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: * This is one way to avoid pesky questions: “After getting zinged for having a number of domestic and foreign lobbyists advising the candidate, the McCain campaign recently introduced new campaign rules barring […]
This will probably be at least mildly controversial, but I think Barack Obama made the right call this morning by announcing that he would not stay within the public financing system for the general election. The senator made the announcement in a video released earlier today. A transcript of Obama’s comments is online. He explains […]
The NYT had an item a couple of weeks ago about the Obama campaign taking the “50-state strategy” pretty seriously, including on-the-ground operations in every state and inquiring about advertising rates in 25 states, including “red” states like Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina. When it comes to “stretching” the map, how ambitious a plan are […]
Update: This post has been updated, expanded, and broken down by category. Long-time readers know that I’ve been emphasizing John McCain’s dozens of major policy flip-flops for months now, hoping that this would a) catch on as a campaign issue; and b) undermine McCain’s unearned reputation for principled stands on the issues. I’m beginning to […]
Remember the Darwin Awards? They’re the awards that go to honor those who “ensure the long-term survival of the human race by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion.” If there were a Darwin Awards for politics, I suspect Larry Sinclair would be a big winner. We talked a bit last […]
It’s possible John McCain and the Republican establishment sincerely believe that they will “own” national security during the presidential campaign, and that exploiting the attacks of 9/11 for partisan gain will make Dems recoil and/or furiously try to change the subject. The GOP is, therefore, very likely to be disappointed. Barack Obama isn’t going to […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * The news in the Midwest is not good: “Water spilled over two levees on the Mississippi River on Wednesday, surging into west-central Illinois, covering fertile farmland and pushing residents from their homes, officials said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Mississippi Valley said water flowed over the […]
Right about now, John McCain is wrapping up a discussion on energy and economic policy in Springfield, Missouri, in which the Republican presidential hopeful pushed for expanding oil drilling. In his opening remarks, McCain, predictably, went after Barack Obama, saying, “Instead of new energy production, he wants new energy taxes. And he’s against any tax […]
In at least one sense, I’m glad we’re in the midst of a debate over energy policy. It’s a serious issue, which people really care about, and which has nothing to do with gaffes, symbols, the culture war, or pitting one group of Americans against another. As policy discussions go, this is a good one […]
I have to admit, I found Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign enormously entertaining. From the moment he announced I was pretty confident his chances of winning the GOP nomination were about as good as my chances, but he offered humble bloggers like me a seemingly endless supply of mockery material. I was almost sorry to see […]