Today’s edition of quick hits. * A devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake in China: “Thousands of people have been killed by Monday’s powerful earthquake in just one affected region of central China, its government said, with the toll expected to keep rising as bodies are retrieved from schools, homes and factories. The Chinese government said at least […]
Obama, McCain spar over supporting the troops
I’ve been obsessing over John McCain’s incoherent opposition to a modernized GI Bill for veterans, so I was especially pleased to see Barack Obama, at a campaign stop in West Virginia, help elevate the issue and hammer McCain for his misguided position. From the speech: “When our troops go into battle, they serve no faction […]
Lieberman takes the cheap shot on Hamas
Shortly after promising not to engage in these kinds of attacks, John McCain went after Barack Obama a few weeks ago over an ostensible “endorsement” from a Hamas spokesperson. It was a cheap and ridiculous move — especially given the fact that McCain and Obama have the same position on Hamas — which Time’s Joe […]
Voters still more concerned with Bush than Jeremiah Wright
Two weeks ago, an NBC/WSJ poll found an interesting trend in American public opinion: after hearing about Jeremiah Wright’s controversial sermons in a constant loop for months, voters were more concerned with John McCain’s association with Bush than Obama’s association with his former pastor. (Specifically, 43% of respondents were worried about McCain and Bush; 32% […]
The rhetoric and the reality on McCain and the environment
When pressed on his differences with George W. Bush, John McCain now relies on a three-prong answer: McCain is more committed to cutting spending than Bush has been, McCain disapproved of the Rumsfeld strategy, and McCain cares more about the environment. All three struggle under scrutiny. McCain talks about spending, but comes up short when […]
Republican ‘re-branding’ poised to launch
A couple of months ago, Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican and former chairman of the NRCC, told the WaPo, “The House Republican brand is so bad right now that if it were a dog food, they’d take it off the shelf.” GOP leaders probably didn’t care for the comparison, but they’ve been worried about […]
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: * A few more superdelegates fell off the fence over the last 48 hours or so. If my count is right (and I may have missed one or two), Barack Obama picked up […]
Un-moderated Obama/McCain debates — good idea or bad?
I think it was a couple of weeks ago when McCain aide Mark McKinnon, who said he’d step aside if Obama won the Democratic nomination, suggested the two presidential candidates are respectful and high-minded enough that they could travel across the country, holding un-moderated debates. As I understood it, McKinnon wasn’t making a serious proposal, […]
Leading Senate Republican: McCain offers a third Bush term on the economy
What’s the top message priority for Democrats hoping to win this year’s presidential election? When it comes to defining John McCain, it’s pretty obvious: he’d offer more of the same. On the key issues, McCain and George W. Bush share a script. McCain is aware of the dangers here — no one wants to be […]
What hath the Supreme Court wrought?
When Indiana passed a voter ID law, it was ostensibly to protect the integrity of the voting process. What better way to prevent voter fraud than to require those participating in an election to produce identification? Was there any evidence of a voter-fraud scourge in Indiana? No. Would the law make it harder for “certain […]