US Opinion and Commentary

“VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussion and opinion on these policies.” — VOA Charter

Showing Archived Posts

 The Race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination Is Just Beginning

Posted February 11th, 2016 at 10:30 am (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

Clinton has essentially, and successfully, defined herself as a continuity Democrat, arguing that incremental improvement is all we can hope for. Sanders … believes that in order to bring about change on the scale needed to make a real difference in people’s lives, it will require overturning the prevailing economic and political order…

It’s Only Iowa

Posted February 2nd, 2016 at 3:45 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

The results of the Iowa caucuses matter because they are the very first votes cast in this year’s presidential race. Then again, political experts remind us over and over and over again that there is still a LONG way to go: 49 other nominating contests must take place before either party has a nominee that must then fight it out to win the White House. So, yes, Iowa is just a peculiar snapshot, but the way it all unfolded confirms the nature of this campaign: anti-establishment ideas have traction… and, yes, Donald Trump remains unpredictable: his concession speech to opponent Ted Cruz was low-key and dignified.

Barack, Hillary and Bernie

Posted January 13th, 2016 at 2:24 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

Keeping with tradition, President Obama is traveling to the American heartland to sell his State of the Union message. That message — the country is in better shape than the presidential campaign rhetoric makes it out to be — seems to be aimed helping his party continue to occupy the White House and burnish his legacy. As most of the media attention is focused on the fractious campaign among Republicans, the race between democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is getting closer and more contentious. How unscathed either can emerge will go a long way to determine how shiny the Obama legacy will look.