I think Ken Mehlman’s message about Republicans and race is a good start. But that’s all it is, and it only goes half way to acknowledging a much broader problem. It was called “the southern strategy,” started under Richard M. Nixon in 1968, and described Republican efforts to use race as a wedge issue — […]
Since the Bush administration already uses tax dollars to subsidize public school curricula that teaches kids that HIV can be spread through sweat and tears, I guess it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that the same administration would create a website with bogus information about sexual health. It’s par for the course with this gang. […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * A new SurveyUSA poll released this week once again lists support for each of the nation’s 50 governors. North Dakota’s John Hoeven (R) is on top with a 74% approval rating, while […]
This week, we’ve learned the greatest enemy the Republicans can think of is Joseph Wilson. The GOP talking points issued earlier this week included six principal arguments, literally all of which sought to undermine Wilson’s credibility. Now, however, it seems the right-wing machine is shifting gears towards a new enemy: Time’s Matt Cooper. From a […]
For reasons that I’ve never fully understood, the president has excelled in recent years as someone people trust. Even when voters don’t agree with him on an issue, the idea goes, Bush is at least credible and consistent. A “say what you mean, mean what you say” type. This has never made any sense, but […]
One interesting part of the Rove defense strategy is its similarity to the approach Rove used during the presidential election: Play to the base. When it was Bush on the campaign trail, that meant ignoring outreach to anyone who wasn’t a Republican, creating a partisan bubble around the president, and rallying the hard-core sycophants. The […]
Arnold Schwarzenegger has picked enough fights and been just incompetent enough to drive his approval ratings down and dim his re-election chances, but it’s recklessness like this that makes one wonder if he’s completely lost his mind. Two days before he was sworn into office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger accepted a consulting job paying an estimated […]
Even though the White House refuses to comment publicly on the Plame scandal and Karl Rove’s involvement in it, the White House press briefings continue to offer some interesting comments. Yesterday, for example, Scott McClellan started feeling sorry for himself. Q: The Washington Times editorial page this morning published a cartoon comparing White House correspondents […]
Newt Gingrich may not be particularly athletic, but you, too, can watch with amazement as he moves goal posts while barely lifting a finger. June 2004: Q: Given — given recent developments in the CIA leak case, particularly Vice President Cheney’s discussions with the investigators, do you still stand by what you said several months […]
Now here’s a name we haven’t heard for a while: Ari Fleischer. Bloomberg reported today (via Froomkin, Holden, Atrios) that our old friend Fleischer may play a role in the Plame scandal as well. Rove is not the only potential subject for Fitzgerald’s probe…. People familiar with the inquiry say Fitzgerald also is reviewing testimony […]