I’ve more or less sworn off national polling data — it’s a state-by-state race — but the latest poll from NBC/Wall Street Journal had a whole lot of interesting information that warrants attention. Let’s get the horserace out of the way. This poll shows Bush at 48%, Kerry close behind at 45%. Among likely voters, […]
In North Carolina last week, one of the few remaining Christian Coalition affiliates hosted their annual God & Country Banquet. As is often the case, sensible people stood outside and peacefully protested the group, its radical leaders, and dangerous agenda. So far, so good. But one of the featured speakers of the event was far-right […]
Being a press flack can be challenging in general, but I suspect it’s particularly tough when you work for Bush administration officials. After all, how do you defend the indefensible? In at least one case, by “repeating a string of expletives.” The Center for American Progress noted today that Tom Ridge, Bush’s Secretary of Homeland […]
I’ve been a bit of a skeptic about the possibility of Bush bringing back a military draft, but John Kerry struck a reasonable note yesterday on the issue. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, citing the war in Iraq and other trouble spots in the world, raised the possibility Wednesday that a military draft could be […]
Sam Gardiner, a retired Air Force colonel who has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, Air War College and Naval War College, had a good item in Salon yesterday, which included an interesting observation. The White House Web site also reflects the strategy of withholding information. It used to actively provide […]
Slate’s Eric Umansky went through today’s papers this morning, as he does every day, and made an interesting observation: About 30 Iraqis were killed and 150 wounded in two car bombings and a battle with U.S. forces in Baghdad’s Sadr City. One GI was killed in that fighting and two were killed elsewhere. [No paper […]
I realize that this is hardly a political story, and as such is non-traditional Carpetbagger material, but it deals with Congress, a GOP office, and a damn amusing story, so let’s make an exception. Roll Call reported the other day that an intern in Rep. Phil English’s (R-Pa.) office lost her job when she was […]
It seems Ralph Nader’s campaign is not quite the well-oiled machine it would need to be to help achieve its goal: help Bush win a second term. The campaign is not only struggling to make the ballot in key states, it doesn’t even have the money it needs to mount a credible effort. Ralph Nader, […]
This quote, brought to my attention by my friend DD, is almost too funny to be real. [CBS News’] investigation may not satisfy critics, who have already called for anchorman Dan Rather and Heyward to step down. Heyward has said he wants to see the panel’s investigation before making any personnel decisions. “A strong leader […]
It’s an election year, and no one wants to be against tax cuts with just 40 days before voters go to the polls, so Congress passed a new round of tax cuts yesterday at a price of almost $146 billion. Putting aside efforts to control the federal deficit before the elections, Republican and Democratic leaders […]