The entire dynamic is tiresome. An associate of one of the Democratic presidential candidates says something intemperate, the other campaign is “Outraged!” and calls for resignations and dismissals fly. Both sides insist these dust-ups are character tests for the rival candidate. The “umbrage wars,” as John Dickerson calls them, began in earnest 13 months ago […]
By any reasonable measure, last week wasn’t Barack Obama’s best ever. He lost primaries in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island; he lost his top foreign policy advisor; and his intention of ending the nominating contest fell far short. Hillary Clinton narrowed Obama’s lead among pledged delegates by about 10, and claimed a new sense of […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Spitzer-Watch 2008 will continue, at least until tomorrow: “Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has spent much of the day considering his options following allegations that he was linked to a high-priced prostitution ring, will not resign his office on Tuesday, according to a person involved in discussions with the governor.” […]
We’ve all seen Hillary Clinton’s “3 a.m.” ad. We’ve also seen Barack Obama’s response ad. And the parodies of both. It seemed as if, over the course of just two weeks, there wasn’t much else to say about the whole exchange. But Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson considers the ad from a perspective I hadn’t considered. […]
For quite a while, CENTCOM Commander Adm. William Fallon has not exactly been diligent about reading Republican talking points, especially when it comes to Iran. Right around the time the White House was blustering about “World War III,” Fallon said publicly, “[G]enerally, the bellicose comments are not particularly helpful.” Worse, from the Bush gang’s perspective, […]
The Brookings Institute’s Michael O’Hanlon, a high-profile supporter of the war in Iraq, has his op-eds published in major newspapers more than any human being should. Ilan Goldenberg noted that O’Hanlon has recently made his case for staying the course four times in the NYT, three times in the WaPo, three times in USAT, and […]
It’s not too often that high-profile political figures elected to statewide office are caught buying the services of a prostitute, but as luck would have it, we’ve seen two major examples in the last nine months — Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R) and New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D). There are some interesting similarities. Both […]
I’ve been genuinely impressed. The Democrats’ House leadership, which has been known to cave to White House demands when it comes to national security issues on occasion, allowed the poorly-named “Protect America Act” to expire, despite the hysterics from Bush and congressional Republicans. It seemed like only a matter of time before Dems backed down […]
Fox News reported yesterday afternoon that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) would resign last night. Like most of the network’s scoops, that turned out to be false. That said, the sex scandal that shocked the political world is likely to end Spitzer’s career. Top aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Tuesday morning that they […]
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: * Barack Obama’s campaign offered a response to the Clinton campaign’s “commander-in-chief test” yesterday, hosting an event in Washington at which former secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force endorsed Obama and […]