As a rule, you’d think that military officials who question dubious contracts and protect the interests of taxpayers would be rewarded. Not in this administration. The Army official who managed the Pentagon’s largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable […]
There are a plenty of interesting tidbits in the new WaPo/ABC News poll — overall, Barack Obama leads John McCain by six among all Americans (48-42) and by four among registered voters (49-45) — but there was one set of numbers that was of particular interest. McCain will be running into stiff headwinds over the […]
Over the course of a few hours yesterday, Barack Obama brought Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager onto his team, and after receiving Al Gore’s endorsement, devoted a fair amount of his speech to praising Clinton’s contributions and accomplishments. Great news? Signs of bringing the party back together? Regrettably, not so much. I noted yesterday that […]
One need not be a policy wonk to be a good candidate and a capable president. But it’s not too much to ask that presidential nominees have at least a passing familiarity with their own proposals, especially those the candidate places enormous significance on. Take John McCain, for example. The Republican nominee plans to emphasize […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Conditions aren’t pretty in Iowa: “Even as flood fears eased in Iowa City, the state’s south and east prepared for new problems ahead for a string of towns along the Mississippi River. Sandbagging was under way in Burlington, a key rail hub, to build the city’s levee system and […]
As recently as May 20, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Al Gore did not want to weigh in on the fight for the Democratic nomination, telling reporters, “I have not decided whether or when I will” support a candidate. Now, of course, the nominating fight is over, and Gore is willing to enter the fray a bit. […]
Just about a month ago, we learned that Patti Solis Doyle, Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager and confidante, had begun preliminary discussions with the Obama campaign about a role on the team. Today, we see the result of those discussions. The Obama campaign is about to make its first big hire out of the campaign […]
AEI’s David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter and top aide to Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign, has an item in The New Republic this week about John McCain and the possible impact of his running mate. It’s Frum’s conclusion, though, that’s noteworthy. (via Yglesias) I have my own personal nomination for vice president for McCain. It’s […]
I’m beginning to wonder if the McCain campaign is trying to appear extra incompetent now, in order to lull Democrats into some false sense of security or something. Because by any reasonable measure, Republican presidential campaigns just aren’t supposed to operate this way. Take Clayton “Claytie” Williams, for example. Williams, a prominent Texas Republican, said […]
Remember the U.S. Attorney purge scandal? The travesty in which the White House and the Justice Department politicized federal law enforcement? It was, for my money, among the biggest Bush-related domestic scandals of the last eight years (top three, at least). It is not, however, quite over yet. Justice Department lawyers have filed a grand-jury […]