Following up on an item from last month, Paul Krugman had an interesting item in early June on the media’s coverage of the presidential campaign as the dominant story shifts from a heated primary race to the general election. When the focus was on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, it was in the media’s interest […]
The WaPo’s Dan Eggen and Paul Kane make the case today that “the decider has become the compromiser.” Yes, apparently we’re supposed to believe that George W. Bush, arguably the most rigid and obstinate figure in American public life, has suddenly discovered the virtues of concession and conciliation. President Bush has racked up a series […]
Like Yglesias, I really have to wonder what gets into the minds of the editors of the Washington Post’s op-ed page. This item, from writer Matthew DeBord, emphasizes the virtues of the Hummer tank truck, and its 10 miles-to-the-gallon fuel efficiency. When General Motors announced that it would subject its Hummer division to what in […]
Fundraising for a presidential library has always been controversial, in part because, unlike contributions to U.S. political campaigns, donations to libraries can come from foreign sources, and are easier to conceal. But this kind of corruption is striking, even by the Bush administration’s standards. The Sunday Times reports Stephen Payne, a Bush pioneer and a […]
About a month ago, John McCain was raising money in Richmond, Va., when he brought up his search for a running mate. “We’re going through a process where you get a whole bunch of names, and ya — well, basically, it’s a Google,” McCain said. “You just, you know, what you can find out now […]
Reading the tea leaves is always difficult, but one gets the sense that Hillary Clinton’s chances of making the Democratic ticket are less than good. Barack Obama told a potential donor to his campaign that Hillary Rodham Clinton is on his list of possible vice presidential running mates, but that her husband’s status as a […]
Yesterday, in a rather odd conclusion, Time’s Mark Halperin concluded that John McCain had “won the week.” Noting all of the many problems McCain had this week, I, among others, argued that this analysis didn’t make any sense at all. What I’d neglected to remember, however, was that this was supposed to be the week […]
It’s one thing to flip-flop; it’s another to live in an alternate reality in which the flip-flop never occurred. Yesterday, on a McCain campaign conference call, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) praised John McCain for his consistency in support of comprehensive immigration reform. In fact, with righteous indignation, Martinez can’t imagine why anyone would argue anything […]
While much of the talk was no doubt influenced by the ongoing negotiations between Iraqi officials and the Bush administration over a long-term security agreement, one of the major takeaways of the week was the frequent talk from Iraqi leaders about a U.S. withdrawal. Different officials referenced different timelines, but there was a common thread […]
The Los Angeles Times did some solid investigative reporting and published a very damaging item yesterday on John McCain’s personal background, which is of course a key part of his campaign. We learned that McCain turned his back on his wife after she was seriously injured in a car accident, committed adultery, and left the […]