Thursday’s campaign round-up

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: * We haven’t heard too much superdelegate news this morning, but late yesterday, Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) threw his support to Hillary Clinton, citing her success in his home district. (Later, however, Ellsworth’s […]

Playing fast and loose with the FEC

If you’re just joining us, the Federal Elections Commission has effectively ceased to function, due to a dispute over nominees between the Bush White House and Senate Dems. This may seem like inside-pool, but it’s an interesting example of how Republicans choose to do business these days. Here’s a quick primer. There are currently four […]

An economist emerges in support of the McCain-Clinton gas-tax holiday

In the midst of the recent debate over a “gas-tax holiday” over the summer, the Huffington Post tried to find a single economist who thought the idea had merit. There were none. Last weekend, George Stephanopoulos asked Hillary Clinton to name an economist who supports her proposal and she responded by saying she doesn’t trust […]

Unfortunate racial talk creeps back into Democratic campaign

Hillary Clinton still clearly hopes to make a case to the Democratic Party that she’d be the strongest candidate in a general election, but I have a hunch she’d like to take this one back. “I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,” she said in an interview with USA TODAY. […]

‘Maverick’ McCain? Not when it counts

The Arizona Republic thought it might be a good idea to scrutinize John McCain’s voting record a bit, and consider whether his media-driven “maverick” reputation holds up. Take a wild guess what they found. Over the years, Sen. John McCain has publicly condemned Republican Party leaders and occasionally voted against the GOP on selected issues. […]

A ‘quiet consensus’ emerges in Democratic circles

Hillary Clinton’s campaign hasn’t given the slightest indication that she’s thinking about withdrawing from the race. No slow-down in the schedule, no anonymous leaks about heated discussions, no rumors about a graceful exit. Nothing. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell said on the “Today” show yesterday that Clinton is “ready to give up.” Given what we’ve seen over […]

Wednesday’s Mini-Report

Today’s edition of quick hits. * Staggering: “The death toll from the cyclone that ravaged the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar may exceed 100,000, the senior U.S. diplomat in the military-ruled country said Wednesday. ‘The information we are receiving indicates over 100,000 deaths,’ the U.S. Charge D’Affaires in Yangon, Shari Villarosa, said on a conference call. […]

Superdelegates start to make their move?

This morning, George Stephanopoulos said uncommitted superdelegates supporting Barack Obama “will come three, four, five at a time, and this nomination will be locked up.” We’re still a ways from a “locked up” nomination, but there was some movement on the superdelegate front today, and Obama appears to have a net gain of four for […]

Clinton vows to keep fighting ‘until there’s a nominee’; Obama eyes general

Hillary Clinton hosted a press conference in West Virginia this afternoon, and she certainly didn’t sound like a candidate on the verge of dropping out. TPM posted this video excerpt. On her first point, Clinton said she’d remain in the presidential race “until there’s a nominee.” Like Greg Sargent, I found the phrase a little […]

Republicans, feeling down, get an invitation to the White House

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) recently delivered a major-league pep-talk to his Republican caucus, which was very well received. GOP lawmakers gave Boehner a standing ovation, and were all smiles as they looked ahead to the rest of the year. They were led to believe that tying Dems in congressional races to Obama and […]