Bill Kristol made a comment on Fox News the other day that foreshadows what may eventually drive the GOP presidential primaries. “I think [the personal lives of Republican presidential candidates are] not a big problem,” Kristol said. “Generally speaking, the American people discount private lives quite rigorously, actually, and they try to pick someone who […]
I’ve long believed that the high-profile Bush administration officials who amaze and disturb us — Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Ashcroft, et al — are matched by lower-profile officials who are just as outrageous. Take, for example, Wade Horn, who is finally on his way out of government service. [tag]Wade Horn[/tag], the Bush Administration’s point man for welfare […]
When it comes to John McCain’s assessment of conditions in Baghdad, the military knows he’s wrong, reporters in Iraq know he’s wrong, and now Iraqis themselves want to tell us that they know he’s wrong, too. It was bad enough last week when McCain said parts of Baghdad are safe for Americans to go for […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Good news from the Supreme Court today: “The Supreme Court ordered the federal government on Monday to take a fresh look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars, a rebuke to Bush administration policy on global warming. In a 5-4 decision, the court said the Clean Air Act gives […]
Following up on a couple of earlier items, we knew the Bush White House would respond to Matthew Dowd’s epiphany by undermining his name and credibility, we just didn’t know how. Call him “disgruntled”? Accuse him of partisanship? Start spreading rumors about him personally? The Rove Playbook is thick; Bush aides have a lot of […]
No one knows how to stack a national poll with loaded questions like Fox News does. It’s almost impressive — most news outlets go out of their way to ask neutral questions, but the Republicans’ network artfully does the opposite. FNC is practically offering professors of quantitative analysis case studies in what not to do […]
Yesterday, the big story was Matthew Dowd, the first member of Bush’s inner circle to break ranks and denounce the president. Today, it’s Vic Gold. He’s not exactly a West Wing insider, but he’s close. Vic Gold heard from Lynne Cheney a few weeks before George W. Bush was sworn in as president in January […]
CNN’s Michael Ware has been providing excellent reports on the war in Iraq for four years, but now that he’s taken on far-right talking points directly, the far-right community has decided to take him on directly. It started last week. John McCain made a series of ridiculous claims about conditions in Baghdad, including the notion […]
In some ways, measuring presidential candidates by their fundraising totals is just about the ultimate in political inside pool. The typical American doesn’t know or care how much money a campaign raises — but the numbers are carefully scrutinized by reporters, candidates, staffers, and major donors. It’s not necessarily fair, and fundraising conditions can change, […]
The showdown over war funding between Congress and the White House is already ugly. Dems have passed a spending bill with a withdrawal timeline, while Bush prefers an open-ended commitment to fighting in Iraq’s civil war indefinitely. Because lawmakers refused to go along with the president’s demand for condition-free money, a veto is now all […]