Jill Lawrence

The GOP future is here

Opinion Republicans have shown us their future, and Democrats, if they’re smart, should be having a collective anxiety attack. That’s the inescapable impression from the one-two punch of excellent showings by Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in the…

Hold the alarmism on Hillary

Opinion Hillary Clinton’s graceless march toward a 2016 presidential campaign underscores a great paradox of her political standing at this juncture: She is a powerhouse contender with wide appeal, even as she inspires mistrust, investigations,…

The Democratic comeback plan

Opinion There’s no getting over a heartache until you plunge yourself into something (or someone) fresh and consuming. That’s what Democrats should do in the wake of their miserable midterm elections. Specifically, party activists and donors should…

Mitch McConnell's plan to end gridlock

Opinion Most Democrats probably didn’t hear Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., deliver the argument for a Republican Senate in the final GOP weekly address before the midterm elections. That’s lucky for them. If they had been listening, they might still be…

Can women save Democrats in a Republican year?

Opinion Democrats are struggling to hold their Senate majority in the face of a disconcerting paradox: Their traditional edge with women is shrinking even though they are talking incessantly about the very subjects women say they care about most. And…

Republicans' complete dereliction on climate change

Opinion Saving the planet sounds like a cause that should have universal appeal, but in the United States, it’s a partisan issue. A short political history of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) tells the story. The environmental group endorsed…

Obama’s campaign rivals resurface on Iraq

Opinion President Barack Obama can’t seem to catch a break from the people he defeated on the way to the White House. First came Sen. John McCain, who accused him — not for the first time — of having no understanding of what he’s up against in the…

The GOP's mixed message to minorities

Opinion Steven Senne / AP The cognitive dissonance of the Republican Party is something to behold. Consider that national party chairman Reince Priebus was launching a Hispanic Advisory Council in Virginia on the same day that House Republicans…

Don't let the border crisis go to waste

Opinion On its face, the Southwest border crisis makes comprehensive reform of the United States’ broken immigration system seem more hopeless than ever. As a result of the minors streaming in from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the debate is…

The Hobby Lobby effect

Opinion Democrats have been bearing the burden of the unpopular Affordable Care Act for years. They may finally be on the verge of getting some political mileage out of it, thanks to the Supreme Court. Conservatives were ecstatic about the court’s…

The Republican Party’s Goldwater moment

Opinion The final months of the 2014 primary season are going to be scrutinized like an encrypted National Security Agency tweet for hints of where the Republican Party is headed. If the tea party can build on its historic defeat of House Majority…

The Hillary Clinton age trap

Opinion There is no avoiding age as an issue in presidential campaigns. Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and John McCain all had to deal with it, and 2016 prospect Hillary Clinton is already fielding ham-fisted Republican references to her age and health. The…

Why won’t Obama protect gay workers?

Opinion President Barack Obama is following through on his promise to make 2014 a “year of action” even if he has to bypass Congress and do it all by himself. But there’s a glaring gap so far in his unilateral efforts: job protection for gay people,…

Will Democrats let ‘Obamacare’ sink them again?

Opinion After using critiques of the Affordable Care Act as a battering ram to win control of the House of Representatives in 2010, Republicans are now counting on the unpopular health law to help them take over the Senate. They aren’t messing with a…

Rand Paul’s mainstream dreams

Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call Sen. Rand Paul is looking like a prescient and savvy politician these days, the embodiment of public wariness about government spying and intervention in messy faraway conflicts. It is a lucky convergence for a libertarian…

‘Obamacare’ work flexibility creates GOP identity crisis

Sarah Morgan/Getty Images You would expect Republicans to show at least a sliver of enthusiasm for a law that makes it easier for people to start businesses or care for young children. Those are, after all, things they have supported in the past. But…

Stopping Keystone won’t stop climate change

Tom Pennington/Getty Images More than five years after TransCanada’s initial application to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline, it is hard to read the State Department’s 44-page summary (PDF) of its report on the project without concluding that it is…

The ‘woman problem’ Cathy McMorris Rodgers can’t solve

Joshua Roberts/Reuters “Relatable” is the word that comes to mind with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. Though she holds the No. 4 position in the Republican House leadership, her image is all everywoman. Whether she’s sitting on a couch…

Bully blowback

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images What if there was a terrible storm in a state with a Republican governor, and a Democratic president didn’t help? Fortunately for Gov. Chris Christie, that didn’t happen when Superstorm Sandy hit New Jersey in 2012. But…

How poverty stupefies

Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post/Getty Images The U.S. government spends more than $400 billion a year on a massive safety net meant to keep Americans out of poverty. Although maintaining this social insurance is essential, the needlessly ad…