Over the past few months, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has had quite a bit of nonsense thrown it its direction, but none of it stuck (and by “stuck,” I mean the media would try to manufacture a story, no one would care, and the “controversy” would quickly fade). But the story about canned questions may […]
For a president that spent six years signing every bloated budget bill he could find, and who has been a bigger spender than any president since LBJ, Bush has suddenly found his inner tightwad, at least as far as education, healthcare, and worker protections are concerned. President Bush vetoed a $606 billion spending bill Tuesday […]
Every major presidential campaign is going to approach media relations in a different way, but as TNR’s Michael Crowley explained in a fascinating piece, Hillary Clinton’s team has crafted an aggressive press operation that perceives reporters as a combative enemy army, to be treated accordingly. Reporters who have covered the hyper-vigilant campaign say that no […]
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: * Fred Thompson’s campaign has been looking for a while for some good news, and yesterday, it got some: “Fred Thompson, the candidate billing himself as the most consistent conservative in the crowded […]
It’s probably safe to assume there won’t be a Clinton/Edwards ticket in 2008. In any presidential primary, candidates are routinely asked whether they would back their party’s eventual nominee, no matter who gets the nod. As a rule, it should be an easy one — anyone who wants to lead the party’s presidential ticket should […]
Presidential candidates, particularly on the Republican side of the aisle, like to talk about cutting spending, but usually hedge when it comes to specifics. Every program in the budget has its allies, and candidates are loath to burn bridges during the campaign. Rudy Giuliani usually talks about reducing government spending by shrinking the size of […]
In 2004, it was fairly common for Bush and Cheney to tell voters that voting for John Kerry might put their lives at risk. The VP once famously said a Democratic president would mean we’d be “hit again,” just like on 9/11. But leave it to Tom Tancredo to run an ad dramatizing an actual […]
Who would have guessed that 27 years after the fact, Ronald Reagan’s “states’ rights” speech in Philadelphia, Mississippi, would be the subject of such intense debate? Particularly among op-ed columnists at the paper of record? If you’re just joining us, the Great Krugman-Brooks Feud of 2007 has been ongoing. Paul Krugman, in a recent column […]
Any discussion of the cost of the wars in the Middle East have to start with the price paid by U.S. troops. Thousands of died, and tens of thousands have returned home with serious injuries. But when considering “blood and treasure,” there’s also that latter part of the equation. Generally, the wars’ price tag is […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Stability in Pakistan is still very far away: “The government of President Pervez Musharraf ordered the detention of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, blocking the former prime minister from leading a planned protest procession from Lahore into Islamabad on Tuesday to protest Musharraf’s declaration of emergency rule. Lahore police served […]