For years, [tag]New York Times[/tag] columnist [tag]Thomas Friedman[/tag] has, comically, given the administration an almost never-ending series of six-month intervals to get [tag]Iraq[/tag] right. Last week, Friedman’s overly-patient approach ended and he announced that he was fed up with the war. “The longer we maintain a unilateral failing strategy in Iraq,” he concluded, “the harder […]
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: * Pennsylvania Gov. [tag]Ed Rendell[/tag] (D) continues to excel on the campaign trail and a new Quinnipiac poll shows his double-digit lead getting even bigger over former football player [tag]Lynn Swann[/tag] (R). The […]
As part of an apparent drive to highlight the president’s new-found interest in competing ideas, the White House hosted a 90-minute meeting yesterday with Bush, his war cabinet, and several outside experts yesterday to discuss the war in Iraq in considerable detail. It reportedly included a wide range of ideas — but I’m still not […]
It was surprising when MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough did a 10-minute segment last night on the question of whether the president’s limited intellectual strengths undermine the nation. It was even more surprising when MSNBC kept up the tagline “Is Bush An ‘Idiot’?” for the entire 10 minutes. Scarborough, to his credit, didn’t exactly shill for the […]
On Monday, Roll Call reported that Sen. [tag]Joe Lieberman[/tag] (I) has little to fear for abandoning his party and rejecting the will of primary voters. The paper reported that “key [tag]Democrats[/tag] aren’t anticipating outward signs of friction between the Connecticut lawmaker and his colleagues,” and there are few if any signs of tension between Lieberman […]
Maryland has a crowded Democratic Senate primary, in which the candidates largely agree with one another on all the major issues of the day. Distinguishing oneself is a challenge, but Rep. Ben Cardin (D), a leading congressional proponent of cancer research and screening, thinks he’s found a niche (via Minipundit). With a month to go […]
Josh Marshall received a fascinating email yesterday, which prompted one of those posts I wish I’d written. It definitely struck a chord with me. Josh’s reader noticed that TPM has experienced subtle changes over the years, as Josh has slowly become, in the opinion of his correspondent, more partisan and ideological. The reader blames Bush, […]
I think it’s safe to say congressional Dems are no longer talking about taking the offensive on national security; they’re actually doing it. The WaPo and LAT covered the trend over the weekend, and today the NYT summarizes the strategy. After being outmaneuvered in the politics of national security in the last two elections, Democrats […]
Far be for it me to disagree with Andrew Sullivan when he’s bashing religious right activists organizing to benefit a Republican candidate, but this didn’t strike me as that bad. A Christian prayer group is hoping to provide Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Bryson with some divine assistance during his campaign. The “Bryson Prayer Force” is […]
This will no doubt come as a surprise to absolutely no one, but Zogby offers additional proof that Americans know a bit more about popular culture than they do about more serious matters of state — but not quite as much as I thought. Three-quarters of Americans can correctly identify two of Snow White’s seven […]