Last night’s Democratic presidential candidate debate was my least favorite so far. The event was a bit of a mess. CNN’s Judy Woodruff seemed incapable of running the show, she couldn’t figure out how to keep the candidates from going past their allotted time, and at times she seemed to think the debate was more […]
As regular readers know, I’ve been troubled by Howard Dean’s flip-flops and ongoing problems with policy inconsistencies. To his credit, Dean has shrugged off most of these problems and his followers have been generously forgiving. In fact, Dean has tried to work his policy flips into an advantage by saying it demonstrates a useful flexibility […]
Tom Predmore is on active duty with the 101st Airborne Division near Mosul, Iraq. He’s been fighting in Iraq for more than six months, and if his perspective is any indication, troop morale is suffering badly. In a powerful essay (brought to my attention by a loyal Carpetbagger reader I fondly call Madre), Predmore now […]
Bob Graham was staring at some cold, hard facts and came to a logical conclusion. He lacked enough money to remain competitive, was barely registering in the polls, and was facing pressure in Florida about whether he would eventually seek re-election to the Senate. Graham did what he had to do. He dropped out. His […]
The third of the six “official” DNC presidential candidate debates is tonight in Phoenix, Ariz. CNN will cover the event live starting at 8pm eastern. If you’ve been watching the debates so far, you probably noticed that the last one, in New York, was far more aggressive than its predecessor. I suspect tonight’s will be […]
I mentioned the other day that Bob Graham’s departure from the presidential race stood to help different candidates in different ways. What I failed to realize at the time was that a whole lot of people who had been working for Graham suddenly need a job — and Wesley Clark just happens to be hiring. […]
I guess it was unrealistic of me to expect Republican incompetence in Texas to last indefinitely. GOP majorities in the Texas Legislature have reached a compromise on the state’s congressional district boundaries and appear poised to pass Tom DeLay’s offensive re-redistricting plan. To recap the last couple of weeks, Democratic lawmakers who had fled to […]
Most members of Congress, from both parties, celebrate and at least pretend to respect diversity in America. We are, after all, a nation of immigrants, which helps us gain strength through a diversity of cultures, languages, and backgrounds. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) isn’t shy about admitting that he doesn’t see things this way. First off, […]
The White House, John Ashcroft, and congressional Republicans continue to insist the Plame Game scandal should be investigated by the Justice Department, not an independent special counsel. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the ranking Dem on the House Judiciary Committee, did a fantastic job yesterday explaining why appointing a special counsel wouldn’t only be appropriate, it’s […]
I know it’s the biggest political story of the season, but I’m afraid I don’t have a lot to say about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s victory in California yesterday. I’m disappointed by the results, have trouble comprehending Schwarzenegger’s appeal, and find it hard to believe that he’ll have any success as the chief executive of the nation’s […]