Why campaign reporters travel in packs

Jon Stewart has described the media’s style of pack journalism many times with the same analogy: 8-year-olds playing soccer. As Stewart describes it, there’s a weird clump of legs, all moving in the same direction. Suddenly the kids see a ball rolling, and the weird clump converges on it in an awkward, graceless, and rather […]

David Frum is ‘terrified’

Slowly but surely, former Bush speechwriter David Frum has been working to restore some semblance of credibility. After his White House stint — he is often credited for helping coin the “axis of evil” phrase — Frum remained a loyal Bushie in the conservative media for quite a while, until a few months ago, when […]

I watch debates, so you don’t have to — Democratic edition

One need not be a campaign insider to recognize before last night’s debate in New Hampshire what the leading Democratic candidates were likely to try to do. Barack Obama entered the debate riding an Iowa-driven wave, and would stay positive while avoiding any momentum-killing gaffes. John Edwards was likely to take a few rhetorical shots […]

I watch debates, so you don’t have to — GOP edition

Over the summer, when Rudy Giuliani was considered the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, his principal foe was Mitt Romney, who was trying to highlight the former mayor’s less-than-conservative record. When Fred Thompson got in the race, his principal foe was Mitt Romney, who was trying to hold onto the GOP base. When Mike Huckabee […]

Out-of-control O’Reilly gets aggressive with Obama staffer

It’s clear watching his show that Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly thinks he’s above such things as social norms, but I didn’t realize he’d go this far. Fox News host Bill O’Reilly got into a confrontation with an Obama aide after O’Reilly started screaming at him as he tried to get Barack Obama’s attention following a […]

Jonah Goldberg fears ‘completely unhinged’ Democrats

National Review’s Jonah Goldberg is worried. [A]fter reading this regrettable excess from Ezra Klein as well as all of the more reasonable but nonetheless hopeful, proud, idealistic and sincere sentiments of pride and well-wishing for Obama as the first serious mainstream black contender for the White House (some, but by no means all, of these […]

How big a post-Iowa bump?

Over the last couple of weeks, the gap in New Hampshire between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the Democratic side, and Mitt Romney and John McCain on the Republican side, has been shrinking considerably. The question, of course, is whether the results of the Iowa caucuses would affect the New Hampshire race, and if […]

Bloomberg moves the goalposts

On Monday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will sit down for an undefined meeting at the University of Oklahoma, apparently as the precursor to a presidential campaign. Bloomberg will be joined by a bipartisan group of former (and a couple of current) elected officials, including Dems such as former senators Sam Nunn (Ga.), Charles […]

Clinton, Edwards eye avenues of attack against Obama

Because of the compressed calendar, there are just five short days between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, which poses a challenge for Hillary Clinton’s and John Edwards’ campaigns: how to blunt Barack Obama’s post-Iowa momentum quickly. Tom Edsall offers a look at the chosen avenues of attack. Upon her arrival in New […]

Stock-market analysis — conservative style

I won’t pretend to have any expertise in analyzing the day-to-day ups and downs of the stock market; there are just too many variables to consider. That said, some days are clearly easier to understand than others. Yesterday, for example, didn’t take an MBA to appreciate. The monthly jobs report was depressing, with the worst […]