MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly have been trading barbs for quite a while, creating a relatively entertaining, good ol’ fashioned media feud. By all appearances, Olbermann seems to be enjoying the dispute far more than O’Reilly is, with the latter tending to become enraged at the mention of the prior’s name. I’ve […]
Monday’s campaign round-up
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: * There was some additional movement on the delegate front over the weekend, with Obama picking up Maryland superdelegate Greg Pecoraro, and add-on delegates in Colorado and Kansas. In California, Clinton picked up […]
John Paul Stevens is 88 years old — and John McCain is anxious to name his replacement
When voters are asked to name the top issue they consider when weighing their choice in the presidential election, we generally hear about the economy, the war in Iraq, healthcare, national security, and energy policy. Those are, to be sure, all very important considerations. And then there’s my top issue: the federal judiciary. I realize […]
John McCain, underpants gnome
Yesterday afternoon, I was chatting with my friend Bill Simmon, discussing the week that was. I mentioned John McCain’s speech on Iraq earlier in the week, in which the senator talked about how great Iraq will look in 2013, at the end of what he hopes would be his first term as president. Borrowing a […]
With ‘American Families Agenda,’ GOP changes direction
As part of their new “re-branding” initiative, House Republicans, to modest fanfare, unveiled their “American Families Agenda” last week. Ordinarily, a “families agenda” driven by the GOP would include a fairly predictable conservative wish list, built around anti-gay measures and legislation to promote state-sponsored religion. It took Republicans an awfully long while, but it appears […]
McCain lobbyist controversy intensifies, Obama piles on
When the McCain quietly acknowledged on Saturday that Tom Loeffler, the national finance co-chairman of the presidential campaign, had resigned over his lobbying ties, advisors probably hoped it would go by largely unnoticed. Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff ran with the story, and blogs picked up on it, but would five key campaign resignations in a week […]
Obama, JFK, and Reagan vs. Bush, McCain
I can’t help but enjoy the fact that Barack Obama is successfully taking attacks from George W. Bush and John McCain, and turning them into a positive. He’s effectively taking GOP talking points, and throwing them back in their face. Sen. Barack Obama went one step further today in his pushback against presumptive GOP presidential […]
McCain’s top lobbying problem sits atop his campaign
Following up on an earlier item, the McCain campaign has had to get rid of its convention manager, one of its national finance co-chairs, a regional campaign manager, and a senior aide, all within the last week, and all because they were lobbyists discovered to have worked for controversial clients, most notably Burma’s military junta. […]
Obama’s not-so-scandalous meeting with a Michigan imam
Barack Obama campaigned in Michigan this week, and during his trip, he met privately with a prominent Muslim leader. It wasn’t especially noteworthy; candidates meet with prominent religious leaders frequently, from a variety of faiths, in communities nationwide. Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America, said in an email that he met […]
Planning the ‘inevitable merger’ between the Clinton, Obama camps
There are pockets of angry Clinton campaign supporters who, at least for now, claim they if they can’t have their candidate at the top of the ticket, they no longer care if the Democratic Party wins back the White House. For these isolated few, the goal isn’t to advance a progressive agenda, or to make […]