Bush, in last Friday’s debate: “Of course, I listen to our generals. That’s what a president does. A president sets the strategy and relies upon good military people to execute that strategy.” Bush, at a White House press conference with Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi last month: “[W]hen our commanders say that they need support, […]
You’d think after hurting his campaign with months of bizarre remarks, Oklahoma’s Tom Coburn would know by now to keep his foot out of his mouth. Alas, he’s a slow learner. The Republican Senate candidate in Oklahoma warns of “rampant” lesbianism in some schools in the state in a tape released Monday by his Democratic […]
How bad have things gotten for Bush since the debates started? Even Gallup says he’s losing. President Bush and Sen. John Kerry head toward their third and final televised debate this week with voters increasingly pessimistic about the economy, the war in Iraq and the battle against terrorism, a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll shows. Unease about […]
The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank, one of the nation’s great political reporters, was a little off his game today. His story about the difference between Bush’s and Kerry’s audiences downplayed the single biggest factor explaining the discrepancy. The Republican faithful love their candidate; the Democratic faithful have less such enthusiasm for Kerry but know he […]
It may be a little too soon to tell, but it seems the Sinclair Broadcast Group will ultimately regret its decision to intervene in the campaign on Bush’s behalf. Here’s a quick round-up of developments over the last 24 hours: * The Democratic Party and 18 senators are objecting to Sinclair’s plan and have asked […]
In case you weren’t having trouble sleeping before, consider that nuclear materials have gone missing in Iraq. Equipment and materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons are disappearing from Iraq but neither Baghdad nor Washington appears to have noticed, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency reported on Monday. Satellite imagery shows that entire buildings […]
I know, I know. Anytime I believe that there are certain things the Bush White House just wouldn’t do, I’m wrong. They know no limits; they have no shame. We learned in March that the administration created fake news segments — with our money — that were sent to news stations across the country to […]
Talk of an “October Surprise” is a mainstay of blog speculation. This certainly didn’t help. President Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, said Wednesday that the Bush-Cheney campaign is planning some October “surprises” for challengers John Kerry and John Edwards. “We’ve got a couple of surprises that we intend to spring,” Rove told ABC radio […]
We got our first less-than-subtle clue about the Bush White House’s approach to security in Iraq about a month ago. Faced with a growing insurgency and a January deadline for national elections, American commanders in Iraq say they are preparing operations to open up rebel-held areas, especially Falluja, the restive city west of Baghdad now […]
In June 2003, The New Republic’s Michael Crowley wrote an exceptional article (exceptionally well-researched and exceptionally depressing) about the misery of being a Dem in the House of Representatives. Crowley explained that, for the first time that anyone can remember, lawmakers in the minority are told by the majority that they aren’t aloud to introduce […]