Today’s edition of quick hits. * AP: “The opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was buried at her ancestral village in southern Pakistan on Friday as riots that began after her assassination on Thursday continued across the country, leaving 23 people dead, including four security officers.” * More: “The government laid the blame for the combined shooting […]
With the polls narrowing in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney’s campaign has launched a negative TV ad against John McCain, noting the senator’s votes against Bush’s tax cuts, against a repeal of the estate tax, and for an immigration-reform bill the GOP’s far-right base condemns as “amnesty.” The commercial says McCain is “an honorable man,” but […]
Lately, several presidential candidates have had more trouble with what surrogates say than the candidates themselves. Consider this jaw-dropper from John Deady, the New Hampshire State Co-Chair of Veterans for Rudy. For those who can’t watch clips online, here’s what the guy says about Giuliani: “He’s got I believe the knowledge and the judgment to […]
The president went nearly six years in office without vetoing a single bill, but has now had seven — including funding the war in Iraq, stem-cell research (twice), and healthcare for low-income kids (twice). In each instance, lawmakers were well aware of the White House’s opposition, but passed the bills anyway, hoping Bush would either […]
Karen Tumulty notes that Rudy Giuliani — who not only received free, taxpayer-financed healthcare when diagnosed with cancer, but also “recently turned around his chartered jet to seek emergency medical treatment” — was asked why Republican presidential hopefuls aren’t talking about healthcare in their campaigns. “I suspect that our Democratic colleagues would get that question […]
If one were to list of all the reasons Joe Lieberman is spectacularly annoying, it’d take a while. There’s his support for the Bush/Cheney foreign policy; his broken promises from the 2006 campaign; his constant reinforcing of right-wing media frames; his support for GOP obstructionism; etc. While all of those are, to be sure, maddening, […]
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: * With just six days remaining before the Iowa caucuses, the latest Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll finds that there’s still no obvious frontrunner. In Iowa, Hillary Clinton leads with 29%, followed by Barack […]
In the NYT this week, Robert Dallek reviews Elisabeth Bumiller’s new book on Condoleezza Rice, “An American Life: A Biography.” One gets the sense the book probably won’t be too hard-hitting — Bumiller has a well-earned reputation for passivity, and Dallek notes the biography’s “above-the-battle tone” and refusal to “offer any decisive judgments on Ms. […]
The WSJ’s Peggy Noonan argues today that her top characteristic when evaluating presidential candidates is “reasonableness.” The former Reagan speechwriter insists: We are grown-ups, we know our country needs greatness, but we do not expect it and will settle at the moment for good. We just want a reasonable person. We would like a candidate […]
Given his recent endorsement event in New Hampshire, Joe Lieberman was bound to send out a fundraising letter on John McCain’s behalf one of these days. The donation pitch hit email boxes yesterday, with a message that’s worth considering in more detail. I know that it is unusual for someone who is not a Republican […]