Word: olmert
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...easy to fill. “There is no single American figure to compare [Sharon] with,” wrote James Bennett in a 2004 New York Times Magazine profile. “He is Andrew Jackson, George Patton, Robert Moses.” Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who may very well become Kadima’s new leader, must develop a viable political vision for the party, complete with specifics for the future progression of Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Sharon’s hawkish credentials made him uniquely capable of taking steps toward peace...
...initial hemorrhage, even showing signs of improvement late last week. But the prognoses from medical experts indicated that he would never return to the tan leather chair at the center of the Cabinet table. And so the country began the wrenching process of moving on. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert inherited Sharon's duties and his suffocating security retinue: a convoy of armored cars reserved for the use of the incapacitated Prime Minister has already been transferred...
...will fill Sharon's shoes? His loyal No. 2, Olmert, has taken over the reins of government and assumed the mantle of leader of Sharon's fledgling party. Olmert has two months before the March 28 elections to prove he deserves the job permanently. Polls taken right after Sharon's hospitalization were encouraging, giving Kadima the same strong showing that the party had polled under Sharon. But analysts warned that there was a huge sympathy factor at play and that once emotions abated, Kadima could start to slide. The party is so new it doesn't even have procedures...
...party seems to be rallying behind Olmert. The wealthy, elegantly dressed 60-year-old attorney with a taste for Havana cigars long ago lost touch with his old, blue-collar Likud constituency. Like Sharon, he has moved far from his hard-right roots to a shrewd pragmatism, becoming an outspoken advocate of separation from the Palestinians. But he lacks his mentor's charisma, military record and popularity with the public...
...electorate knows Olmert is no Ariel Sharon, and the question now is whether voters who were willing to break with their traditional party affiliations in order to support Sharon's new formation are ready to stay the course with a lesser leader, or retreat into their traditional political homes. It's likely that Kadima will shed support now to the traditional parties, but the outcome of an election that once looked drearily predictable is suddenly wide open...