Today’s edition of quick hits. * And so it begins: “The first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay can begin Monday, a federal judge has ruled, saying civilian courts should let the military process play out as Congress intended. U.S. District Judge James Robertson on Thursday rejected an effort by Osama bin Laden’s former driver, […]
The McCain campaign does not wear desperation well. It floats from incoherent attack to incoherent attack, experimenting with anti-Obama memes, and fiddling with smears, waiting for something to stick. Two weeks ago, McCain and his cohorts said Barack Obama was too flexible on Iraq policy. Soon after, they insisted Obama wasn’t flexible enough on Iraq […]
“Scandal fatigue” can be common under the circumstances. After seven-and-a-half years of legal, moral, ethical, and political outrages, many of the scandals of the Bush/Cheney years start to blur together. Some are even forgotten, swept aside to make room for new, more offensive controversies. It’s only natural, then, to shift the focus away from the […]
In light of John McCain’s appearance before the NAACP’s national convention yesterday, Bruce Bartlett makes the case in a WSJ op-ed that McCain should argue that the Republican Party, all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, is the party of civil rights. (If this sounds familiar, Bartlett wrote a book on this subject, called “Wrong on […]
When Al Gore endorsed Barack Obama a while back, the former Vice President said he’d continue to present ambitious agendas to address global warming, that may or may not be entirely in line with the Democratic agenda. He clearly meant it. Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon fossil fuels […]
On Tuesday, the conservative Washington Times ran a front-page item under the headline: “Shift on war hits Obama’s liberal base.” Sen. John McCain on Monday accused his Democratic presidential rival of flip-flopping on the war in Iraq, as a pair of new polls showed the Republican’s strategy of painting Sen. Barack Obama as politically expedient […]
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: * Interesting fundraising item from Roll Call: “Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday established a joint fundraising agreement with 18 state Democratic parties to funnel money into those […]
Barack Obama had planned an overseas trip as part of his presidential campaign for quite a while, but plans were delayed when the Democratic nominating fight took a little longer than expected. Now, there’s a window between the 4th of July, the Olympics, and the start of the conventions, and Obama is ready to head […]
Over the weekend, John McCain told the New York Times that he opposes gay adoption, even if the alternative is leaving a child in an orphanage. A few days later, McCain’s campaign reversed course and said the senator doesn’t actually believe what he said — “caring parental figures,” even if they’re gay, are “better for […]
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Barack Obama’s campaign had raised $30 million in June, only marginally better than John McCain’ $22 million haul for the month. The Journal described Obama’s totals as “underwhelming,” and the Washington Post added that Obama’s finance machine was showing “signs of wear.” In response, Obama spokesperson Dan […]