Political Junkie

“It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.” This phrase appeared at the end of the opening titles to President Trump’s long-running, successful reality TV show “The Apprentice.” Because Donald Trump and the contestants on both the regular and celebrity versions of the show understood this, he maintained good relationships with most of the participants even after he fired them.  Erin Elmore , Herschel Walker, Stephen Baldwin, Gary Busey, and Trace Adkins, to  name a few  former “Apprentice” cast members, have all jumped on the Trump Train even after he directed his infamous phrase “you’re fired” at them. The guiding principle of “It’s nothing personal, it’s just business” carried over into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Throughout his campaign, Trump made several business decisions designed to strengthen his hand as he sought to accumulate the number of delegates necessary to clinch the Republican nomination. One such decision involved  replacing  hi...

Nearly two years ago, I wrote a  blog  titled “Advantages of Living in the Swamp,” explaining the reasoning behind my three-month long absence from this blog; namely, my life-changing internship with the National Journalism Center in Reston, Virginia.  I closed the blog by noting that “I remain optimistic about a possible return to the Swamp in the near future.” I can now report that my long-desired return to the Swamp has finally become a reality.  I have spent the past couple of weeks getting acclimated to my new surroundings as I wait to begin my new job, which will involve a lot of writing and policy research involving one of the most important political issues facing the country, next week. Living in the Swamp has presented me with a new set of challenges; after all, living independently means big changes for someone who has spent all but three months of his life living with his parents. After considering Wi-Fi a given at my parents’ house, I ha...

With less than a year to go until the 2020 election, the Republicans’ path to retaking the House majority will likely require them to pick up at least 20 seats.   The Democrats had hoped that the Supreme Court would rule differently in a series of cases surrounding partisan gerrymandering.   Had the Supreme Court sided with Eric Holder and all those who have gone on a crusade against “partisan map-rigging” (but only when it’s done by the Republicans), they would have struck down Republican-drawn maps in Michigan and Ohio and completely upended the battle for the House in 2020.   The only positive development for the GOP would have come in Maryland, which has the most ridiculous-looking Congressional districts in the country as a result of the Democrats’ vast efforts to ensure that they control seven of the state’s eight seats in the House of Representatives.   While liberals struck out at the Supreme Court this year, they have successfully gotten judges at the s...