About two weeks ago, Kevin Drum noted an interesting observation from Mark Hertsgaard about an effective political opposition to Bush in his second term. “History doesn’t give us much evidence [of the press being tougher on a president in his second term],” says author Mark Hertsgaard. “Look at the Reagan era. The media certainly didn’t […]
Once again, Bush seems to be confused about his friends in Pakistan. From an Oval Office event over the weekend with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, by way of Noam Scheiber: “One of the interesting lessons that the world can look at is Pakistan. You see, there are some in the world who do not believe […]
This wasn’t the biggest political story of the weekend, but I found it amusing. When he addressed the annual awards dinner of American Banker, the trade newspaper, at the New York Palace Hotel last Wednesday, Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts had one question: “At the level of pay that those of you who run banks […]
The NYT had an interesting item today about the sophisticated marketing strategy the Bush campaign used in targeting its audience. Reading it, you realize that these guys, misguided though they may be, are good at what they do. My friend PWalker, however, noted one tidbit from the article that warrants additional attention. The data also […]
The relationship between the Bush White House and the AARP has been, shall we say, complicated. Last year, the seniors’ group reluctantly endorsed Bush’s Medicare scheme, much to the consternation of the organization’s membership. From there, the administration and the AARP drifted, leading Bush to blow off the group’s national conference in October — despite […]
You’ve probably heard reports about exit polls showing big gains for Republicans among Hispanic voters this year. You may not have heard, however, that those gains were terribly exaggerated. NBC News on Friday revised its estimated support that President Bush received from Hispanics on election day from 44 percent down to 40 percent. Support for […]
I continue to disagree with incoming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on some social issues, but I continue to be impressed with him as a party leader. Yesterday, Reid was on Meet the Press, which was his first major interview since the election (and his promotion). As far as I’m concerned, he said all the […]
I’ve been anxious to see how the GOP would react to the new revelations concerning the wildly incorrect information federally-funded abstinence programs offer to students. Would they attack the messenger? Pretend they didn’t hear about the problems? Embrace the lies as the appropriate lessons? Bill Frist, at least yesterday, came close to saying the right […]
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, in announcing his resignation Friday, said there’s one fear that keeps him up at night. Thompson had said he worries “every single night” about a possible terror attack on the food supply, and despite dramatic increases in inspections of food imports, only “a very minute amount” of food is tested at […]
There were a few internal Carpetbagger matters I wanted to briefly bring to readers’ attention. First, many of you wrote in with positive feedback regarding my guest-posters during my short respite last week. In particular, many of you enjoyed Morbo’s musings. With this in mind, and because he volunteered, Morbo will be contributing fairly regularly […]