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: * Just how serious were the financial troubles facing John McCain’s campaign up until recently? He took out a $3 million loan, but had to take out a special life-insurance policy in the […]
With the president having signed a 15-day extension of the existing surveillance law (the poorly-named “Protect America Act”), senators have finally crafted a plan on what happens next. Paul Kiel sets the stage. So, after all that, after all the back room offers and counteroffers and fear-mongering and delaying, the Senate has finally struck a […]
We may finally be at a point in which we can stop talking about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his subtle-but-not-really interest in launching an independent presidential campaign. There have been several reports of late indicating that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) had been one of the high-profile figures urging Bloomberg to consider […]
Josh Marshall noted this morning,” I was wondering when this would come up. As a lot of us remember, John McCain was very close to leaving the Republican party in 2001 and becoming either a Democrat or, much more likely, an independent a la Jim Jeffords who would caucus with the Democrats. The Hill gives […]
Yesterday, we talked about how the Democratic presidential race was poised to enter a new phase — with the race for the nomination down to the top two, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will start making the case that they can beat Republicans in general, and John McCain in specific, in a general election. I […]
The last time the Democratic presidential candidates got together for a debate, it got ugly. Nasty exchanges got personal, voices were raised, and charges over Wal-Mart and Rezko were thrown around indiscriminately. The negative reaction was so intense, John Edwards sought to capitalize, running ads in South Carolina about being the only “grown-up” in the […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Yet another al Qaeda #3 goes down: “Abu Laith al-Libi, a top al-Qaida commander in Afghanistan who was blamed for bombing a base while Vice President Cheney was visiting last year, has been killed in Pakistan, according to a militant Web site. Al-Libi was a key link between the […]
It’s hard for me to imagine what could spark this kind of speculation. On his way to California on Wednesday to officially endorse Sen. John McCain, Rudy Giuliani said he was not seeking the vice presidential nomination. […] Giuliani added that the campaign had not discussed any potential role for him beyond campaigning for McCain […]
Be prepared to hear about this, over and over again, for quite a while. If Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination, it will be the staple of every Republican stump speech between now and Election Day. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was the most liberal senator in 2007, according to National Journal’s 27th annual vote ratings. […]
The very first question at last night’s debate for the remaining Republican presidential candidates was actually kind of interesting. Borrowing a Reagan line from 1980, Anderson Cooper asked, “[A]re Americans better off than they were eight years ago?” Not surprisingly, the GOP hopefuls didn’t seem anxious to talk about it. White House Press Secretary Dana […]