The LA Times ran a solid report about a month ago, noting that when it comes to foreign policy, John McCain’s record is littered with “mixed signals” and contradictory positions. That’s true — foreign policy “realists” who are looking for signs of hope can point to McCain’s opposition to extending Reagan’s troop deployment in Lebanon […]
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: * Hillary Clinton’s campaign coffers got a $2.5 million boost last night, thanks to an event with Elton John at Radio City Music Hall last night. Tickets for the sold-out event ranged from […]
In 1988, TV preacher Pat Robertson launched a Republican presidential campaign predicated on a vaguely theocratic, right-wing platform. He actually fared well in a couple of contests — he even came in second in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of George H.W. Bush — before a poor showing on Super Tuesday forced him from the race. […]
Following up on an item from Monday, Ben Smith reported that there were multiple independent efforts underway in progressive circles to help “define” John McCain while the Democratic nominating race continues, but they fizzled over the last month or so. The “soft-money groups don’t have the soft money,” in large part because Democratic investors are […]
Late yesterday, Josh Marshall noted, “Now that Hillary’s fired Mark Penn, can she now fire Lanny Davis? Please? Or ask that he be put under some sort of house arrest?” It’s not an uncommon sentiment, though the Clinton campaign can’t fire Davis; he’s not actually on staff. He’s just a very vocal campaign advocate with […]
The Bush administration not only has trouble following the law, it also doesn’t seem especially fond of enforcing the law, either. Through something called “deferred prosecutions,” the administration is neglecting to prosecute corporate crimes that that would have resulted in indictments in previous administrations. In a major shift of policy, the Justice Department, once known […]
Describing the Bush administration’s affinity for torture, Michael Stickings noted this morning, “[I]t’s not all about John Yoo. The U.S. didn’t just start torturing its detainees because a government lawyer said it was okay, or because some executive-branch extremist like David Addington determined that anything and everything was permissible in a time of war, or […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Speaker Pelosi flexes her muscles a bit on trade: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday that she’ll use a rare procedural option to block fast-track consideration of the Colombia free-trade agreement, a draconian step that counters President Bush’s push to get Congress to vote on the controversial deal this […]
I certainly won’t claim to be the most well-connected blogger on this side of the ‘sphere, but over the last couple of weeks, I’ve chatted with a few DC politicos, all of whom mentioned they’ve been hearing a lot of “VP buzz” about Joe Biden, most notably if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee. This […]
The argument for maintaining a decades-long presence for U.S. troops in Iraq invariably leads conservatives to draw a comparison to post-World War II Germany and Japan. It’s a fundamentally flawed argument, but it tends to dominate the discourse. At least Germany and Japan, though, are foreign countries. RedState, a prominent conservative blog, has been pushing […]