As a rule, I’m inclined to cut senators (from both parties) some slack for missing votes during their presidential campaign. It’s tough to hold down a day job while running for president. But it’s much harder to be understanding when a candidate fails to show up for work for months on end, and then lambastes […]
Most of the time, the conservative culture-war efforts are simply annoying. Some far-right activists will try some stunt, it’ll fail in the courts, and the rest of us can focus our attention on real problems. But it’s much harder to tolerate conservative intolerance when national security is at stake. This morning’s Christian Science Monitor reports […]
John McCain has been pursuing a risky campaign strategy of late, going relentlessly negative and attacking Barack Obama’s character. This has offered a short-term benefit — McCain has made real gains in the polls — but has created a long-term threat, by seriously undermining his “brand.” McCain had developed a reputation for “straight talk” and […]
Once again, House Republicans are on Capitol Hill during the August recess, and once again, they are holding something of a sit-in, giving spirited speeches about coastal drilling for tourists and congressional staffers who happen to pass by the charade. Today, however, there was a bit of a twist in the Republican rhetoric. Far-right lawmakers […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Encouraging registration shift: “Well before Senators Barack Obama and John McCain rose to the top of their parties, a partisan shift was under way at the local and state level. For more […]
Yesterday, the Obama campaign unveiled its first “contrast” ad of the general election, highlighting the very generous support John McCain has enjoyed from Big Oil, and the lavish tax breaks McCain would extend to the oil industry. “After one president in the pocket of big oil, we can’t afford another,” the ad explained. Today, we […]
Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize winning author/journalist, has been a thorn in the side of the Bush White House for a few years now, but this might be the most damning revelation yet: Suskind reports in his new book that White House officials ordered the CIA to forge a “back-dated, handwritten letter from the head […]
The first major general-election “contrast” ad from the Obama campaign emphasized a fairly straightforward tagline: “After one president in the pocket of big oil, we can’t afford another.” As if on cue, we’re learning quite a bit about John McCain’s generous benefactors from the oil industry. Senator John McCain received a burst of donations in […]
After yesterday’s mind-numbing inanity about tire gauges — yes, in the midst of the most critical presidential election in a generation, Republicans have made tire gauges a central focus of a presidential race — I’m hoping we can begin to move on to something at least resembling substance. But before we do, it’s worth noting […]
The more offensive John McCain becomes as a candidate, the more leading media personalities will come up with rationalizations to defend his bizarre conduct. It’s like being graded on a very generous curve. This segment on MSNBC’s “Hardball” yesterday was a classic example. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who did an exceptional job last week of debunking […]