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 a pleasant surprise, Nancy Pelosi’s office announced this morning that Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) will replace Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Van Hollen, […]
Of all the likely 2008 presidential aspirants, Hillary Clinton seemed like the lone holdout. On current and forward looking policy, Clinton is right there with the rest of her Senate Dem colleagues, supporting the Reed-Levin proposal. But looking back, Clinton appears to be the only ’08 Dem who voted for the 2002 Iraq resolution, but […]
At a White House press conference the day after the November elections, a reporter asked the president, “Nancy Pelosi has been quite clear about her agenda for the first 100 hours. She mentions things like raising minimum wage, cutting interest rates on student loans, broadening stem cell research, and rolling back tax cuts. Which of […]
I’ve been following Sen. Sam Brownback’s (R-Kan.) obstructionist tactics of a Bush judicial nominee with great interest, in large part because it’s such a breathtaking example of Republican lunacy. I’m pleased to report that Brownback has finally dropped his objections, but not before one last ridiculous move. First, a little background. The president nominated Michigan […]
Last week, the WaPo noted that the White House, hoping to rally support for a “double down” troop escalation in Iraq, was running into some resistance among the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Since then, the division has grown more stark — the Bush gang has rallied behind the idea of sending up to 30,000 more […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * It’s been weeks since a Republican member of Congress became the subject of a criminal inquiry, so it came as a bit of surprise to learn Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) is now under investigation for using his legislative staff to perform campaign work on government time. At last count, […]
Following up on an item from the weekend, Justin Rood explained that the Government Accountability Office tracks the number of per-months attacks in Iraq, based on Pentagon data, and creates a chart. For some reason the latest GAO chart stopped in August 2006, despite the fact that the report having been produced in December. Asked […]
Newsweek has an interesting cover story this week on Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and their chances in the 2008 presidential election. It’s a lengthy, 4,000-word piece that pulls together nearly all of the major elements of where the race is and where it might go. No real surprises or earth-shattering news, but a generally solid […]
That’s it; I’m officially convinced that Tony Snow is just in his job for laughs. I’ve been on the fence for months about whether Snow actually believes what he says, but I’m finally convinced — he doesn’t. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said Monday that no “big disagreement” exists between President Bush and Colin […]
Michael Gerson, best known for being Bush’s former top speechwriter, has a new piece in Newsweek suggesting that the Republican Party is going to have to settle its internal ideological divide once and for all. It’s not necessarily about the center vs. the right, Gerson said, but rather about “big government” Republicans vs. “small government” […]