Speaking of polls, I thought I’d take the luxury of updating an item Ryan Lizza wrote for The New Republic in May. (Sorry, Ryan, if I’m stealing one of your ideas) There’s plenty of attention, with some justification, focused on the Kerry vs. Bush poll numbers. But let’s not forget a different number, which got […]
I know many of you were looking for the nearest high window to jump out of when the CNN/USAT/Gallup poll showed Bush getting a small bump in the polls after the Dems’ convention, but there’s every reason to believe Kerry is still right where he needs to be with three months until Election Day. As […]
On Sept. 11, 2001, after Bush returned to the White House, the president and his top advisors gathered to discuss how best to respond and retaliate. Richard Clarke, Bush’s top counterterrorism advisor, wanted to focus attention immediately towards Afghanistan, but faced some resistance. As Clarke told 60 Minutes in March, Don Rumsfeld insisted, “There aren’t […]
I know Bush is fond of his new campaign slogan — the U.S. has “turned the corner” — but he may need something a little more persuasive and a little less naïve. After all, when it comes to the economy, there’s no reason to believe he’s right. Hit with high energy prices, consumers in June […]
Tom Ridge, explaining security precautions at the DNCC, on July 15: “We don’t do politics at Homeland Security.” Ridge, alerting the public to a new terrorist threat, on Sunday: “[W]e must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the president’s leadership in the war against terror.” Why reporters […]
This threat alert seemed different. The timing once again seemed convenient, right on the heels of the Dem convention, but Tom Ridge’s announcement about a new possible al Queda attack had the makings of a serious risk. Consider the report on the front page of the Washington Post yesterday, with a few phrases bolded for […]
Longtime readers know that I’m optimistic that John Kerry can reverse recent trends and improve the Dems’ standing with military voters. In fact, especially after the Dems’ convention, I think this is quietly becoming a key national trend. The men and women of the military are assumed to be Republicans. They’re not. They’re assumed to […]
We all know Bush’s job creation record has been abysmal and that Bush is poised to be the first president in 70 years to experience a net job loss for his presidency. Unemployment is high, millions of other workers have taken worse jobs than they had before Bush took office, and millions more are worried […]
Bush was in Ohio (20 electoral votes) again over the weekend, emphasizing his new “turn the corner” campaign theme that he seems so excited about. The interesting thing about the appearance to me — aside from the fact that Bush’s rhetoric sounds a lot like Herbert Hoover’s 70 years ago — was yet another campaign […]
This year, there were far more reasons that not to believe Kerry’s post-convention “bounce” would be minimal. The Dem base has been with him for months, the number of undecided voters left is relatively small, he announced his running mate well before the convention itself, etc. Most of us thought it’d be great if Kerry […]