A party’s get-out-the-vote efforts are always easier when their supporters are actually anxious to get to the polls. And as National Journal’s Charlie Cook noted in his column this week, right now, Dems are motivated and ready to vote — and Republicans are less so. When Democratic pollster Peter Hart and Republican pollster Bill McInturff […]
Nicholas Lemann has a fascinating look at Bill O’Reilly in the latest issue of the New Yorker, which goes beyond the usual count-the-demagogic-attacks articles that we’ve seen before. In fact, as TNR’s Michael Crowley noted, Lemann does a fine job highlighting O’Reilly’s 1998 novel, called “Those Who Trespass,” which I’d never even heard of. Based […]
The New York Times’ two most recent additions to its legendary stable of op-ed columnists are David Brooks and John Tierney, both conservatives. CNN’s three most recent additions to the network’s political coverage are former Republican congressman J.C. Watts, moralist Bill Bennett, and far-right radio host Glenn Beck, all conservatives. And so when the Washington […]
Over the weekend, the AP’s Jennifer Loven published a terrific item about Bush’s use of straw men in his rhetoric. As Loven explained, when the president “starts a sentence with ‘some say’ or offers up what ‘some in Washington’ believe, as he is doing more often these days, a rhetorical retort almost assuredly follows.” In […]
Just one month ago, I wrote, “As part of my ongoing fascinating with Al Gore’s prospects in 2008, I find it interesting that every few weeks, a handful of new items pop up that add a little more fuel to the still largely non-existent fire.” This week is just such a week. The estimable Ezra […]
Less than a month ago, the IRS issued an alert to tax-exempt institutions nationwide, explaining (again) that churches and other tax-exempt organizations cannot legally intervene in partisan campaign matters. The tax agency also announced plans to vigorously enforce the law during this election year. There’s a group of ministries in Pennsylvania, however, that may have […]
Last week, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman tried to capitalize on the Feingold censure resolution with a rather scurrilous alert to party members, arguing that when it comes to Democrats, “Weakening our national security is their agenda.” Today, Mehlman’s RNC launched a 60-second radio ad in Madison and Milwaukee. If there’s even one honest sentence in […]
I’m very pleased to announce that The Carpetbagger Report is one of the 10 finalists for a Koufax Award in the “Best Blog (non-pro)” category. Readers have been very supportive through the process thus far, and I need you to vote just once more now that the process is nearly complete. I’m a finalist 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: * Voters head to the polls today in Illinois to vote in a number of interesting primaries on both sides of the aisle. Among the races to watch are Illinois’ 6th, where Tammy […]
Two months ago, the president explained the legal advice he received about his warrantless search program. “[T]he FISA law was written in 1978. We’re having this discussion in 2006. It’s a different world. And FISA is still an important tool. It’s an important tool. And we still use that tool. But also — and we […]