Republican lawmakers are so concerned about election-year appearances that they’re even blocking popular bills with broad bi-partisan support named after national celebrities. Salon’s Geraldine Sealey noted an LA Weekly report, which suggests GOP lawmakers started playing games with the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Act immediately after the actor’s death. For all the bad rap that Hollywood […]
The Washington Post/ABC News daily tracking poll showed Kerry seizing the national lead from Bush for the first time yesterday, which included data from before last night’s debate. That’s good news, but the interesting part was the regional breakdowns. The Post/ABC data doesn’t show support by state, but it does break the numbers down by […]
I know the Bush administration holds itself to a pretty low standard for law and order, but this sounds like one of the more blatant cases of influence-peddling in a long while. In meeting after meeting, President Bush’s special envoy, former Secretary of State James Baker, has lobbied world leaders to reduce the crushing debt […]
Republicans must really be getting desperate — their arguments are getting more reckless and absurd. On CBS’ “Early Show” yesterday, BC04 Campaign Manager Ken Mehlman blamed the lack of tort reform for the flu vaccine shortage. “With respect to the flu vaccine, it is a very important issue, and it’s another example of this medical […]
It won’t be out for a couple of days, but this week’s New York Times Sunday Magazine is going to have a big feature on Bush from Ron Suskind, whom you know as the author of “The Price of Loyalty,” the best-seller based on materials provided by former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. The story will […]
As I am wont to do, these are my Top 10 favorite Bush lies from last night’s debate. Whopper #1: “[T]hree-quarters of al Queda leaders have been brought to justice.” Bush can say this every day for the rest of the campaign — and he very well might — but it won’t make it true. […]
In the first debate, Bush mentioned women just once, in the context of voters in Afghanistan. Kerry didn’t mention women at all. In the second debate, Kerry mentioned women twice, Bush not at all. If the “gender gap” really is starting to narrow, an argument I’m highly skeptical of, Kerry wasn’t going to take any […]
John Kerry used last night’s debates, as effectively as anyone I’ve ever seen, to target two specific groups of voters: Catholics and women. It wasn’t particularly subtle, but it was very effective. Catholic voters are one of the key “swing constituencies” this election, and several polls show them split pretty much down the middle. Kerry’s […]
One of John Kerry’s obvious goals — in all three debates — was to return the public’s focus onto Osama bin Laden. It’s been effective in every instance, and even prompted Bush, in the first debate, to utter the embarrassing, “I know Osama bin Laden attacked us; I know that” response. But last night’s bin […]
It was a rare misstatement for Kerry: “This is a president who hasn’t met with the Black Congressional Caucus.” As it turns out, Bush did. “Well, first of all, it is just not true that I haven’t met with the Black Congressional Caucus. I met with the Black Congressional Caucus at the White House.” He’s […]