When Reagan nominated Robert Bork for the Supreme Court, he made things pretty easy for his Democratic critics. Before becoming a nominee, Bork had said or written all kinds of bizarre and scary things. Once his hearings began, Bork could have distanced himself from his record, but instead he tried to justify his body of […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]