Ideally, I’d like to see the Bush family retreat from the public stage, take anonymous (but no doubt lucrative) gigs on corporate boards, and quietly fade from memory. Alas, when it comes to Florida Gov. [tag]Jeb Bush[/tag], he’s in demand. Could Gov. Jeb [tag]Bush[/tag]’s future be in [tag]football[/tag] instead of politics? While U.S. Secretary 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: * California Gov. [tag]Arnold Schwarzenegger[/tag]’s comeback drive is apparently falling a little short. A new Rasmussen poll shows the actor-turned-politician losing his modest leads over both of his Dem rivals. Schwarzenegger now trials […]
With the political winds blowing against the [tag]GOP[/tag] right now, and a number of [tag]vulnerable[/tag] congressional [tag]Republicans[/tag] feeling a little antsy, there will probably be a sudden urge from a number of GOP lawmakers to start compromising with [tag]Democrats[/tag]. These Republicans are almost desperate to be able to go home and say a) they were […]
Exactly one year ago tomorrow, the [tag]House[/tag] easily passed [tag]bi-partisan[/tag] legislation that would remove restrictions on embryonic [tag]stem cell research[/tag]. The companion measure in the [tag]Senate[/tag] had a filibuster-proof majority, Bill Frist endorsed the bill and vowed to bring it to the floor, and [tag]polls[/tag] showed overwhelming support from the public. Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter wrote […]
It’s common to hear [tag]White House[/tag] [tag]reporters[/tag] criticize the president’s approach to dealing with the press. [tag]Bush[/tag] rarely holds press conferences, routinely gives addresses without responding to journalists’ questions, and when he does interviews, the president prefers to pick reporters from a scripted list and filibuster his way through the discussion to cut down on […]
Arkansas Gov. [tag]Mike Huckabee[/tag] (R) doesn’t hide the fact that he’s seriously planning to seek the GOP presidential nomination in ’08, and as part of his effort to boost his profile, [tag]Huckabee[/tag] sat down with the WaPo’s Chris Cillizza recently to talk about his priorities. One remark in particular stood out. [W]hen it gets down […]
Given the partisan circumstances, you’d think congressional [tag]Republicans[/tag] would be thrilled that the [tag]FBI[/tag] [tag]raid[/tag]ed Rep. [tag]William Jefferson[/tag]’s (D-La.) House office as part of a serious corruption investigation. As it turns out, just the opposite is true. It’s not the federal investigation GOP lawmakers mind — it’s the trespassing. After years of quietly acceding to […]
At a certain level, it seems [tag]Fox News[/tag] is intent on offering [tag]Al Gore[/tag]’s [tag]An Inconvenient Truth[/tag] as much publicity as the network can muster. For a movie with an initial run of a few hundred theaters, FNC is acting awfully nervous. For example, there’s the right’s inevitable [tag]Nazi[/tag] comparison. [tag]Sterling Burnett[/tag] is a senior […]
A couple of months ago, when Maryland Republican gubernatorial hopeful Michael Steele decided not to appear in public with the president, the Bush gang scoffed at the notion that GOP candidates would distance themselves from the president. The RNC’s [tag]Ken Mehlman[/tag] insisted that the [tag]White House[/tag] received more [tag]invitations[/tag] for [tag]president[/tag]ial appearances than [tag]Bush[/tag] could […]
In his speech to the National Restaurant Association yesterday, the [tag]president[/tag] almost addressed the inherent contradiction between balancing the budget and making his irresponsible tax cuts permanent. “We’re absolutely committed to making the tax cuts permanent. The argument you’ll hear is, well, how can you possibly balance the budget if you make the [tag]tax cuts[/tag] […]