Bush’s failures in making his Social Security pitch include a variety of astounding elements, but for me the most surprising is the White House’s inability to craft a clear, consistent message. These guys eat, sleep, and breathe message discipline, but on the president’s signature domestic policy goal, they can’t keep their pitch on track. On […]
There’s Bush’s view of the world… President Bush insisted Wednesday that public opinion is leaning his way on his proposal for a Social Security overhaul and hinted at political problems for lawmakers who oppose him. Notwithstanding a host of recent polls showing waning public support for his proposal, Bush cited only the part of the […]
No matter how persuasive or accurate their claims, when a Democrat insists that Republicans are overly influenced by far-right theocratic conservatives, it falls on deaf ears. But when Republicans say the same thing about their own party, it’s time to take notice. Connecticut’s Chris Shays (R), for example, sounded pretty disgusted when he told the […]
My new daily feature about campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * A week after the RNC said helping Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum keep his seat is the party’s top ’06 priority, DNC Chairman Howard Dean said the party would do […]
Yesterday, we learned that three Denver residents (Alex Young, Karen Bauer, and Leslie Weise) were removed from a presidential event because one of them drove a car with a liberal bumper sticker. Today, their story started getting some wider play in the media, including articles in the Washington Post and USA Today. Contrary to initial […]
Part of the problem in going after Tom DeLay’s legal and ethical problems has been the fact that most Americans seem unaware of who he is and what he’s done. A new TV ad may very well help change that. The Campaign for America’s Future, backed by labor and other liberal leaders, plans to announce […]
A lot of critics of Bush’s Social Security plan, including me, thought it’d be great to see some Harry-and-Louise style ads out there, undermining the White House scheme. Fortunately, some of our well-financed allies apparently agree. When Bush touches down in Iowa today, TrueMajority will have a radio ad there waiting for him. It’s called […]
If the Bush administration made a good-faith effort to root out and prevent corruption in Iraq, but it happened anyway, I suppose it’d be a little easier to tolerate. But a rather devastating piece in the current issue of Newsweek suggests the Bush gang is well aware of the very expensive corruption, but just doesn’t […]
Yesterday’s White House press briefing, the first in a while, featured a lot of the usual back-and-forth and evasiveness. But there was also a real gem in there that says a great deal about how the Bush gang perceives public debate. McClellan responded to a couple of questions about the citizens removed from a public […]
(Editor’s Note: The Carpetbagger Report, as I’ve mentioned in recent weeks, joined the Coalition for Darfur, a bi-partisan online initiative created to raise awareness and resources to address the crisis. This is the fourth in a series of posts from the Coalition.) In her 2001 article “Bystanders to Genocide,” Pulitzer Prize winning author Samantha Power […]