For completely unknown reasons, this is the shortest Poll Day ever. There just weren’t a lot of state polls released this week, despite the abundance of national polls available. As a result, I only have results from five states — the stingiest since I started this Friday tradition a couple of months ago. Don’t blame […]
There are several items online today about Bush and other administration officials intentionally avoiding the news — and being proud of it. This is not an entirely new story, of course. We’ve known for some time that the president revels in the fact that he doesn’t follow the mainstream press. “I glance at the headlines, […]
I noticed today that Bush is heading to Wisconsin (swing state — 10 electoral votes) to “showcase the softer side of his political agenda.” You know what that means. It’s time to hear about “compassionate” conservatism. Of course, no one really knows exactly what that phrase means. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) once called the line […]
One could easily launch a tirade against Bush’s plan for a so-called ballistic missile defense “shield” on a daily basis. Of all of the dumb ideas promoted by this White House, this has to be…well, in the top five. Slate’s Fred Kaplan has written the best stuff I’ve seen anywhere on this topic, spanning several […]
I liked everything about John Kerry’s swing through Arkansas yesterday. He was campaigning in a key southern state where the polls show a very close race, while traveling alongside Wesley Clark and touting him as a possible running mate. But Kerry also emphasized two of my favorite campaign points — the “military vote” and a […]
Two months ago, the Justice Department announced that it was launching a formal criminal probe into the scandal surrounding GOP Hill staffers stealing thousands of confidential Dem documents. The DOJ had even appointed a qualified U.S. attorney — David Kelley — to head the investigation. It sounded like this was really going somewhere. That was […]
And as long as I’m praising reporters for responsible journalism (see below), let me also point out a terrific article in today’s New York Times about the health care policies of Kerry and Bush. What’s so terrific about it? As Ezra Klein noted, it’s a (gasp!) substantive, issue-driven article that (another gasp!) compares the two […]
I whine bitterly when reporters do this incorrectly, so I figure it’s only fair that I praise a reporter for getting it right. As I’ve said on probably too many occasions, it’s terribly frustrating when journalists, in the name of some ambiguous “balance,” refuse to draw conclusions. They’re so afraid of being accused of bias, […]
I know, in my heart of hearts, that Joe Lieberman isn’t in the same league as fake-Dems like Zell Miller. But, somehow, he seems to be getting closer all the time. For example, you know it’s a problem when Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is tougher on the administration than Lieberman is. Last week, Lieberman raised the […]
When we last left our Capitol Hill adventure, Senate Dems were using every parliamentary trick they could think of (or, if you’re a Republican, every “obstructionist tactic” they can think of) to block the GOP agenda. Dems, who have been denied opportunities to participate in the process, feel like they have no other choice. Roles […]