The Carpetbagger Report

After writing five posts in five days on the increasingly-ridiculous debate over a “gas-tax holiday,” I was prepared to let the subject go. Really, I was. The NYT had an interesting item about the role of the gas-tax idea within the broader context of Clinton’s and Obama’s economic perspectives, but I read it thinking, “Must […]

On Wednesday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) tried to give his Republican caucus a major-league pep-talk — complete with a PowerPoint presentation — emphasizing his perspective on why the GOP can gain seats in November. At the Republicans’ weekly conference meeting, Boehner’s presentation was called, “Why We Can Win.” Reporting on the gathering, Roll […]

For the past several weeks, John McCain and his campaign have been enraged by the emphasis on his willingness to leave U.S. troops in Iraq for up to 100 years, and the audacity of Democrats to tell voters about his views on the issue. To hear them tell it, misrepresenting a rival’s stated policy position […]

In March, the first big contest of 2008 was a special election in Illinois’ 14th district. Republicans felt good about their chances — the district had been represented by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R), Bush won the district twice by double digits, and Republicans have held the seat for decades. But when voters headed […]

Well, when every delegate counts, the Guam caucuses garner a little more attention than they ever have before. The Obama campaign actually opened an office on the island — a first for a U.S. presidential campaign — and both sides had aides on site. Obama ended up with the win, but by a tenth of […]

Just yesterday, Reuters reported, “Slowly but surely, Republican presidential candidate John McCain is putting some distance between himself and unpopular President George W. Bush.” Don’t believe it. (via TP) A senior adviser to John McCain says the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign is now talking with senior White House staff every day. President Bush and McCain, […]

John McCain’s vision of the Middle East is contradictory and incoherent, but let’s also not lose sight of his bizarre approach to Russia. About a month ago, in his most detailed address on foreign policy of the campaign, McCain stated his intention to kick Russia out of the G-8. In rather belligerent tones, reminiscent of […]

As was widely reported in March, the Pentagon completed a report on non-existent ties between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s regime, the culmination of an exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion. Not surprisingly, officials discovered what we already knew — there was no “direct operational […]

No matter how long the Democratic presidential race lasts, and how much damage it does, the saving grace for the party may very well turn out to be John McCain’s inability to speak coherently about foreign policy. If he were bright and lucid, I’d probably feel a whole lot worse about Democrats’ chances. Take his […]

Years ago, I was having a conversation with a jazz pianist who told me, “When I hit a wrong note, I keep hitting it — so the audience will think it’s intentional.” To move away from the wrong note would be a subtle admission of a mistake. About a week ago, Hillary Clinton hit the […]