Yesterday’s debate for Republican presidential hopefuls is, thank goodness, the final debate before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. However, with 22 days between the event and the results of the first contest, this was the last chance for candidates to hammer their rivals, undermine the frontrunners, and draw “distinctions” with the rest of the […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Something to consider before Bush and the GOP declare “mission accomplished” again in Iraq: “Three powerful car bombs exploded one after the other in a southern provincial capital on Wednesday, killing at least 46 and injuring 149, the most devastating attack in the nation since August, police said. The […]
Yesterday, the Huffington Post’s Tom Edsall reported that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign may be subtly, quietly targeting Barack Obama over his teenaged drug use. Edsall’s article, though, felt a little thin — it said the Clinton campaign had sent out a “cryptic” email alluding to “shortcomings” in “Obama’s past. The message from the campaign headquarters […]
Following up on an item from yesterday, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), easily among the top five looniest members of the chamber, successfully forced a resolution onto the House floor, putting the House on record stating that Christmas and Christians are important. Last night, as expected, it passed easily. But it was not, surprisingly enough, unanimous, […]
Yesterday, the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins blamed the “secular media” for Matthew Murray’s shooting rampage in Colorado on Sunday, which left five dead, including the gunman. Murray, 24, had been raised in “a deeply religious Christian household,” but apparently overcome by mental illness, he snapped and gunned down innocent people — a tragedy Perkins […]
Over the last couple of months, conservatives’ rhetoric when it comes to torture-by-waterboarding has taken a turn for the worse. Not too long ago, the right argued that waterboarding is a necessary evil — torture is wrong, they’d say, but in extreme, Jack-Bauer-like circumstances, maybe the nation should tolerate waterboarding for the worst of the […]
Clearly, the big news from Zev Chafets’ NYT piece on Mike Huckabee, to be published on Sunday in the Times’ Magazine, was the former governor’s suggestion that Mormons believe Jesus and the devil are brothers. But that’s not the only noteworthy tidbit in the article. A friend of mine emailed me about this interesting tidbit: […]
The story is familiar enough to be mind-numbing: Congress takes up an important policy issue; the House passes a popular bill, a majority of the Senate wants to pass the bill but Republicans won’t let the legislation come to the floor. The bill gets pulled, Congress’ approval ratings fall a little further, and everyone wonders […]
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: * After the GOP invested far more time and effort than it wanted to, Republicans won two special election House races yesterday. State Rep. Bob Latta (R) held off a challenge in Ohio’s […]
It was supposed to be the bridge that no Republican presidential hopeful crossed — attacking Mormon beliefs. Candidates are certainly free to go after one another on their beliefs, record, and agenda, but going after the religious tenets of a rival’s faith tradition is too low a blow, even by the GOP’s standards. And yet, […]