Today’s edition of quick hits. * ExxonMobil’s profits in the second quarter were $11.68 billion, the biggest quarterly profit any U.S. corporation has ever had. * And how much of that money will be directed towards alternative energy? About 1%. Great. * The bad news out of Iraq: “A suicide car bomber rammed an explosives-laden […]
Barack Obama brought up John McCain’s instantly infamous campaign commercial featuring Britney Spears and Paris Hilton today, asking McCain, “[I]s that the best you can come up with? Is that really what this election is about? Is that what is worthy of the American people?” As it turns out, McCain was asked about the same […]
The president spoke briefly this morning from the White House, heralding the “success of the surge” for creating “sustained progress” in Iraq. Soon after, Joe Lieberman announced that he and Lindsey Graham are “introducing a resolution recognizing the strategic success that the surge has achieved in a central front — the central front of the […]
Before Barack Obama had even reached American soil again after his overseas trip, the McCain campaign had arguably the most insipid campaign commercial of the year, arguing that Obama blew off wounded U.S. troops: “[H]e made time to go to the gym, but cancelled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn’t allow him […]
As expected, the McCain campaign’s new TV ad, comparing Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, made quite a splash yesterday. When pressed for a reaction, Obama told reporters yesterday, “You know, I don’t pay attention to John McCain’s ads, although I do notice he doesn’t seem to have anything to say very positive […]
For the better part of the year, the McCain campaign, the Republican Party, and the conservative movement in general has gone to great lengths to portray Barack Obama as “the other.” He’s “different.” There’s a “mainstream” in America, and Obama’s not in it. And Obama frequently acknowledges those differences. In his speech in Berlin last […]
White House attorneys are quite capable of coming up with creative legal arguments. The problem, though, is that judges aren’t willing to reward their creativity. President Bush’s top advisers are not immune from congressional subpoenas, a federal judge ruled Thursday in an unprecedented dispute between the two political branches. House Democrats called the ruling a […]
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: * New Quinnipiac polls from the three biggest battleground states show Barack Obama leading John McCain in all three. Obama leads McCain in Florida by two (46% to 44%), in Ohio by two […]
Barack Obama has been the target of countless attacks, from countless directions, but seems to be hanging on fairly well. Slate’s Jack Shafer argues that Obama has achieved a level of “superslipperiness,” as something of a “Teflon-coated candidate.” As long ago as March, the Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz demolished charges that the press was soft […]
Late yesterday, after a series of false attack ads from the McCain campaign, the Obama campaign unveiled a pretty good response ad. In 30 seconds, the spot hits most of the high notes: McCain’s attacks are objectively false, but just as importantly, McCain is “practicing the politics of the past.” He offers the “same old […]