Tuesday’s campaign round-up

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: * It’s official; John and Elizabeth Edwards told People magazine that they will not endorse either of the remaining Democratic candidates before the nominee is chosen. The Edwardses will instead save their political […]

Far-right demands fealty on judicial nominees; McCain to acquiesce

A few months ago, asked about the kind of judges he would appoint to the Supreme Court, John McCain said, “It’s not social issues I care about. It’s the Constitution of the United States I care about.” That, of course, is not what far-right Republicans — who do care about social issues — wanted to […]

In Ohio, Dann is done

When a state Attorney General runs his office like “the fraternity house in Animal House,” it’s time for him to go. It’s great to see Ohio Dems act so quickly and with such unanimity on this. Risking impeachment, Ohio’s attorney general on Monday refused demands from the governor and other fellow Democrats that he resign […]

Are we still on the Muslim thing?

I’d assumed that one of the few side benefits of the Jeremiah Wright controversy is that no one, anywhere, could still possibly believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. After all, everyone in the country got to see a whole lot of Obama’s Christian pastor and his Christian church. It’s hard to imagine anyone still […]

Three months later, McCain’s Hagee ties draw scrutiny

I guess it’s an instance of “better late than never.” Way back in February, after an extensive outreach effort, John McCain secured the endorsement of pastor John Hagee, a right-wing megachurch televangelist, best known for his bizarre anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-woman, anti-Muslim and anti-gay views. McCain campaigned alongside his new buddy in advance of the Texas […]

Clinton targets OPEC, vows to break up ‘monopoly’

I’m going to assume that the focus groups put oil prices at the very top of voters’ priority lists. Energy policy has gone from something of an afterthought — remember when Iraq dominated the Democratic race? — to the singular focus of the Clinton campaign. Clinton’s attacks on oil prices as artificially inflated, Enron-style, keep […]

Monday’s Mini-Report

Today’s edition of quick hits. * The devastation in Burma is just staggering: “The death toll from the Myanmar cyclone is more than 10,000 people, Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry said Monday. Survivors were facing their third night without electricity in the aftermath of the historic cyclone that also clogged roads with thousands of downed trees. Diplomats […]

‘The eight best years we’ve had in modern history’

Bill Clinton raised a few eyebrows over the weekend — and even drew quite a bit of criticism — for giving himself a little pat on the back for a job well done while campaigning in Lebanon, Indiana. Just in case you were wondering how Bill Clinton feels about his tenure as president, he said […]

Identifying Clinton’s target audience

Over the last several weeks, we’ve seen a few items explaining just how difficult it would be for Hillary Clinton to catch up to Barack Obama, but Ezra reminds us today that “the math is harder for Clinton to make up with every passing day.” There simply aren’t enough contests remaining for Clinton to close […]

Why the moral equivalences matter

Following up on an earlier item, a couple of pieces that ran over the weekend have drawn considerable buzz in Democratic circles — Steve Chapman’s piece noting John McCain’s relationship with G. Gordon Liddy (contrasting it with Obama knowing Bill Ayers), and Frank Rich’s piece noting McCain’s relationship with John Hagee (contrasting it with Obama […]