Dean’s wife’s religion must not be a campaign issue

Suddenly, Howard Dean’s interest in integrating religious rhetoric into his campaign is all-the-rage with political reporters, leading to two major articles over the weekend in the Washington Post and the New York Times. The issue also came up in yesterday’s debate in Iowa. Dean defended his sudden inclusion of religious rhetoric, saying, “I have to […]

Does Bush really need all that time off?

Aaron at naw noticed a terrific tidbit in a Washington Post article about Bush’s New Year break in Texas. Mark Knoller of CBS News, scrupulous keeper of records of presidential activity, reports that this visit is Bush’s 29th to his Texas ranch as president, so he has stopped at the ranch on all but three […]

Bill Safire’s bizarre appearance on Meet the Press

Was is it me or did Bill Safire look awful yesterday on Meet the Press? I’m certainly not a regular fan of his work, but yesterday, the guy came across as barely coherent. He spoke interminably about his own use of the word “energize,” he appeared to have trouble remembering President Bush’s name, and he […]

Clark’s ‘Big Idea’ is a major tax reform proposal

Wesley Clark, after teasing the release of a “big idea” last week, unveiled the proposal this morning — a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code. At first glance, this looks like a political winner for Clark. Under the Clark plan, the top .1% of taxpayers will have their tax bracket increased by 5%, but […]

Good news, bad news on two party switchers

Last week saw two relatively high-profile political figures switch their party affiliation, one leaving the Dem Party to become a Republican, and the other leaving the GOP to become a Dem. While it’s never a good thing to have a public official abandon, and effectively denounce, your party, I’m inclined to argue that the Dems’ […]

What’s new with the Plame Game scandal?

Actually, there have been a few interesting developments since Friday. The Washington Post (which, by the way, seems to be the only paper interested in covering this scandal in any real detail) got the ball rolling — again — with an item from Mike Allen questioning whether the leaking of an undercover CIA agent’s identity […]