Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is a serious and well-respected lawmaker. Despite being an unwavering Democrat, even Republicans begrudgingly respect his work on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The fact that Levin is mad at Howard Dean probably won’t help the former Vermont governor in Michigan (home to early caucuses next year) nor on Capitol Hill. […]
If you listened closely to the Bush press conference yesterday, you may have noticed a new word that Bush seems to have latched onto. In explaining the importance of the war, Bush said, “The first step was to remove Saddam Hussein because he was a threat, a gathering threat, as I think I put it.” […]
Even a casual look at national polling data shows that Howard Dean is building an impressive base of support among Democrats. One of the few weaknesses, at least at this point, has been Dean’s inability to gain support from African Americans. Indeed, the typical Dean rally, though almost always well attended, rarely features people of […]
I saw (via Billmon) that Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) was asked for his thoughts on the current difficulties in Iraq. His answer was disturbing, even for him. At first, Lott expressed concern for troop deployment. “We need to have a different mix of troops, is the key,” he told The Hill. “We may need to […]
It’s hard to forget the image. On May 1, Bush was aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln congratulating the troops on a job well done. Above his head was a banner carefully placed to maximize the political benefit of the photo-op. It read: “Mission Accomplished.” The banner has come up several times in recent months to […]
Looking back at the Watergate scandal, it wasn’t just the break-in or the subsequent cover up that did Nixon in. One of the main problems Congress discovered — and wrote articles of impeachment over — was that Nixon was misusing federal agencies to punish his political enemies. It was an abuse of power of historic […]
UCLA professor Mark A.R. Kleiman had a really good post the other day about Republicans in Louisiana taking great pride in their support for Bobby Jindal. Keep in mind, the Republicans’ recent history in Louisiana is pretty disgraceful. It was just 12 years ago that the GOP nominated former KKK leader David Duke to be […]
Remember all the fun we had earlier this year when the Bush administration really wanted us to believe Iraq was a nuclear threat? Remember the talk from Ari Fleischer and Condi Rice about “mushroom clouds”? When Bush described Hussein’s nuclear ambitions as “a grave and gathering danger”? Or how about when Dick Cheney claimed that […]
Considering my large readership base in Illinois (you know who you are), I’d be remiss if I failed to mention a recent statewide poll from the Land of Lincoln. Democrats in Illinois were asked who they support to take on Bush in next year’s election. A new Chicago Tribune/WGN poll shows Dick Gephardt, who hails […]
I don’t write about the daily battles in Iraq; they’re hard to keep up with. Nevertheless, the attacks are increasing. Our troops were experiencing as many as 25 attacks a day a couple of months ago, now it’s 35 a day. Sunday, rockets were launched at a Baghdad hotel at which Deputy Defense Secretary Paul […]