We learned a couple of weeks ago that several Western oil companies — Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, Chevron, and BP — are putting the final touches on no-bid contracts with Iraq’s Oil Ministry to service Iraq’s largest fields. More than 35 years after Saddam Hussein rose to power and threw the companies out, the Oil […]
Perhaps because of the four stars on his shoulder, retired Gen. Wesley Clark is bolder than most when it comes to criticizing John McCain’s efforts to connect his military experience with his presidential qualifications. Indeed, Clark has been pretty tough in pushing back against the Republican nominee’s pitch. Clark, for example, spoke with the Huffington […]
It was probably inevitable that John McCain would abandon his pledge to focus exclusively on the issues, and steer clear of personal attacks, I just didn’t expect it as early as June. John McCain, in his sharpest attack yet against rival Barack Obama, said the Democratic presidential candidate’s word “cannot be trusted.” “This election is […]
Disgraced former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been making noises for a couple of years now about creating his own MoveOn.org-for-the-right activist group, which presumably would offer him a vehicle for, well, whatever it is DeLay does. Last November, he made it official, launching the “Coalition for a Conservative Majority.” Since then, the group […]
It’s striking the extent to which John McCain’s campaign is premised on the deep, unyielding hope that voters aren’t paying attention to the campaign at all. It very well might work, but it’s kind of annoying to think the man who wants to lead the nation thinks we’re all a bunch of ignorant dolts. Yesterday, […]
In the first quarter of 2008, Fox News, after six years of cable-news ratings dominance, saw itself slip into second place behind CNN in the so-called “money demo” — viewers in their mid-20s through mid-50s, who advertisers care about most. The shift came thanks to a series of competitive primary nights and debates among Democratic […]
Substantively, a story like this one is fairly low on the priority list. Politically, a story like this one can cause a candidate a bit of a headache. John McCain kind of stepped in it the other day, here in California, but luckily no one noticed. He was being driven from John Wayne airport to […]
When Republicans lost three special election House races this year, in three traditionally “red” districts held by Republicans, the party thought it might be a good time to re-think its election-year strategy. The original plan was to nationalize the elections, tie Democratic House candidates to Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, and scream “liberal!” a whole […]
Realistically, this isn’t necessarily a huge scandal, but it certainly is an embarrassing one. When you’re poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you’re rich, it’s hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying. It’s a lesson Cindy McCain learned the hard way when NEWSWEEK raised questions about an […]
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Heller ruling on gun control, Republicans are optimistic that they’ll be able to put guns back on the political world’s front-burner, and make the 2nd Amendment a key campaign issue this November. “The gun issue is not going away,” said Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Sen. John McCain […]