We don’t hear nearly as much about ongoing events in Afghanistan as we should, so it was encouraging to hear a question from ABC News’ Martha Raddatz about the other war at this morning’s White House press conference. Specifically, she asked, “Are we winning in Afghanistan?” “I think we’re making progress in Afghanistan, but there’s […]
Nothing to fear but nonsense itself
At his White House press conference this morning, the president was asked about GDP figures due to be released and whether he’s concerned that they’ll point to an official recession. After responding with some talk about drilling ANWR, Bush added: “[I]f you want to send a good signal during these uncertain times, is make the […]
When Obama gets pissed
Yesterday, Jeremiah Wright pushed Barack Obama pretty far. Today, at a DC press conference, Obama pushed back. Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday he was outraged by the latest assertion by his former pastor that criticism of his fiery sermons is an attack on the black church. The presidential candidate is seeking to tamp down the […]
The president’s one-track, refuge-targeting mind
Bush held a press conference this morning on the South Lawn, most of which was dedicated to discussing the economy, gas prices, and the intersection of the two. The president seemed anxious to demonstrate that he’s aware of the problems, and almost desperate to address them, but didn’t have much to offer in the way […]
Wright prompts some to creep towards the panic button
Six weeks ago today, Barack Obama delivered a stirring, arguably historic, speech on the issue of race in America. It came in the midst of a major controversy surrounding the remarks of Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but the address seemed to settle the nerves of the political world. Obama heard the discontent, […]
The kids are alright
The Pew Research Center’s latest report notes, “Trends in the opinions of America’s youngest voters are often a barometer of shifting political winds.” If so, the winds are at Democrats’ backs, and will be for a quite a while. While young people shifted to the Democratic Party a bit in the 1990s, the bottom fell […]
Tuesday’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: * Hillary Clinton picked up a very helpful endorsement this morning, earning the support of North Carolina Gov. Michael Easley. The two campaigned together in Raleigh, one week before the state’s Democratic primary. […]
McCain was against a long-term presence in Iraq before he was for it (more than once)
John McCain’s stated position, repeated over and over again throughout the campaign, is that he’s willing to leave U.S. troops in Iraq up to a century, so long as we’re not taking major casualties. He compares this to a presence along the lines of U.S. troops who remain in Korea a half-century after the war […]
When bad photo-ops highlight worse policies
For the first couple of years of Bush’s first term, there was an amusing phenomenon involving the president’s photo-ops — they tended not to make any sense. In 2002, Bush visited a job-training program in Oregon, highlighting it as the kind of success story that deserves support. He then cut the program’s federal funding. In […]
When the media buys into McCain’s bogus spin (again)
Yesterday, I suggested it would be great if the media highlighted the DNC’s new “100 years” ad against John McCain, and the RNC’s baseless whining (and threats) about the ad. The more publicity this gets, the better. This national AP article, however, is not what I had in mind. The Republican National Committee is demanding […]