To hear the Bush campaign tell it, John Kerry must have been out of his mind for recommending cuts to the intelligence budget in the 1990s. Indeed, the Bush gang was so outraged by Kerry’s supposed recklessness that they made it the subject of its own campaign commercial, which took Kerry to task because he […]
If you haven’t already seen it, be sure to read the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank’s piece about the frequency with which Bush tortures Kerry quotes in order to score cheap political points. It’s cynical, it’s dishonest, and it’s a genuine treat to see a reporter call Bush on it. For example, there’s what Kerry said […]
It’s as if Bush saw the similarities between the attacks on McCain in 2000 and the smear of Kerry this year and wanted to make the comparison absolutely perfect. * Bush’s hatchet men questioned McCain’s and Kerry’s service using the same people and the same rhetoric. Check. * Bush refused to denounce both of the […]
I can appreciate that some want to maintain the façade that the president’s words are his own, but the idea that Bush is writing his own convention speech is pretty silly. Q: How is work coming on your convention speech? What should we expect from it? Bush: …In terms of the speech, I’m working on […]
With all of their claims about Kerry’s heroism having been dispatched quickly and easily, the Swiftboat hacks’ attacks against Kerry have narrowed in on whether he was in Cambodia in 1968. It’s not a particularly important point, but the GOP hacks seem to believe it’s critical to some vague point that no one can identity. […]
Bush held an exceedingly rare press conference yesterday from Crawford (13 minutes total) in which he fielded several questions about the infamous Swiftboat lies. It was a simple and straightforward opportunity for Bush to take the high ground, denounce the malicious attacks, and move the campaign forward. He refused. “I’m denouncing all the stuff being […]
The New York Times ran another one of these entertaining moderates vs. right-wing-base stories today, explaining the ongoing tension between the two factions and using the convention as a news peg. It’s a good piece, but a couple of things jumped out at me. “Frankly, if the president wins walking away with this, maybe the […]
A lawsuit challenging Rep. Rodney “Turncoat” Alexander’s last-minute party switch has succeeded, at least for now. A state judge ruled Monday that the sign-up period should be reopened for the Nov. 2 election in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District, where incumbent Rep. Rodney Alexander infuriated Democrats by switching to the Republican Party minutes before the qualifying […]
I’ve heard that all politics is local, but I’m usually skeptical about how far up a ballot local troubles can go. In New Jersey, for example, Gov. McGreevey’s (D) troubles don’t appear to be having any effect on the presidential race. Indeed, a new poll shows Kerry’s lead growing in the state. In Alabama, Gov. […]
This move seems so dumb, I can’t even figure out to whom it’s supposed to pander. Cuba, like the western coast of central Florida, faced widespread devastation recently from Hurricane Charley. In a gesture that doesn’t appear to make any sense at all, the Bush administration offered Cuba $50,000 in aid. Cuba, not surprisingly, isn’t […]