There have been a series of alleged terrorist plots that the White House has claimed to have disrupted. Sometimes Bush and his team tout these thwarted plots to defend torture, and sometimes it’s to defend illegally tapping Americans’ phones, but the bottom line is always the same — there are dangerous bad guys out there, […]
It’s pretty safe to assume that John McCain will be on the presidential ballot in November. It’s also safe to assume he’ll be up against Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. In most states, Ralph Nader will probably be there, too, though his influence is likely to be limited. The next question, though, is who else […]
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: * There’s no shortage of polls out there today. LA Times/Bloomberg polled three upcoming Democratic contests and found Clinton leading Obama in Pennsylvania (46-41), Obama leading Clinton in Indiana (40-35), and Obama up […]
Reasonable Democrats can disagree about the merit of Hillary Clinton’s negative campaigning over the last few months. Clinton supporters argue that the attacks against Barack Obama have been fair and accurate, and if he can’t overcome the harsh criticism now, he’ll wither against the GOP in the fall. Obama supporters argue, of course, that the […]
(Update: This list has been revised and updated.) At this point, I’m inclined to publish a new-and-improved version of John McCain’s Greatest Flip-Flops about once a month. I was concerned for a while that McCain would discover the importance of consistency at some point, and make my flip-flop list less important, but so far, that […]
About a month ago, Gallup released a poll showing Hillary Clinton suffering from what it called an “honesty gap.” When poll respondents were asked about the candidates’ honesty and trustworthiness, John McCain did very well (67%-27% in his favor), Barack Obama did nearly as well (63%-29% in his favor), while Clinton fared poorly (44%-53% against […]
A couple of weeks ago, John McCain, in a high-profile speech, unveiled his response to the mortgage crisis. After it was universally panned as a bad joke, McCain scrapped his own proposal and tried again. Considering the Republican candidate’s admission that he doesn’t understand economics, it was an inauspicious start to unveiling his economic policy […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Bloodshed in Baghdad: “Car bombs and a suicide attacker struck crowded areas in Baghdad and former insurgent strongholds to the north and west of the capital Tuesday, killing dozens and breaking a recent lull in violence in the predominantly Sunni areas. The attacks were a deadly reminder of the […]
As a rule, Americans probably don’t expect government officials to go out of their way to protect waste, fraud, and abuse, but then again, the Bush administration includes a special group of people. Earlier this year, the Justice Department proposed new rules requiring U.S. contractors to report any and all waste, fraud, or abuse they […]
I know I mentioned this yesterday, but it’s still bugging me, and Dana Milbank’s piece on the subject helped drive the point home nicely — the national media establishment isn’t just McCain’s base, it’s a role the media seems anxious to solidify. Appearing before the nation’s newspaper editors yesterday, AP Chairman Dean Singleton pressed Barack […]