Bethany Mandel

Bethany Mandel writes on politics and culture.

Articles

Politics

Ted Cruz brings on Carly Fiorina in a last-ditch attempt at a miracle

A cult favorite from the late 80s, The Princess Bride, is one of Ted Cruz’s favorite movies. And so, it’s perhaps fitting to quote from the film about the Texas Senator’s decision to choose California  businesswoman Carly Fiorina as his running mate, as he did the day after losing five major primaries on Tuesday.  In this scene, Miracle […]

Politics

New York votes for two of the least-likeable candidates in American history

New Yorkers aren’t used to their votes counting. In normal Presidential elections, New York State’s electoral college votes are always immediately assumed to fall in the Democrats’ column. As soon as the polls close on the East Coast, before a single vote is counted, the state is declared in favor of Democrats. For the first […]

America

Establishment Republicans forced to open their eyes to a Trump presidency

Last night, Democrat Hillary Clinton all but locked in her party’s nomination for President. On the Republican side, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, after losing his own state, suspended his campaign, leaving Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich in the race against Trump. While Kasich has a statistically impossible road to the nomination, […]

Politics

The Clinton campaign’s risky election strategy

When Hillary Clinton ran for a Senate seat in New York State, many accused the former First Lady of “carpetbagging,” a term for when an outsider comes into a new area seeking private gain through business or, in Hillary’s case, politics. Despite large amounts of dissatisfaction with the practice, Clinton won the seat anyway and […]

Politics

CPAC Republicans subdued in the face of Trumpism

If you’ve never been to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), hosted every year in Washington, DC by the American Conservative Union (ACU) you might expect a dull, stuffy affair attended by old men smoking cigars in dimly lit rooms. In reality the conference is almost always attended by a large chunk of media, interested […]

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Dream to nightmare: Clinton vs Trump

Last night in Nevada, record numbers of residents turned out in order to “caucus” for their preferred candidate, with over 73,000 voters showing up at the polls to choose the Republican nominee. Four years ago, the last time a caucus was held, only 32,000 showed up, and four years prior, 44,000. Clearly the excitement was […]

America

Racing Rubio rising. Trump tumbling?

During the New Hampshire debate, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took what at the time seemed like a fatal punch at Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Several times, Christie fired at Rubio, claiming the young Hispanic Senator was robotic, delivering the same canned answer no matter the question. After Rubio finished fifth in the New Hampshire […]

Politics

New Hampshire votes against the establishment

Several hours after the polls closed in New Hampshire last night, it appeared that the night’s two winners, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, were leading the next most popular candidate of their party by a margin of about twenty points. Their victories, and the voter turnout, appear to have been historic in the state which […]

Politics

In Iowa, a win for Cruz and Conservatism

Last night’s Iowa caucus had several narratives. As Tim Montgomerie wrote earlier today, it wasn’t just a victory for the victors. The fact that Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist, came within just a few votes of victory after Hillary Clinton had been leading in double digits speaks to the fact that Clinton’s inevitability doesn’t seem quite […]

Politics

How Ted Cruz lost last night’s debate

Last night, for the first time, the Republicans vying for their party’s nomination duked it out without Donald Trump. As a result, it was a much more substantive and in depth debate than we’ve seen so far. Without Trump’s personal insults and goofy faces, Americans got a real look at the actual professionals running for […]

Politics

Millennials, feminists have little love for Clinton

Last night’s Democratic Townhall debate on CNN was much of the same for anyone who has watched previous debates between socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. At the last debate, Hillary stumbled over her words and at this one, she appeared to have downed […]

Politics

Trump supporters are new and unknown

Donald Trump supporters are an enigma to most “Establishment” Republicans — those working in politics for a living. Despite the fact that the candidate is polling between 30 and 40 percent in most surveys of the GOP nominating contest, few who work in politics professionally know a single Donald Trump voter. In the Washington Examiner, […]

Politics

Has her party set Hillary up for failure?

The Democratic Party wants as few people as possible to watch the Democratic debates, obviously. The point is to protect the party’s presumptive nominee from facing any serious challenges before her elevation to the historic position of first ever female candidate for President of the United States. Based on her performance last night, however, protecting […]