The Obama campaign is getting hit hard for a new direct-mail piece it’s sent out, and in this case, the criticism is entirely justified. The mailing, criticizing Hillary Clinton’s healthcare plan, is really awful. Indeed, after a couple of weeks of relative silence about the “conservative frame” discussion, this Obama mailing brings it all back […]
For the last couple of months, Republicans were divided between those who supported John McCain and those who didn’t. As McCain emerged as the likely nominee, both sides grew larger and louder. But particularly after McCain’s victory in the Florida GOP primary, there seems to be another split, between McCain’s conservative critics who’ve decided it’s […]
MoveOn.org, one of the largest grassroots membership organizations in the country, invited members to vote online to see which, if any, presidential candidate won the group’s endorsement. In 2004, a similar effort did not produce a clear winner — though Howard Dean came close — so the group remained on the sidelines. This year, it […]
This is exactly what I was afraid of — one instance of bad reporting quickly gets picked up by those who don’t care about the truth, and a new right-wing meme emerges. Yesterday, ABC News’ Jake Tapper misrepresented a quote by Bill Clinton to suggest that the former president believes “we have to slow down […]
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: * Just how serious were the financial troubles facing John McCain’s campaign up until recently? He took out a $3 million loan, but had to take out a special life-insurance policy in the […]
With the president having signed a 15-day extension of the existing surveillance law (the poorly-named “Protect America Act”), senators have finally crafted a plan on what happens next. Paul Kiel sets the stage. So, after all that, after all the back room offers and counteroffers and fear-mongering and delaying, the Senate has finally struck a […]
We may finally be at a point in which we can stop talking about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his subtle-but-not-really interest in launching an independent presidential campaign. There have been several reports of late indicating that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) had been one of the high-profile figures urging Bloomberg to consider […]
Josh Marshall noted this morning,” I was wondering when this would come up. As a lot of us remember, John McCain was very close to leaving the Republican party in 2001 and becoming either a Democrat or, much more likely, an independent a la Jim Jeffords who would caucus with the Democrats. The Hill gives […]
Yesterday, we talked about how the Democratic presidential race was poised to enter a new phase — with the race for the nomination down to the top two, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will start making the case that they can beat Republicans in general, and John McCain in specific, in a general election. I […]
The last time the Democratic presidential candidates got together for a debate, it got ugly. Nasty exchanges got personal, voices were raised, and charges over Wal-Mart and Rezko were thrown around indiscriminately. The negative reaction was so intense, John Edwards sought to capitalize, running ads in South Carolina about being the only “grown-up” in the […]