BLINKERED THINKER

Michael Barone is, in Blinkered Thinker’s nugatory opinion, eminently listenable and readable. He is an evenhanded commentator (and Fox News contributor) and careful writer whose works have been published in many national magazines. And he is the editor (co-editor?) of The Almanac of American Politics.

Mr. Barone’s latest US News & World Report opinion piece is interwoven with equitable opinions, for example:

So, although the new Democratic committee chairmen of the 110th Congress will be a pretty old bunch, notably older and more senior than their counterparts–the ranking minority members–they are also in I think every case highly able people fully in command of their very considerable faculties.

and lapidary historical references, e.g.,

The Democratic rules [for committee chairs] were the product of the late Phillip Burton, whose San Francisco seat is held today by incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi. After the 1974 election, Burton and other liberals wanted to have committee chairmen elected one by one by the Democratic caucus; the previous procedure was to have the caucus vote on a list on which in each case the senior Democrat was the nominee for chairman.

Speaker Carl Albert made a concession: There would be an election for chairman of a particular committee if a certain number of members signed a petition calling for one. Presumably Albert thought that few members would want to arouse the ire of a chairman by signing such a petition. Burton got around this by getting the required number of members to sign petitions calling for an election of every chairman. No offense, guys; we’re not after you, we just want elections for everyone. Albert gave in, and Democrats have been electing chairmen ever since.

Although Mr. Barone has done a lot of TV work over the years, e.g., Brit Hume, McLaughlin Group, it is evident that he is a writer first. Check out his other nonfiction work, usually about politics. BT does not read each edition of The Almanac, but this continuously updated reference manual can give one the lowdown on any remote congressperson or district and much more.
His latest US News piece is here and his Almanac can be purchased here