2010; 12:01 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
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A no-confidence vote for Obama

Elections are about many things: local candidates, the economy, the national picture and, of course, that indefinable something we call the zeitgeist -- a Teutonic shrug of the shoulders meaning who the hell knows. But this election, while about...

By Richard Cohen | November 2, 2010; 10:50 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (101)
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Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) didn't inspire much confidence in me as I watched her on "Meet the Press" in May 2006. To be blunt, I thought she'd be a disaster as the Democratic speaker of the House. Boy, was...

By Jonathan Capehart | November 2, 2010; 10:24 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (19)
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Will Latinos swing the West to Democrats?

As the Western returns come in tonight, look out for the possibility of a Latino surprise. Matt Barreto, who does the LatinoDecisions tracking poll, told me that Latino turnout is running higher than expected and going even more to the...

By Edward Schumacher-Matos | November 2, 2010; 8:07 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
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GOP should be careful what it wishes for

This is going to be a long night. I think we can count on some real surprises -- somebody who wasn't supposed to win is going to squeak by, someone who wasn't even thought to be in danger will...

By Eugene Robinson | November 2, 2010; 7:33 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
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John Boehner: firebrand or statesman?

As we wait to find out whether Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) will go from House minority leader to presumed speaker of the House, it's instructive to look back at his speech opposing the health-care reform bill. I remember the...

By Jonathan Capehart | November 2, 2010; 6:14 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
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What do 2010 elections mean for the economy?

Will political paralysis be good for the financial markets? The stock market seemed pretty sanguine this Election Day, with the Dow Jones average rising 64 points and analysts talking about greater political clout for the business interests that have...

By David Ignatius | November 2, 2010; 5:09 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (13)
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Too much focus on 2012

In the opening of the Today Show this morning, co-anchor Matt Lauer uttered one sentence that gave voice to my growing concern about our media and political culture. "We've talked about the midterm elections -- from the moment President...

By Jonathan Capehart | November 2, 2010; 4:14 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
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On Election Day 2010, the heirs have it

Does anyone else find it depressing that as of tomorrow two of our leading states -- New York and California -- will likely be led by governors who would never have had the job if their daddies hadn't had...

By Matt Miller | November 2, 2010; 2:37 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Palin's erratic behavior mars 2010 elections

For many Republicans, the bright, golden haze of Election Day is marred by a thunderhead on the horizon -- the increasingly erratic political interventions of Sarah Palin. (Michael Gerson elaborates on this much-read post in his Friday column.) In...

By Michael Gerson | November 2, 2010; 1:14 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (67)
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The Democrats' victim complex strikes again

It's fun watching all the "what are they going to do?" parlor games as the Republicans start measuring the House leadership drapes. The Republicans are going to exact revenge on corporations, try to roll-back the health care bill, and...

By Kevin Huffman | November 2, 2010; 12:42 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
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After 2010 elections, Obama will look abroad

Not that much of the speculation about how President Obama will respond to the Democrats' likely losses in Tuesday's elections has concerned foreign affairs -- which is surprising. True, international issues -- from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq...

By Jackson Diehl | November 2, 2010; 12:14 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (20)
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PostPartisan: October 31, 2010 - November 6, 2010