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 Pennsylvania, Sen. [tag]Rick Santorum[/tag] (R) closed the gap recently against [tag]Bob Casey[/tag] (D), but he’s still not close to catching up to his challenger. A new Keystone Poll shows Casey leading, […]
About four months ago, we learned that [tag]Housing and Urban Development[/tag] Secretary [tag]Alphonso Jackson[/tag] spoke at a public forum in Dallas and explained that he denied funding to a qualified minority contractor because the contractor said he didn’t like the [tag]president[/tag]. In fact, Jackson went into considerable detail about the incident, explaining that the [tag]contractor[/tag] […]
Since I have been known, on occasion, to criticize MSNBC’s [tag]Chris Matthews[/tag], I thought it only fair to offer him some praise for his comments this morning on Imus. For a guy who has, just recently, blamed Clinton for 9/11, kissed up to Tom DeLay, and compared war critics to terrorists, Matthews seems to have […]
Let me admit from the outset that I don’t know much about Thailand’s political system. In fact, before this week, I knew practically nothing. That said, its recent military coup is a major international development — with implications for the Bush White House. [tag]Thailand[/tag]’s up-until-recently Prime Minister Thaksin [tag]Shinawatra[/tag] was, as the Washington Post described […]
The [tag]president[/tag] sat down with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer yesterday and addressed the subject of sending troops to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. Unfortunately, the response was a little flawed. BLITZER: If you had good, actionable intelligence in Pakistan where [Osama [tag]bin Laden[/tag], Ayman al- Zawahiri, Mullah Muhammad Omar] were, would you give the order […]
Because the president’s popularity (or lack thereof) is linked so closely to the midterm elections, it’s probably worth taking a moment to consider whether Bush is currently on the upswing. Greg Sargent has seen the reports indicating that the president’s national support is “rising,” and that “the real beneficiary of that could be House Republicans,” […]
Dan Froomkin noted today that the White House is in the midst of a “full-on PR blitz” for one of its own. Oddly enough, it’s not the President or the Vice President; it’s the [tag]First Lady[/tag], who apparently is beginning to take on some policy responsibilities. What’s more, the public relations efforts are apparently paying […]
Just a few weeks ago, USA Today ran a very disconcerting story about predatory lenders who target our nation’s military servicemembers, and which have “sprung up by the thousands around military bases.” The results have been awful — one in five servicemembers have become victims of ridiculous interest rates (sometimes higher than 400%) and many […]
On Sunday, the Washington Post ran a stunning, must-read item by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, excerpted from his new book, “Imperial Life in the Emerald City.” As we discussed on Monday, Chandrasekaran explained, among other things, how the Bush gang chose Americans to fill key government posts in Iraq (by applying a rigid ideological test, and discarding […]
Chances are, the nation will wake up on Nov. 8 and know whether Democrats or Republicans control Congress, most notably the House. If Dems get a net gain of 15 seats or more, Nancy Pelosi becomes Speaker. That is, as long as no one starts switching sides unexpectedly. With House Democrats expecting to narrow their […]