Does Bush really want to go there?

I noticed recently that one of the new Bush campaign ads, titled “Priorities,” emphasizes the votes John Kerry has missed while on the presidential campaign trail. This strikes me as an unusually dumb move, even for the Bush gang, but let’s explore it a bit. Bush: “I’m George W. Bush, and I approved this message.” […]

The conservative natives are still pretty restless

I know some of you hate the anecdotal articles about Republicans abandoning Bush, but I can’t help myself. I know they offer little, if any, predictive value, but there’s something about reading these items that makes my day a little better. The latest comes from the AP’s Scott Lindlaw who found some pretty high-profile conservatives […]

They can’t even pull off their divisive, election-year stunt properly

There are two things everyone can agree on regarding the vote on the so-called “Federal Marriage Amendment”: a) it isn’t going to pass; and b) it’s a political stunt intended to influence the election. The mechanics of it should be pretty simple, right? Schedule the time, hold a meaningless debate, hold a roll call vote, […]

If Bush stays in public financing, Kerry will stay in, too

I guess we can cancel that debate over whether the Kerry campaign should opt out of public financing. Kerry’s made his decision. After detailed exploration of opting out of the public financing system, key strategists in the presidential campaign of Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) are planning to accept $75 million in federal money for […]

Bush still isn’t making sense about Iraq

The president was in Tennessee (swing state — 11 electoral votes) yesterday, offering his first defense of the war in Iraq since a Senate Intelligence Panel unanimously agreed that every reason the White House offered before the invasion was wrong. So, how did the speech go? Fine, if you discount reason, facts, and common sense. […]

A novel way to deal with media critics

This may be of limited interest outside Maryland, but I thought it was interesting to see how Gov. Bob Ehrlich Jr. (R) has decided to deal with political reporters who’ve been giving him a hard time. He’s throwing them out of the Statehouse building. Maryland’s Statehouse is the oldest capitol building in the United States […]

More encouraging polls

Some will say it’s due to John Edwards, others will say it’s a coincidence, but John Kerry is really hitting his stride in the national polls. The latest results from Newsweek show Kerry leading Bush in a head-to-head match-up, 51% to 45%. The lead is smaller once a certain former consumer advocate is thrown into […]

Delaying the election?

Postponing this year’s presidential election — it’s not just for the tin-foil hat and black-helicopter crowds anymore. It’s actually gone mainstream. This is, to be sure, the kind of thing that makes most of us nervous. Wait, make that “hyperventilate.” In my heart of hearts, even I have found it hard to imagine the Bush […]

Competing spins over a post-convention ‘bounce’

A week ago, the Bush campaign was trying way too hard to lower expectations about Bush’s poll numbers. In an e-mail sent Monday, Matthew Dowd, Bush’s chief strategist, predicted that the race will “swing wildly” in Kerry’s favor within a month. Dowd’s memo included a chart showing that the challenger typically has gained a 15-point […]

The line-up for the Republican National Convention — the fallout continues

It’s been over two weeks now and the GOP in-fighting over the speakers’ list for the Republican National Convention is getting worse, not better. If you’re just joining us, the Republicans announced the convention’s speakers in late June, but the list didn’t include any actual GOP leaders. You had three left-leaning, non-DC Republicans (Rudy Giuliani, […]