It’s one of those political truisms that everyone seems to know — senators don’t usually win presidential elections. In American history, only two sitting senators — Warren Harding and John F. Kennedy — have ever won the White House, and only five others — Lewis Cass, Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Bob Dole, and John Kerry […]
About a month ago, David Corn took a closer look at a book Mike Huckabee wrote as governor in 1998, called “Kids Who Kill: Confronting Our Culture of Violence,” and found a “fierce culture warrior.” The Arkansan was especially pointed in his criticism of gays. At one point in the book, Huckabee argues, “It is […]
For those who were following the 2000 presidential race, the efforts to smear John McCain in South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary is the stuff of legend. McCain, fresh off his big win in New Hampshire, ran into some scurrilous and nasty attacks in the Palmetto State, where Bush supporters accused McCain of having gone crazy […]
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: * Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) endorsed Obama this morning: “Leahy likened his support of Obama to the 1968 presidential campaign, when as a young prosecutor he endorsed Robert Kennedy over Hubert Humphrey. ‘He […]
In a contested presidential primary, candidates are going to go after one another. It’s practically unavoidable. For that matter, it’s not always a bad thing to highlight differences and deal with criticisms the nominee is likely to hear again in a general election. It’s rarely fun for partisans to hear one leader from their party […]
It’s very tempting to just ignore Karl Rove and his occasional assessments of the political landscape. After all, as we’ve discussed before, his “genius” has always been wildly exaggerated, particularly when it comes to electoral strategy. On Election Day 2000, it was Rove’s idea to keep his candidate in California in the waning days, instead […]
The NYT’s Adam Nagourney made a compelling case yesterday that Mitt Romney’s win in the Michigan Republican primary was “proof from the ballot box of what polls have shown: this is a party that is adrift, deeply divided and uninspired when it comes to its presidential candidates and unsure of how to counter an energized […]
Barack Obama sat down with the editors of the Reno Gazette-Journal the other day for a fairly lengthy interview, most of which was interesting, but hardly ground-breaking. The senator caused a bit of a stir, though, when we learned yesterday about his perspective on some recent presidents. “I don’t want to present myself as some […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Remember that bizarre veto during the winter congressional break? It looks like there’s been progress on a resolution: “Congress has reached a compromise with the White House over a defense authorization bill provision that had drawn complaints from the Iraqi government. Those complaints prompted President Bush to veto the […]
Oh dear. A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan. The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money […]