Republicans clearly had a bad day on Tuesday, with key defeats nationwide. This is when GOP spin doctors, who can put a positive face on almost anything, prove their worth. Or not. TNR’s Franklin Foer obtained a copy of the talking points distributed yesterday morning by the National Republican Congressional Committee. It was the usual […]
Scott McClellan was asked today how he’d respond to Dems’ arguments that yesterday’s election results show that the president is a drag on Republicans. McClellan said campaigns tend to hinge on state issues, not federal. “I’m sure [Democrats are] going to say a lot of things like that, but I think the facts say otherwise. […]
A recent CBS News poll asked Americans whether they consider the Plame scandal a serious matter. Despite the fact that the leak controversy didn’t generate many headlines during most of the two-year investigation, the public responded strongly — 86% said it’s important, while only 12% said it’s not important, making it the most serious scandal, […]
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which does excellent non-partisan work, has published its latest report on public opinion. There are a lot of interesting details in there — Bush’s approval rating is down to 36%, a plurality believes the WH lied about Iraq, Bush’s support among Republicans has steadily declined […]
The Blue Dog Coalition is made up of 36 conservative Dems, all of whom are the type of Dems party activists find terribly frustrating for not being nearly liberal enough. They’re also the same Dems Republicans will reach out to when there’s a close vote, because they know the Blue Dogs are prone to break […]
Two weeks ago, executives from the oil industry announced unprecedented windfall profits. Exxon Mobil announced that its third-quarter net income jumped 75%, to $9.92 billion. Its profit in the first nine months of this year — $25.42 billion — already equals its full-year earnings for 2004, and the company’s sales are expected to exceed those […]
Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) is a very conservative lawmaker from a reliably Republican district in a consistently “red” state. And after yesterday’s results, even Hayworth doesn’t want to be seen with Bush in his home district. You may know J.D. Hayworth as the Arizona Republican caught up in Jack Abramoff’s mess, as a member of […]
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: * Now that Republican officials have come up dry looking for Senate candidates they can support in Florida, they’re prepared to re-embrace Rep. Katherine Harris. Harris acknowledged yesterday that she’s had some difficulties […]
The Washington Post reported this week that when it comes to tolerating torture, Dick Cheney is not the leading voice, he’s the only voice. A State Department official described Cheney’s camp as a “shrinking island.” Condoleezza Rice isn’t on the island, and as of yesterday, neither is intelligence czar John Negroponte. Yesterday, this isolation became […]
Late last week, Bush ordered the entire White House staff to attend mandatory briefings on ethical behavior and the handling of classified materials. The Bush gang made a point of emphasizing that everyone has to take the refresher course; the memo to the staff specifically explains, “There will be no exceptions.” Unfortunately, it depends on […]