I suppose there’s nothing more embarrassing for a politician than to make a mistake by accidentally saying what he or she really believes. Take John McCain, for example. Matt Lauer asked McCain this morning whether the senator now has “a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq.” McCain said, “No, but […]
I can appreciate the fact that the McCain campaign and Republicans in general are a little touchy about the senator’s age — running to be the oldest president in U.S. history will do that — but that’s no reason to characterize every critical adjective in the language as some kind of slight about McCain’s septuagenarian […]
In April, right-wing hatchetman Floyd Brown, best known for creating the infamous “Willie Horton ad” in the 1988 campaign, launched a bizarre smear ad against Barack Obama. The point of the ad wasn’t especially obvious — Brown’s spot argued that Obama resisted an effort to allow the Illinois to execute gang members, which somehow contributed […]
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: * Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, considered in some circles to be a likely finalist for Barack Obama’s VP shortlist, indicated yesterday that he definitely does not want the job. He told NPR, “If […]
After over a year of campaigning, you’d think John McCain would have a sense about how to talk about the war in Iraq. His support for the president’s policy, and his deeply held desire to stay the course, is, after all, his signature campaign issue. And yet, McCain still doesn’t get it. For those who […]
Last night on “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart was chatting with Ralph Reed about a variety of election-related news regarding people of faith (Reed was the former head of the Christian Coalition, before destroying his reputation by hooking up with disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.) Stewart noted, “There’s talk that 40% of evangelicals will go […]
In 1992, Republican attack dogs went after Bill Clinton by denigrating Hillary Clinton as often as humanly possible. In 2004, the GOP took great pleasure in taking on Teresa Heinz Kerry. Now, the attack machine has decided to take rhetorical aim at Michelle Obama. “Mrs. Grievance” bellowed the cover of a recent National Review, which […]
John McCain recently acknowledged, “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” That’s a perfectly accurate self-assessment, but the Republican presidential hopeful is in a bit of a jam — he hoped to ride into the White House merely by being wrong about Iraq. Now that the economy is […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Not a big surprise: “Senate Republicans blocked a proposal Tuesday to tax the windfall profits of the largest oil companies, despite pleas by Democratic leaders to use the measure to address America’s anger over $4 a gallon gasoline. The Democratic energy package would have imposed a tax on any […]
The “fist bump” heard round the world has sparked all kinds of media interest, but for sheer stupidity, it’s hard to top Fox News. “America’s Pulse” anchor E.D. Hill did a segment on the Obama gesture late last week, alerting viewers to the various ways in which the affectionate moment between the candidate his wife […]