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: * Yesterday, the RNC unveiled a new ad attacking Barack Obama on energy policy. This morning, the Obama campaign unveiled a very strong response ad that will air in the same four states […]
Update: This post has been updated and expanded. Atrios mentioned yesterday, “…I don’t think the ‘Obama is a flip-flopper’ will be an especially useful line of attack for the McCain campaign, but it makes sense that they’re using it. The script is already written, making it easier for the barely literate cable newsers to run […]
John McCain has been struggling with Social Security for a while now. He was, for example, in favor of privatizing the system, only to reverse course soon after and oppose privatizing the system, only to discover that his new position was actually the same as his old one. Yesterday, the McCain campaign complicated matters, issuing […]
Given that Iraq’s Sunnis and Iraq’s Shi’ia would both like to see U.S. troops withdraw sooner rather than later, perhaps it’s not terribly surprising that Nouri al-Maliki is publicly making noises about telling the U.S., “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has for the first time […]
Someday, John McCain will look back at his presidential campaign and wonder, “What on earth was I thinking? Why did I let those consultants and lobbyists convince me to repeat nonsense I know isn’t true?” Take yesterday, for example. “Some economists don’t think much of my gas tax holiday,” he said of his plan to […]
Yesterday, leading McCain campaign surrogate Carly Fiorina, a top advisor to the Republican candidate, insisted that Barack Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those who make more than $250,000 a year would hurt small businesses. “In the Bush tax cuts, if they are repealed, 23 million small businesses will have their taxes raised. Why? Because […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Violence in Afghanistan continues to worsen: “A car bomb ripped through the front wall of the Indian Embassy in central Kabul on Monday, killing 40 people in the deadliest attack in Afghanistan’s capital since the fall of the Taliban, officials said.” * And in Pakistan: “A suicide bomber marked […]
For some of us, keeping an eye on Fox News’ partisan and unprofessional antics is a habit of morbid curiosity. For the great folks at Media Matters, monitoring Fox News is part of an ambitious drive to bring some accountability to modern journalism. But imagine being a media reporter for a legitimate news outlet, and […]
During his first presidential campaign, George W. Bush was pressed on whether he ever had to prepare a budget as the governor of Texas. Bush, pointing to the state’s finances, said, “It’s clearly a budget; it’s got a lot of numbers in it.” Eight years later, we have Bush’s would-be Republican successor, John McCain, unveiling […]
Following up on an item from Friday, former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), arguably the last proud, unrepentant racist on the national political scene, died at age 86, prompting an outpouring of support from his conservative allies. The National Review published its editorial on Helms’ death today, labeling him “a true American patriot,” and questioning why […]