Time for a quick quiz. Question #1: when Barack Obama campaigned in Altoona, Pa., a few weeks ago, what was his bowling score? And question #2: name one thing — anything — about Joe Biden’s healthcare plan. Elizabeth Edwards makes the point today that, thanks to media coverage, we can all immediately answer the first, […]
The McCain campaign doesn’t seem especially concerned about Democratic attacks that he’s running to give the nation a third Bush term. He doesn’t seem to care when people highlight his age. He shrugs off questions about his reputation as a hothead with a nasty temperament who flies off the handle on a regular basis. He […]
If I were to pick a specific date for when the Clinton campaign’s tactics began to cause real consternation in Democratic circles, I’d have to go with Jan. 25. At that point, Clinton had won a couple of impressive victories (New Hampshire, Nevada), and Obama had won a couple of his own (Iowa, South Carolina), […]
In my heart of hearts, I don’t really believe there are any Americans who would base their presidential vote on flag pins and the Star Spangled Banner. People can and do back (or oppose) candidates for some pretty superficial reasons, but no one’s that dumb. My hunch is that voters, when it comes to Barack […]
John Yoo may no longer be in the Bush administration, but his arguments for letting administration officials break the law when they think they should have apparently lingered inside the Justice Department. The Justice Department has told Congress that American intelligence operatives attempting to thwart terrorist attacks can legally use interrogation methods that might otherwise […]
John McCain, back when he was a champion of campaign-finance reform, fought for a measure requiring presidential candidates to pay the actual cost of flying on corporate jets. Around the same time, McCain also vowed not to rely on his wife’s considerable personal wealth to finance his presidential campaign. It looks like both of those […]
For reasons that I’ll probably never quite understand, CNN invited former White House press secretary Tony Snow to join what the network bills as the “best political team” on television, overlooking Snow’s record of, well, being something of a Republican hack. Snow made his debut yesterday on the “Situation Room.” How did it go? Well, […]
About a month ago, lobbyist Charlie Black, John McCain’s senior campaign advisor, said the McCain campaign would not go after the Democratic candidates on the basis of guilt by association. The Dems might try it with McCain, Black said, but that’s just not the way McCain operates. “What Senator McCain has said repeatedly is that […]
We’ve all heard the expression, “90% of life is just showing up.” It seems to be the basis of an LA Times editorial today, praising John McCain’s week-long tour of small towns, urban areas, and other communities that have struggled economically for years. McCain appeared in impoverished areas in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Ohio, and […]
First up from the God machine this week is an update on a report from February on the uncomfortable intersection of religion and the U.S. military. One soldier who is not religious has faced considerable pressure from those who are. When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp […]