Barack Obama has gone to considerable lengths to distance himself from the inflammatory remarks of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but some remarks are harder to dismiss. When Wright, for example, said the United States government has been complicit in facilitating black genocide, it was hard not to cringe and seek an explanation […]
The big story over night, as we discussed this morning, was that three State Department contractors took an inappropriate peek at Barack Obama’s passport file. Officials apologized, fired the contractors in question, and announced that an investigation would be forthcoming. But this afternoon we learned that the State Department’s problem is an even bigger mess. […]
According to the latest Gallup poll, Hillary Clinton has a veracity problem. Hillary Clinton is rated as “honest and trustworthy” by 44% of Americans, far fewer than say this about John McCain (67%) and Barack Obama (63%). More specifically, when respondents were asked about the candidates’ honesty and trustworthiness, McCain did very well (67%-27% in […]
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: * In one of the weaker attacks from the Obama campaign in recent memory, the Obama team found and distributed a picture of Bill Clinton shaking hands with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright at […]
Barack Obama’s speech on race in America this week sparked a spirited discussion in a variety of corners, but as we’ve all experienced, sometimes a discussion can go off in dumb directions. The New York Daily News’ Errol Louis tackled the flap over Obama’s comparison yesterday of his grandmother to a “typical white person” — […]
Dick Cheney raised some eyebrows this week when ABC News’ Martha Raddatz reminded the VP that “two-thirds of Americans say” the Iraq war “is not worth fighting.” In response, Cheney asked, “So?” Now, truth be told, I found this amusing, but hardly shocking. For one thing, the fact that Dick Cheney doesn’t much care about […]
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) has been one of the more sought after endorsements in Democratic circles over the last month or so, with aggressive lobbying from both the Clinton and Obama campaigns. It’s not hard to figure out why — Richardson is a popular governor of a key swing state, and arguably the […]
This could be an instance of a few over-eager Bush administration staffers who let their curiosity get the best of them, or it could be an instance of the Bush administration using federal resources to dig up dirt on a Democrat to help a Republican win an election. At this point, we don’t know. Two […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * I think we can pretty much forget about the Michigan re-vote: “Michigan’s State Senate adjourned Thursday without reaching an agreement to schedule a new Democratic primary on June 3. The Legislature is now on recess for two weeks, and by the time lawmakers return, it will likely be too […]
Conservative efforts to characterize Barack Obama as Scary Black Man 2008 have picked up considerably of late, but this Fox News piece, disseminated widely by far-right blogs, reflects a certain desperation. Barack Obama’s campaign has rejected the support of the New Black Panther Party, after removing an endorsement by the group from its Web site […]