By any reasonable measure, John McCain’s experience in the military during the war in Vietnam were heroic and demands respect. If he wants to use this part of his biography in the presidential campaign, it makes perfect sense — like John Kerry, that’s what war heroes do. But it’s interesting that when McCain ran in […]
When it comes to the three leading Democratic presidential candidates, differences on issues have been practically non-existent. When the most serious, substantive policy fight is over one universal-health care plan with mandates and another universal-health care plan without mandates, you know it’s a primary fight that probably won’t be decided on clear policy distinctions. Instead, […]
It was never entirely fair, but for months, the conventional wisdom was that Bill Richardson was auditioning to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate. This came up, repeatedly, in large part because in several debates, when John Edwards and Barack Obama would try to highlight one perceived Clinton flaw or another, Richardson would immediately come to […]
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: * A new USAT/Gallup poll shows the Democratic primary race all tied up in New Hampshire: “In the poll, Clinton and Obama are tied at 32%-32%, with Edwards at 18%. No other candidate […]
In her Wall Street Journal column last week, Peggy Noonan lamented the fact that religion was quickly becoming too important to Republican voters. “[T]here is a sense in Iowa now,” she wrote, “that faith has been heightened as a determining factor in how to vote, that such things as executive ability, professional history, temperament, character, […]
In the panoply of bizarre quotes from crazed TV preacher Pat Robertson, it’s hard not to appreciate the true lunacy from this gem from March 1990: “[Homosexuality] is a pathology. It is a sickness, and it needs to be treated…. Many of those people involved with Adolf Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals. […]
Following up on yesterday’s item, there’s growing evidence that Bush’s Justice Department intentionally delayed prosecuting Republicans in the New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal in order to delay anti-GOP headlines before the 2004 election. Just as importantly, there are new insights about the White House’s role in the same criminal controversy. On the morning of election day […]
Yesterday saw one of the more unusual campaign controversies of the season, leading to reports that John McCain has hired a high-profile defense attorney to defend himself against charges that haven’t even been made. Let’s unpack this a bit. Drudge reported yesterday that the New York Times is poised to publish a “high-impact report involving […]
I had no intention of returning to Mitt Romney’s Martin Luther King story yet again, but the former governor is just making this too easy. The last thing any presidential candidate needs, worse yet one with a history of dissembling, two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, is a flap that leads to embarrassing word-parsing, but […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * In a pleasant surprise, after a promised stonewall, the CIA and the Justice Department agreed yesterday to start sharing documents with Congress regarding the destruction of the torture tapes. The CIA also agreed to let the agency’s top lawyer, John Rizzo, testify about the matter before the House Intelligence […]