GOP Donors Respond to Palin's $150,000 Makeover | Newsweek Scope

Death, Republican Style
Jacob Weisberg 8/29/2009 12:00:00 AM
The republicans charge that Democratic health care reform would, in Sen. Charles Grassley's words, "pull the plug on Grandma." According to Sen. Jon Kyl, the bills before Congress would ration medical treatment by age. Rep. John Boehner says they promote euthanasia. Sarah Palin has raised the specter of "death panels." Such fears are understandable. It's not preposterous to imagine laws that would try to save money by encouraging the inconvenient elderly to make an early exit. After all, that's been the Republican policy for years.
Obama’s Lucky Streak
Jonathan Alter 6/27/2009 12:00:00 AM
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is smart, handsome, principled—and no longer a political threat to President Obama in 2012. After going AWOL and admitting to an extramarital affair in Argentina, the now resigned chairman of the Republican Governors Association and oft-mentioned presidential candidate is political toast. But Sanford's pain is Obama's gain. By my count, Sanford is no less than the 10th horndog whose comeuppance has benefited Obama. This happily married president always seems to get a piece of the action.
MEMO TO THE GOP
A Way Out of the Wilderness
Karl Rove 11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM
Yes, we lost the election. But in a year when all currents were running against Republicans and our campaign was lackluster and erratic, Barack Obama received only 3.1 points more than Al Gore in 2000 and only 4.6 points more than John Kerry in 2004. The Democratic victory becomes durable only if Republicans make it so with the wrong moves.
POLITICS
Rebuilding the Brand
Suzanne Smalley 11/13/2008 12:00:00 AM
The sun-drenched waterfront hotel in Miami is glitzy, with swaying palms out front and a glittering fountain in the lobby. But the mood inside Wednesday was dark, as the Republican governors Association gathered to try to rebuild a brand badly tarnished at the polls.
CAMPAIGN 2008
The Palin Problem
Jonathan Darman 10/25/2008 12:00:00 AM
John McCain's defeat will be a lonely one. The old soldier has always taken pride in proving no one owns him—not his party, not its leaders and, for damn sure, not the ideological purity police of the right. So if the polls prove right, and McCain loses to Barack Obama next Tuesday, no one but him will own his defeat. Already, from every corner of the conservative coalition, the same refrain is rising: nasty, obstinate old fool, he should have listened to me.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Trig's Promise
Samantha Henig 9/5/2008 12:00:00 AM
In her speech at the Republican National Convention yesterday, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin delivered a special message for families of kids with special needs: "I pledge to you that, if we're elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House." When she finished speaking, she stood on stage with her infant son, Trig, who has Down syndrome, cradled in her arms. For advocates of mentally disabled citizens, Palin's pledge marked a rare moment in the spotlight for a set of issues too often hidden in the wings. Donna Martinez, the mother of a 22-year-old with Down syndrome, watched the speech online later that night, because she was on the phone with a mother in the midst of a battle with her son's school to keep him in mainstream classes during Palin's speech in prime time. Martinez says part of her was saying "'Finally! Hooray! I think about how many times, when we hear politicians, that we mumble under our breath, 'You'd understand if you had a child with a disability too.' Well it is her child."