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: * A biopsy of John McCain’s latest facial spot turned out to be negative: “A biopsy of a spot removed from the right cheek of Senator John McCain revealed no evidence of skin […]
Want to read something funny? I mean, genuinely hysterical? Take a look at the memo distributed by the McCain campaign in early March, immediately after John McCain officially secured the Republican nomination. “It is critical,” the memo explained, “as we prepare to face off with whomever the Democrats select as their nominee, that we all […]
From the “credit where credit is due” file, I argued the other day that news outlets were repeating the McCain campaign’s demonstrably false smear about Barack Obama and wounded U.S. troops in Germany, but neglecting to point out reality. As far as the public was concerned, McCain was making an attack; Obama said the attack […]
I vaguely recall some news items from New Year’s about a group of scholars issuing a list of words to be banished from the lexicon for “misuse, overuse and general uselessness.” Among the selections from 2007 were “under the bus,” “it is what it is,” and “perfect storm.” It’s only been two weeks, but if […]
There were a couple of weeks in May that were rather embarrassing for the McCain campaign. McCain had developed a reputation as a politician who had little use for high-priced DC lobbyists, but it quickly became obvious that his entire campaign operation was being run by … high-priced DC lobbyists. In one eight-day stretch, McCain […]
The practice of jumping between the political and media worlds is not especially uncommon, and journalists routinely leave news outlets to pursue opportunities in professional politics. David Axelrod, the Obama campaign’s chief strategist, used to be a reporter. Linda Douglass, up until recently employed by National Journal, also joined Obama’s team. In perhaps the most […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * I hope all of our friends in Southern California are safe and sound: “A magnitude-5.4 earthquake has struck just east of Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake’s epicenter was about 2 miles southwest of Chino Hills and about 5 miles southeast of Diamond Bar, the […]
Yesterday afternoon, a Gallup tracking poll showed Barack Obama leading John McCain nationally by eight points among registered voters, 48% to 40%. A couple of hours later, a Gallup/USA Today poll showed McCain leading Obama among likely voters by four, 49% to 45%. Both from Gallup, both taken over a similar time period, both national, […]
Back in 2004, Bush told a Florida audience, “[John] Kerry said, and I quote, ‘The war on terror is far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering law enforcement operation.’ (Audience boos.) I disagree…. After the chaos and carnage of September the 11th, it is not enough to serve our enemies […]
A week ago, in a striking display of chutzpah, the McCain campaign unveiled a three-minute montage, ostensibly proving that political journalists are overly fond of Barack Obama. (The web video generated plenty of attention, but was ultimately pulled for copyright reasons.) That John McCain, who enjoys more media affection than any political figure in recent […]