For the first couple of years of Bush’s first term, there was an amusing phenomenon involving the president’s photo-ops — they tended not to make any sense. In 2002, Bush visited a job-training program in Oregon, highlighting it as the kind of success story that deserves support. He then cut the program’s federal funding. In […]
Yesterday, I suggested it would be great if the media highlighted the DNC’s new “100 years” ad against John McCain, and the RNC’s baseless whining (and threats) about the ad. The more publicity this gets, the better. This national AP article, however, is not what I had in mind. The Republican National Committee is demanding […]
One of the awkward realities of the Democratic presidential race is that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama really don’t disagree on much. Their platforms are not identical, but in several key areas, the two Dems are generally on the same page. This, as much as anything, leads the campaign to focus on trivia, mini-scandals, personalities, […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Barack Obama’s appearance on Fox News still isn’t going over well. Adam Green, a spokesperson for MoveOn.org, which has endorsed Obama, said today, “It was a mistake for Obama to go on FOX’s Sunday show and treat the experience as if it was a real news interview. Democratic politicians […]
It was as predictable as the sunrise. The Democratic National Committee launched a very good ad hitting John McCain — in an entirely fair and accurate way — for his comments about keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for another century. Given that whenever anyone, anywhere, mentions the words “John McCain” and “100 years” in the […]
The New York Times had quite a front-page scoop eight days ago, when it reported on a Pentagon program that recruited retired military officers, who’ve since become lobbyists or consultants for military contractors, to become propaganda agents of the Bush administration. Throughout the war in Iraq, these retired officers — or “message multipliers,” as they […]
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright has been steadily increasing his public profile of late, and it’s not hard to understand why. The pastor has become Public Enemy #1 in some circles, and some of his more notorious sermons from his Trinity United Church of Christ pulpit in Chicago have become such a fixture of the media’s […]
When John McCain delivered his high-profile speech on his foreign policy vision about a month ago, the usual suspects swooned. The NYT’s David Brooks said it was “as personal, nuanced and ambitious a speech as any made by a presidential candidate this year.” He was especially impressed with McCain’s perspective on how best to treat […]
When Indiana passed a voter I.D. law, it was ostensibly to protect the integrity of the voting process. What better way to prevent voter fraud than to require those participating in an election to produce identification? Was there any evidence of a voter-fraud scourge in Indiana? No. Would the law make it harder for “certain […]
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: * Before the Wisconsin primary in February, Hillary Clinton made debates a central point of her campaign. She appears to be following a similar strategy now, telling audiences over the weekend that she […]