Looking at the Gallup Daily Tracking Polls every day, as some of us do, we see two sets of numbers — Clinton vs. Obama among Dems, and McCain vs. both Dems among all voters. The prior is volatile and unpredictable; the latter is so steady, it’s hardly worth watching. Take a look at today’s report, […]
Since Democrats began complaining about (and the media kept ignoring) the controversial relationship between John McCain and radical televangelist John Hagee, the Texas megachurch pastor has kept a fairly low profile. It’s hardly surprising — McCain probably encouraged him to avoid major media attention, and Hagee, anxious to help his political ally, obliged. In fact, […]
I tend to think it’s pretty obvious that prolonging the Democratic nomination fight is an awful development, which is why I find it odd when I find items arguing the opposite. In the Wall Street Journal today, for example, Gerald Seib argues, “Toughness and resilience are important attributes, and that is what a long campaign […]
The next time John McCain says he’ll let Gen. David Petraeus dictate troop deployments to Afghanistan, it won’t be so embarrassing. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has commanded United States troops in Iraq for the past year, will be nominated to head the United States Central Command, which oversees military operations across a wide swath […]
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: * Whether you liked the outcome of the Pennsylvania primary or not, the turnout rates were pretty impressive: “Pennsylvania’s primary day turnout approached general election levels this year, state officials said Tuesday night. […]
In a televised speech in Indiana last night, Barack Obama, who had been challenging Hillary Clinton very aggressively of late in Pennsylvania, mentioned her name just once, and that was to congratulate her for her Keystone State victory. In contrast, Obama mentioned John McCain’s name seven times, in each instance, in a negative light. The […]
After waiting for the Pennsylvania primary for six weeks — it seemed like longer, didn’t it? — it seems a little awkward, 12 hours after learning the results of the contest, to say, “Pennsylvania, schmensylvania; what’s next?” Barring intervention by uncommitted superdelegates, here’s what we have to look forward to: Saturday, May 3: Guam Tuesday, […]
Democratic strategist Jim Jordan, who is not affiliated with either presidential campaign, told the LA Times last night, “Anybody who says past this point that this is good for the party or good for the nominee is a fool.” The candidates, he said are “exhausted, they’re more likely to make mistakes, and they’re raising each […]
Shortly after the polls closed in Pennsylvania last night, Marc Ambinder noted that the one metric that really mattered wasn’t delegates or popular votes, but money. Most notably, Hillary Clinton’s lack of it. Clinton was easily outspent in Pennsylvania — by most measures, by more than a 2-to-1 margin — but she started with far […]
It figures, doesn’t it? After 16 months of campaigning, primaries and caucuses in 43 states, a couple dozen debates, and ungodly sums of money spent on campaign ads, Pennsylvania was poised to make a real difference. A landslide win by Hillary Clinton (as predicted by initial polls in March) might have fundamentally reshaped the race. […]