For years, Republicans have seemed off-balance and directionless unless they have a specific American whom they could direct their rage. If they’re not turning a rival into a villain, they’re probably just trying to narrow down their enemies’ list. Too many adversaries makes for a muddled message — the GOP needs one person to hate […]
The interesting, and unexpected, political flap of the day is Hillary Clinton’s decision to go on the offensive against Barack Obama, following an interesting exchange from last night’s debate. First, a little context. A questioner asked whether, “in the spirit of…bold leadership,” the candidates would be willing to “meet separately, without precondition, during the first […]
It appears the president isn’t a great listener. The entrepreneur who hosted President Bush last week for a roundtable discussion on health care and small business said yesterday that he could barely get a word in as Bush opined on children’s health insurance and other health topics. If he had, Clifton Broumand would have told […]
Late last week, we learned the White House has come up with a creative approach to the principle of executive privilege: once the president claims it, he has exempted himself from any and all accountability. Under this approach, Bush can define the scope and limits of his own powers. Congress can hold White House officials […]
Remember last week when the Pentagon resisted efforts to tell the Senate Armed Services Committee about “contingency plans for the future withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq”? Perhaps the administration doesn’t want to talk about it because they’re planning to stay in Iraq for quite a while. While Washington is mired in political debate over […]
I know it’s serious, and I realize the gravity of the problem, but listening to the Senate Judiciary Committee grill Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been laugh-out-loud hilarious. Indeed, it’s not unusual for assembled spectators to chuckle if a witness and senator are joking around, but in this morning’s session, the audience was laughing at […]
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: * Newt Gingrich, like most Republicans, apparently isn’t impressed with the current field of GOP presidential candidates. He described the field as “pathetic,” and said those in the race are “pygmies.” He also […]
There’s been a quiet, behind-the-scenes debate over the point for most of the year, but I’m very much inclined to agree with Mark Schmitt’s analysis: presidential candidates probably shouldn’t bother offering detailed plans and white papers for major policy issues during a campaign. The explanation for these plans is that voters deserve to know what […]
The past couple of weeks, we’ve leaned about White House efforts to shamelessly politicize the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the General Services Administration, and the Office of the Surgeon General, agencies that no one ever really thought of as arms of a campaign machine. Today, the Washington Post moves the ball forward even […]
The latest WaPo/ABC poll includes plenty of the usual questions, but the numbers on Iraq were particularly noteworthy. Most Americans see President Bush as intransigent on Iraq and prefer that the Democratic-controlled Congress make decisions about a possible withdrawal of U.S. forces, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. As the president and Congress […]