David S. Broder

Recent stories written by David S. Broder

Playing what's dealt in Afghanistan (11/15/2009)

The more President Barack Obama examines our options in Afghanistan, the less he likes the choices he sees. But, as the old saying goes, to govern is to choose – and he has stretched the internal debate to the breaking point.

As Honor Flights soar, new idea born (11/8/2009)

A couple weeks before Veterans Day, I went down to the World War II Memorial on the Mall to join Bob and Elizabeth Dole and a group of elderly soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen from her hometown of Salisbury, N.C., who had been flown to Washington that morning to get their first view of the nation's tribute to the troops that helped defeat Hitler's forces.

Nervous voters turn to GOP (11/5/2009)

A year after Barack Obama's election stirred broad hopes for change among American voters, persistent high unemployment and the spectacle of continued gridlock in Washington threaten Democratic dominance of the political landscape.

A bellwether for Obama's influence (11/1/2009)

The first key votes of the Obama era take place this week, not on the floor of the House or Senate, where health care legislation still languishes, but in Virginia, New Jersey and northern New York state, where President Obama's endorsements of threatened Democratic candidates will test his political clout a year after his own election.

Fiscal debt too big to put off (10/25/2009)

When I wrote a few days ago about the growing nervousness of moderate Senate Democrats over the approaching vote to raise the federal debt limit, I had no idea how quickly evidence of that shift in the political winds would appear.

Business, GOP not aligned on reform (10/11/2009)

One of the intriguing mysteries of this year is why the initial broad support from American business for overhauling the health care system has not translated into more than a handful of votes from Republicans in the House and Senate.

Obama's next moves telling (10/4/2009)

Barack Obama has reached the moment of truth for answering the persistent question about his core beliefs and political priorities. The coming votes in the House and Senate on his signature health care reform effort will tell us more about the president than anything so far in his White House tenure.

Obama's team is working (9/27/2009)

For President Barack Obama, last week was rather like a major exam on his skills as a diplomat and architect of foreign policy. He can count on being tested again and again by unexpected events. But in his debut at the United Nations and as host to the G-20 economic powers in Pittsburgh, Obama was given more scrutiny by foreign leaders and domestic constituencies than at any other time in his first year in office.

Baucus' balancing act proves difficult (9/20/2009)

In the early 1970s when Max Baucus, now the senior senator from Montana and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, was contemplating entering politics, he sought advice from many veteran public servants.

President's reassurance a step back (9/13/2009)

A great speech is a combination of words and music, of content and color, of substance and emotion. When the speech is as important as the health care address that President Barack Obama delivered to Congress on Wednesday night, it is worthwhile to go back and analyze the parts.

CIA probe a bad precedent (9/6/2009)

My friend and fellow columnist Eugene Robinson has written a characteristically passionate and well-reasoned piece commending Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to name a special counsel to examine possible law-breaking by interrogators of terrorist subjects during the last administration.

Tough days ahead for Obama (8/30/2009)

I sure hope that President Barack Obama and his family enjoyed their week's vacation on Martha's Vineyard, because what he faces on his return to Washington is sheer hell.

A life of ambition, kindness (8/27/2009)

When I first encountered him in Beckley, W.Va., in the spring of 1960, Ted Kennedy was an impossibly handsome 28-year-old campaigning for his big brother in the Democratic primary against Hubert Humphrey.