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Tweets of the Week

The Crystal Ball’s Tweets of the Week is a look back at the highlights of the past week in politics in snippets of 140 characters or less. To get this analysis as soon as news breaks, follow University of Virginia Center for Politics Director, and Crystal Ball founder, Larry Sabato on Twitter by clicking here.

1:37 PM Mar 19th: The Senate brawl next week may be more interesting than the House vote. Tempers will flare, outrage aplenty, amendments will whiz by.

5:46 PM Mar 19th: No national celebrations for today’s sesquicentennial of the birth of William Jennings Bryan, the complicated champion of lost causes.

5:49 PM Mar 19th: A pity. The career of the only person ever to be nominated thrice for POTUS by a major party yet never to win is worth studying.

1:42 PM Mar 21st: Did Dems have 216 firm on Friday? No. Was it virtually guaranteed they would by today’s vote? Of course. Party matters. Just Kabuki theater.

1:44 PM Mar 21st: Meanwhile, wasn’t it a gloriously beautiful weekend? And the poor political junkies and wonks missed it for nothing.

9:52 AM Mar 22nd: Our Founders built a system that is inertial. Thus it is difficult to pass big things, taking great sustained energy. Obama and Pelosi agree.

9:54 AM Mar 22nd: Inertia (disinclination to act) works both ways. It will take years of focused, successful effort to repeal health care reform.Odds against.

9:56 AM Mar 22nd: But major alteration possible, maybe probable. Parts won’t work or may be ditched by courts. Some all-GOP govt in future will redesign HCR.

9:59 AM Mar 22nd: Yet permanency is also likely for parts of the new bill due to the underestimated power of inertia. That’s the stuff legacies are made of.

12:25 PM Mar 22nd: $200,000+ are 6% of electorate. Voted Obama 52-46% in ’08–biggest swing of any group from Bush ’04. Will new taxes push them back to GOP?

6:39 PM Mar 22nd: Salary of Member of Congress is $174,000. New health care taxes kick in at $200,000. There is no connection between these two stray facts.

6:43 PM Mar 22nd: GOP making serious error calling for “repeal” rather than “fix” or “major overhaul”. Candidate embracing repeal owns insurance outrages.

6:45 PM Mar 22nd: Preventing companies from cancelling insurance for preexisting conditions or just when you need it most garners up to 90% public approval.

8:25 AM Mar 23rd: A big bill like HCR is always an iceberg. We only see 1/8th; 7/8ths below surface. Much more will come out about run-up & reality in time.

11:02 AM Mar 23rd: One of the worst jobs in the nation: being Joe Biden’s handler. That position is a big f—ing deal.

11:10 AM Mar 23rd: The look of disapproval on Obama’s face, hearing Biden, reminded me of Obama’s expression when Biden made fun of CJ Roberts in Jan 2009.

11:11 AM Mar 23rd: Obama may be criticized for stiffness & using teleprompters, but he has a sense of the dignity of his office. Biden never read that memo.