I suppose it’s possible for a Defense Secretary to come up with a worse response to questions about a disastrous war, I’m just not sure what it would be. With his chorus of critics expanding deeper into Republican ranks, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told detractors yesterday to pull back as U.S. and Iraqi officials […]
The right is all atwitter with revelations, leaked to the Drudge Report, that Virginia Democratic Senate candidate [tag]Jim Webb[/tag], an accomplished and successful [tag]novel[/tag]ist, included a racy fictional scene in one of his books about a pedophile. It seems like a relatively odd thing to base the campaign on, but Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) is […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. (It’s a little bit longer than usual, but there’s a lot of good stuff in the news — and in my inbox — today.) * In light of recent speculation, it was only a matter of time before we saw our first national poll gauging Barack Obama’s presidential prospects. Fox […]
I knew the Michael J. Fox ad was powerful, but I may have underestimated its punch. A new national study revealed that American voters’ support for stem cell research increased after they viewed an ad featuring Michael J. Fox in which he expresses his support for candidates who are in favor of stem cell research. […]
I noticed that both Josh Marshall and Charles Pierce referred to Rep. Jean Schmidt as “stupid” today, so I was curious what all the fuss was about. It turns out they were onto something. You may recall that Schmidt helped drag the House down to one of it’s lowest points last year when she lashed […]
In 1982, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley (D) appeared to be well on his way to winning California’s gubernatorial race. Polls showed him with a big lead … and then the results came in and Bradley came up just short. Some political scientists created a label for the new-found problem — the “Bradley Effect” — […]
Following up on an earlier post, reader R.M. suggested I missed the really interesting part of Dick Cheney’s interview with WDAY’s Scott Hennen. In retrospect, R.M. is probably right. Q: Are the terrorists trying to influence our election in your view? Cheney: I think they’re very much aware of our political calendar here, I really […]
On Tuesday’s edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, CBS White House correspondent Jim Axelrod mentioned that he’s spoken with some White House officials about possible changes to the president’s policy for the war in Iraq. He added what should have been a rather startling comment. AXELROD: Well, the White House is in […]
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: * It looks like the California gubernatorial race has just about slipped away. With less than two weeks remaining, a new Public Policy Institute of California poll shows Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) leading […]
When it comes to discussing specific types of “alternative interrogation techniques,” the White House has a very firm policy about sticking to generalities. Just last week, for example, the president sat down with Bill O’Reilly, and the Fox News personality brought up waterboarding, prompting Bush to say, “We don’t talk about techniques.” O’Reilly followed up, […]