Following up on an earlier item, I should note that CNN’s report about “preliminary” discussions between the Clinton and Obama campaigns don’t appear to exist. CNN reported this morning that the discussions were underway, that Clinton was aware of them, and that the negations were not going especially well (Suzanne Malveaux described them as “difficult”). […]
Way back in August 2000, Jim Lehrer asked John McCain about his future presidential plans. McCain all but ruled out running in ’08, because of his age. LEHRER: Finally for the record, you have not lost your desire to be President of the United States have you? McCAIN: Certainly it’s been put in deep cold […]
There’s always a little something fun about presidential candidates appealing for votes in unexpected places. Take Barack Obama, for example, visiting the Cuban American National Foundation this afternoon, where he’ll defend his position of changing course on Cuba policy. “Now I know what the easy thing is to do for American politicians,” Obama will say, […]
In light of the vote yesterday on a modernized, bipartisan GI Bill for U.S. troops, John McCain was forced to defend his position against general educational benefits for veterans. (For the record, McCain didn’t vote on the bill, preferring to go to a fundraiser in California.) McCain responded by changing the subject away from the […]
When John McCain’s presidential campaign faltered badly last summer, there were a variety of problems, but near the top of the list was McCain’s work on a comprehensive immigration reform measure, which most Republican activists hated with a vengeance. McCain ultimately decided to abandon his own legislation, and announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t […]
Newsweek’s Michael Hirsh has an interesting item today on Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) becoming an “attack dog” and a “major consigliore” to Barack Obama, which apparently includes “relentlessly attacking and counterattacking the Republicans on the campaign trail, especially on national-security issues.” In an interview, Biden said that he and other leading Democrats are “absolutely, thoroughly, […]
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 was a little movement in superdelegate news this morning, with Obama picking up two new supporters from Congress, Reps. Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza, both of California. This is actually a […]
CNN is reporting, based on word from Hillary Clinton’s “inner circle” is pushing for some kind of “compromise,” and that “preliminary … formal talks” have begun about a Clinton exit strategy. TPM’s David Kurtz posted this video from CNN this morning: Listening to the report, CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux reports that the Clinton campaign is outlining […]
There’s been a casual agreement in recent campaign cycles that presidential candidates with military backgrounds tout their service, but they don’t necessarily denigrate their rivals for not wearing a uniform. In each of the last five races, one presidential hopeful had considerably more military experience than his rival, and in each instance, the one who […]
After months of delays, a handful of carefully-selected reporters will have access this morning to 400 pages of John McCain’s medical records. By all appearances, the McCain campaign is rather panicky about what journalists might find, and have gone to almost comical lengths to make this process as ridiculous as humanly possible. At the outset, […]