It’s the quintessential campaign conundrum: ignore an attack or respond forcefully. The prior denies the criticism oxygen, but campaigns generally don’t want to risk leaving an attack out there without a response. The latter gets the campaign’s message out, but it runs the risk of bringing attention to criticism that might otherwise go unnoticed. With […]
Just a few months ago, Chris Matthews asked John McCain if he would consider a pro-choice running mate, such as former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. “I don’t know if [his position on the issue] would stop him, but it would be difficult,” McCain said. McCain is saying something different now. Republican John McCain says he […]
Both presidential campaigns have invested pretty heavily in television ads for the Olympics, with Obama reportedly spending $5 million, and McCain $6 million. Given reports on high ratings for this year’s games, it’s probably money well spent — a lot of folks will see the commercials. But it strikes me as interesting how the competing […]
Way back in September, we learned that Barack Obama and Ron Paul, who don’t have too much in common, were the top two presidential candidates when it came to financial support from U.S. troops. It had a certain political salience — opponents of the war in Iraq took note of the fact that the top […]
Hillary Clinton’s recent talk about “catharsis” was in large part about having her name being placed in nomination during the Democratic National Convention. It’s largely a symbolic move, but it appears that’s precisely what’s going to happen. The decision was reached this week, according to Democratic officials, and will be announced later today. It comes […]
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 a new mailer, the AFL-CIO is going after John McCain’s wealth: “McCain’s worth over $100 million,” the mailer reads. “He owns 10 houses…he flies around on a $12.6 million corporate jet…he […]
Following up on yesterday’s item, Jerome Corsi, best known for the discredited “Unfit for Command” hatchet-job against John Kerry four years ago, is back with yet another smear/book against Barack Obama, called “The Obama Nation.” Unlike four years ago, Corsi’s malicious distortions are being met with immediate resistance. Last night on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” […]
CNN continues to add to its team of political commentators, and announced five new members of the team yesterday. Atrios posted the press release, which touted the network adding “five more top political reporters and commentators to its deep bench of political contributors and analysts.” * David Brody, senior national correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting […]
Yesterday, we talked about John McCain losing the NYT’s Thomas Friedman, thanks to a series of utterly ridiculous energy-policy proposals. Today, let’s look at John McCain losing Time’s Joe Klein. I’ve teased Klein a bit for misjudging McCain. After all, as recently as April, Klein predicted that McCain would avoid the cheap and pathetic style […]
John McCain has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today, and the very first sentence reads, “For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call.” I can appreciate how awkward it must be for guys like McCain to […]