nomination process

Smith As the White House pleads for bipartisan support of a massive federal stimulus plan, congressional Democrats and Republicans are maneuvering, strategizing, nervously seeking partners in an awkward legislative first dance that may determine whether Barack Obama makes good on his promise to bring change to Washington, suggests Steven S. Smith, a congressional expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

SmithThe 2008 Iowa Caucuses may be the last time the conservative Midwestern state exerts such a huge influence on the presidential nomination process, predicts WUSTL expert Steven S. Smith.

Steven SmithToday’s Iowa Caucuses may be the last in which the largely rural, sparsely populated and predominately white conservative Midwestern state exerts such a huge influence on the presidential nomination process, predicts Steven S. Smith, a political expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

As the Senate prepares to consider nominees for two Supreme Court vacancies, some liberals fear that President Bush will use the opportunity to pack the High Court with conservative-leaning justices, pushing the law of the land dramatically to the right for years to come. However, a new book on the history of America’s judicial nomination process offers compelling evidence that a president’s ability to perpetuate personal political legacies through court appointments tends to be both short-lived and unpredictable. When it comes to the politics of Supreme Court nominees, president’s don’t always get what they want, suggests WUSTL Supreme Court expert Lee Epstein.