How Frist’s bluster turned to silence in a hurry

Every step of the way, the GOP has been one step behind on Richard Clarke. That said, in a controversy that has made a lot of Republicans look awfully foolish, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) may have carved out a uniquely embarrassing place for himself on Friday. Frist, relying heavily on a prepared text […]

So much for the ‘bear traps’ awaiting Kerry on the Senate floor

The Republicans thought they had it all figured out. As a sitting senator running for president, Kerry could be placed in a very tough spot if the GOP majority stacked the Senate schedule with controversial bills. If Kerry voted against the measures, they’d tar him as an out-of-touch liberal. If he voted for them, he […]

Kudos to Tom Daschle

Last week I mentioned how encouraging it was to see Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) speak out so frequently and fervently on a variety of issues in which he disagrees with the White House. Today I’d like to extend a similar thanks to Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.). On its face, this may seem silly. Daschle is […]

As if Roy Moore wasn’t bad enough, now his attorney wants in on the game

Everyone already knows that our favorite theocrat, former Alabama Supreme Court justice Roy Moore, is weighing a run for president. What I didn’t know is that one of his lawyers has political ambitions of his own. The AP reported late last week that Phillip Jauregui, a Birmingham attorney representing ousted Chief Justice Roy Moore, told […]

Richard Clarke’s take on the war on terror after 9/11

If you missed Richard Clarke on Meet the Press yesterday, you missed a clinic on how to spurn the GOP smear machine. Here was a credible, experienced public servant offering a point-by-point response to each of the baseless attacks, and just importantly, highlighting the underlying purpose of Bush’s character assassination — distracting attention away from […]

Bush believes mixing religion and politics is great, unless Kerry does it

John Kerry’s appearance yesterday at the New North Side Baptist Church in St. Louis seemed to go well. While his campaign rhetoric tends to deal far more with policy than piety, Kerry did what most candidates do when they appear in a house of worship — he laid out his principles in a religious context. […]

Friday is Poll Day

Like last Friday, I thought I’d wrap up the week with some state-by-state polling data. All of these results come from polls conducted and/or released in the last 10 days. Ohio (20 electoral votes) Ohio Poll — Kerry 46, Bush 44, Nader 5 Comment: This is consistent with other recent polls showing Kerry capitalizing on […]

Correspondents’ corner

As The Carpetbagger Report has grown, so too has the amount of correspondence I receive. A surprisingly large number of them are creative, witty, and astute. With this in mind, I thought I would blatantly steal, I mean, pay homage to Eric Alterman’s fine work at Altercation by unveiling my own version of Slacker Friday. […]

The Dems are unifying; the GOP is divided

Let me see if I get this straight. The Democratic Party, with its regional and ideological differences, fresh off a difficult primary season featuring the largest field of candidates in U.S. history, is rallying together in unity. The Republican Party, with its demands for obedience and its total control over every branch of the government, […]

Update on the ‘Reaffirmation of American Independence Resolution’

As long as I’m offering updates on pending controversies (see below), I thought I’d mention that Reps. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) have not yet formally unveiled their nutty “Reaffirmation of American Independence Resolution.” They promised it’d be introduced this week; maybe they’re getting cold feet. Last week, I explained that the Feeney-Goodlatte […]