Barack Obama wrote his speech on race in America himself. He worked on it for a couple of days, and stayed up until 2 a.m. Tuesday to finish it. The senator conceded on “Nightline” that he couldn’t predict how the address would be perceived: “You know, you throw a rock into a pond and those […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * The band-aid: “The Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point Tuesday, in the central bank’s continued effort to restore confidence in the economy and battered financial markets. Although some experts cautioned that the cut may lead to more inflation, stocks soared as Wall […]
Perhaps I should revise my earlier comments. We learned yesterday that New York Gov. David Paterson, several years ago, went through a rough patch in his marriage, and both he and his wife had affairs. They went to counseling, worked things out, and everything’s fine. I suggested that this really doesn’t, and shouldn’t, amount to […]
This case seems to be a never-ending source of entertainment. The White House has three days to explain why it shouldn’t be required to copy its computer hard drives to ensure no further e-mails are lost, a federal judge ordered Tuesday. Already, e-mails between March and October 2003 appear to have been lost, Judge John […]
Following up on my earlier analysis of the address, I’ve seen a few suggestions this afternoon that the downside of Barack Obama’s speech on race today in Philadelphia, which emerged before he even uttered a word, is that Obama was putting race front and center, once again. Instead of moving on to other subjects, the […]
At some point, not too long ago, the political establishment decided that John McCain is an expert on international affairs and national security. I’ve never really understood why — by all appearances, McCain is frequently confused and bewildered by basic questions — but everyone seems to assume that the senator has developed an almost unparalleled […]
So, Barack Obama just delivered an important — and, by some measures, brilliant — speech on race, religion, civil rights, American history, and the role each has played in his own personal story. Some will find the address moving, others less so. Either way, it’s going to dominate the discourse today, which is probably a […]
Since his rise to national prominence, Barack Obama has been tasked with giving big speeches while facing high expectations. It’s almost unrealistic to expect any political figure to keep delivering one powerful and historic address after another, but Obama — love him or hate him, an extraordinary orator — has managed to follow through and […]
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: * Barack Obama’s speech in Philadelphia on race just wrapped up, and I’ll have a report shortly. Here’s the prepared text, which was similar, but not identical, to the delivered speech. * Interesting […]
At a minimum, this is a little embarrassing. Just a week after Eliot Spitzer’s sex scandal, his successor publicly acknowledged having an adulterous affair several years ago. The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state’s new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs. […]