Mississippi is home to one of the more successful anti-smoking programs in the country. Between 1999 and 2004, the program reduced smoking by 48% among public middle school students (from 23% to 12%) and by 32% among public high school students (from 32.5% to 22.1%). Naturally, Mississippi’s Republican governor, Haley Barbour, who happens to be […]
The far-right base is gearing up for the next presidential race, but they’re looking at the field and noticing something disconcerting: the leading candidates aren’t nearly right-wing enough for their tastes. A year ago, few could have predicted that the three front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination would be a U.S. senator who favors embryonic […]
Paul Mirengoff at Powerline recently admitted to having a poor memory. “I may be missing someone,” Mirengoff said, “but the only high-profile administration offical [sic] I can think of who has faced criminal charges or had to resign in the face of scandal is Scooter Libby, who worked for the Vice President and who is […]
It’s been a week since we learned about the president and Sen.-elect Jim Webb (D-Va.) having a little dust-up over the war in Iraq. If you’re just joining us, Bush approached Webb at a White House reception and asked, “How’s your boy?” (Webb’s son is a Marine serving in Iraq.) Webb said, “I’d like to […]
Defense Secretary nominee [tag]Robert Gates[/tag], this morning. Asked if he thought the United States was winning the war in Iraq, Defense secretary nominee Robert Gates answered with a simple “no.” Incoming Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D- Michigan, asked the question during Gates’ Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday. George W. [tag]Bush[/tag], six weeks ago: […]
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: * According to The Des Moines Register, “Sen. Hillary Clinton began making calls Monday to Iowa Democrats about the state’s political landscape with an eye toward its 2008 presidential nominating caucuses…. ‘She’s begun […]
I’ve grown increasingly frustrated of late with what passes for John McCain’s “straight talk,” in large part because it usually doesn’t make a lot of sense. Consider his latest gem. John McCain, who’s positioning himself as the GOP primary’s uber-hawk, today made it clear that there’s only one option he considers unacceptable for Iraq: compromise. […]
I “met” Tom Schaller a little more than three years ago after he wrote a provocative piece for the Washington Post arguing that Democrats should stop trying to compete in the South, especially in regard to presidential politics. I’d written something rather critical of Tom’s Post piece, prompting him to email me with a detailed […]
I should probably make one thing clear about the 2008 race and The Carpetbagger Report: I plan to remain neutral, at least as far as the Democratic primary race goes. I like several of the major candidates, but won’t officially take sides. Readers can expect me to say supportive and derogatory things about each of […]
For far too many on the right, Iraq can’t be Bush’s fault because, well, it just can’t. To hold him responsible for the calamity would be to label his presidency a tragedy. This is not to say the “blame game” should be avoided, only that fingers should be pointed away from the commander in chief. […]