Program Directory

City Club of Cleveland - Norman J. Ornstein, Political Scientist

City Club of Cleveland

Norman Ornstein is a long-time observer of Congress and politics. He writes a weekly column for Roll Call called, "Congress Inside Out" and is an election analyst for CBS News. He is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. His work has given him the reputation of being centrist and non-partisan.

His most recent book, the New York Times bestseller, It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism, with Thomas Mann, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, was published in May by Basic Books. In their most recent work, Ornstein and Mann blame Republicans for unprecedented obstruction in Congress. Ornstein cites several quotes from Senator Mitch McConnell in which the Minority Leader bragged that his goal since January 2009 has been gridlock and the denial of a second term for President Obama.

In sum, according to Ornstein, gridlock in the Senate has caused a record number of filibusters and other forms of obstruction because the Republicans want it that way.

September 7, 2012