Friday’s political round-up

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: * In case there was any doubt that Rep. Katherine Harris’ (R) Senate campaign in Florida is in big trouble, the latest Quinnipiac poll should clear things up. Earlier this week, a Republican […]

Seizing the port

Call it opportunism, exploitation, or just common-sense politics in an election year, but the Dem campaign committees are milking the Dubai Ports World controversy for all it’s worth. Turning the Republicans’ mantra from the 2002 and 2004 campaign cycles on its head, the DCCC Wednesday blasted Republicans for being held to a “pre-9/11” mindset while […]

How could Blagojevich not know?

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has had some ups and downs lately, but he still has a core group of advisors he can rely on to keep him on track, particularly in this re-election year. Unfortunately, none of them happened to mention what to expect from an interviewer from “The Daily Show.” Blagojevich says he […]

Indiscriminate demagoguery

The conventional wisdom tells us that the Bush White House places loyalty to the Republican cause at the top of its priority list. This is slightly off-base — the Bush gang places loyalty to them above everything. Consider, for example, what Gordon England, Bush’s deputy defense secretary, argued yesterday. If the furor over the port […]

Should Republicans be allowed to adopt?

Earlier this month, a far-right Republican state lawmaker in Ohio introduced a measure that would prohibit gay adoption. This week, a Dem state senator decided to make a point — by unveiling a proposal barring Republicans from being adoptive parents. State Sen. Robert Hagan sent out e-mails to fellow lawmakers late Wednesday night, stating that […]

White House accepts delay

Earlier this week, the president was unyielding in the face of congressional complaints about the Dubai Ports World deal. “They ought to listen to what I have to say about this,” Bush said. “They ought to look at the facts, and understand the consequences of what they’re going to do. But if they pass a […]

When the Pentagon helps kill a news story

CBS News Pentagon correspondent David Martin seemed to have a pretty important scoop about Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq. We didn’t hear about it, of course, because administration officials convinced him to kill the story. “This week I killed a story about the battle against Improvised Explosive Devices after a senior military officer told […]

‘People don’t need to worry about security’

Well, this is a quote Bush may have trouble living down. President Bush on Thursday defended his administration’s decision to allow a company from an Arab country to operate six major U.S. ports, saying, “People don’t need to worry about security.” There are a few presidential critics who disagree. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee published […]

Housekeeping

Just to let readers know, I started today as a co-contributor to Salon.com’s Daou Report. It might occasionally affect my blogging schedule, though I expect to post the same amount of content. This is just an FYI announcement. And now, back to the news….

Conservatives are happier, but they’re the only ones

George Will tried to explain today the big difference between the left and right these days: liberals are less happy. A survey by the Pew Research Center shows that conservatives are happier than liberals — in all income groups. While 34 percent of all Americans call themselves “very happy,” only 28 percent of liberal Democrats […]