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Time and attention are the scarcest resources a policymaker has. The best advocates know that getting a piece of that time and attention, and getting that time and attention focused appropriately, makes their preferred solution likely if not inevitable. It is not the pitch for or against a bill alone that wins the day, but…

Former White House senior advisor Ron Klain recently argued that Democrats should echo “Ronald Reagan’s invocation of the ‘shining city upon a hill’” and “claim…the concept of American exceptionalism — for their own.” I would take Klain’s argument a step further. Democrats should embrace the premise of American exceptionalism – civil religion – as a…

People whose opinions I respect and who know the Senator tell me he is a good, honorable, caring man. I also hope that’s true. But I mostly hope that he is a clever, calculating, ambitious politician with his eyes on the White House. He could of course be both; the best politicians know that good…

Eight weeks ago I wrote a piece for the Independent Journal Review arguing we should take Speaker Ryan at his word, and that if he violated his pledge we should call him out. He did, and I did.

Modern Political Communication and Rhetoric Spring 2016 Final Exam After four years at GW you launch into a successful career as a political strategist. The work is fun and financially rewarding. You help elect some good people, help advance some good policies, and generally carve out a good niche over a couple decades in D.C….

My latest piece for the Independent Journal Review   If our elected leaders are keepers of the faith of civil religion, and if politics is how we all express that faith, we have an obligation to both respect the position leaders hold and honor the politics through which we express our faith. Candidates and legislators…