Over the last year or so, we’ve seen debates that were pretty bad. We’ve seen a few that were embarrassingly bad. But at least in this cycle, I’m not sure if we’ve seen anything quite as train-wreck, cover-your-eyes bad as the spectacle on ABC last night. What may prove to be the last Democratic debate […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Huge day at the Supreme Court: “U.S. executions are all but sure to resume soon after a nationwide halt, cleared Wednesday by a splintered Supreme Court that approved the most widely used method of lethal injection. Virginia immediately lifted its moratorium; Oklahoma and Mississippi said they would seek execution […]
In case you missed it, earlier this week, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews suggested he’s actively considering running for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat in 2010. Seriously. When Stephen Colbert brought up the subject, Matthews stopped smiling, stopped joking around, and responded, “Did you ever want to be something your whole life?” He added, “Well, it’s something you grow […]
The Huffington Post caused quite a stir two weeks ago with the now-infamous report about Barack Obama’s remarks about “bitter” working-class families in small towns. Today, the Huffington Post has a follow-up report about Hillary Clinton. During the past week, Sen. Hillary Clinton has presented herself as a working class populist, the politician in touch […]
As regular readers know, I’ve been fascinated with the implications of John McCain’s age on the presidential campaign. For all the talk about Americans’ comfort levels when it comes to an African-American president or woman president, there’s ample evidence that voters are even more concerned with a septuagenarian president. Howard Dean recently noted that the […]
After criticizing Joe Lieberman’s antics on Monday and Tuesday this week, I was prepared to give him a pass today, but his drive to infuriate his former party continues unabated. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the Democratic Party’s 2000 vice presidential nominee, is leaving open the possibility of giving a keynote address on behalf of Sen. […]
There have been a series of alleged terrorist plots that the White House has claimed to have disrupted. Sometimes Bush and his team tout these thwarted plots to defend torture, and sometimes it’s to defend illegally tapping Americans’ phones, but the bottom line is always the same — there are dangerous bad guys out there, […]
It’s pretty safe to assume that John McCain will be on the presidential ballot in November. It’s also safe to assume he’ll be up against Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. In most states, Ralph Nader will probably be there, too, though his influence is likely to be limited. The next question, though, is who else […]
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: * There’s no shortage of polls out there today. LA Times/Bloomberg polled three upcoming Democratic contests and found Clinton leading Obama in Pennsylvania (46-41), Obama leading Clinton in Indiana (40-35), and Obama up […]
Reasonable Democrats can disagree about the merit of Hillary Clinton’s negative campaigning over the last few months. Clinton supporters argue that the attacks against Barack Obama have been fair and accurate, and if he can’t overcome the harsh criticism now, he’ll wither against the GOP in the fall. Obama supporters argue, of course, that the […]