At this point, it’s probably safe to say the most memorable aspect of the Democratic debate in Philadelphia was the response it garnered. Today, for example, Barack Obama seemed to take great pleasure in mocking what transpired last night. MoveOn.org is on the case as well. Apparently, it’s enough to make George Stephanopoulos feel like […]
McCain’s ‘academic argument’
On “Hardball” the other day, John McCain was confronted a bit with his record of siding with the Bush White House on Iraq policy. McCain didn’t want to talk about the past. “We can look back at the past and argue about whether we should have gone to war or not, whether we should have […]
The GOP’s ‘Culture of Corruption’ lives on
In the annals of Republican corruption in Congress, Alaska Rep. Don Young has always been slightly more entertaining than most. Generally, corrupt lawmakers make some efforts to hide their transgressions. Young just doesn’t seem to care. To briefly recap for those just joining us, Young authored a $10 million earmark in the last Congress for […]
Bush’s missing bin Laden plan
To hear the White House tell it, protecting the United States and its interests against al Qaeda is the government’s top priority. It makes revelations like these all the more alarming. The Bush administration doesn’t have a comprehensive strategy for eliminating Osama bin Laden’s sanctuary in Pakistan’s tribal region and preventing the region from being […]
McCain opposes earmarks — except for the ones he likes
When presenting hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts this week, John McCain and his campaign said the cuts wouldn’t necessarily worsen the deficit. The key, they said, is McCain’s commitment to cutting spending by eliminating congressional earmarks. On its face, the claim is simply foolish. Even if McCain could eliminate the entire practice […]
A debate only David Brooks could love
It wasn’t my intention to write a fourth item on last night’s Democratic debate in Philadelphia, but the NYT’s David Brooks appears to be the only prominent voice in the country to have watched the train wreck and come away impressed. I understand the complaints, but I thought the questions were excellent. The journalist’s job […]
Thursday’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: * Barack Obama probably didn’t have any fun at last night’s debate, but he had a pretty good day with superdelegates. He picked up four yesterday, including three U.S. House members. The WSJ […]
How to interpret a dead-even horserace
The AP notes one of its own polls today, to explain, “Republicans are no longer underdogs in the race for the White House.” John McCain, the AP noted, has pulled about even with Dems thanks to support from disgruntled Republicans (who had been reluctant to close ranks), independents, and some disaffected Dems. Partly thanks to […]
Hannity’s unfortunate role in the Democratic debate
When I first started noticing blog headlines about far-right Fox News personality Sean Hannity feeding George Stephanopoulos questions for last night’s debate, I thought it was a metaphorical point. As in, “Some of the questions were so bad, they may as well have come from Sean Hannity.” I came to realize, though, that the concern […]
Wrong on the substance and the style
Following up on the last item about the calamity that was last night’s Democratic debate, the problem was not just that moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos devoted more than half the event to process, trivia, and gotcha questions, it’s that the shift to substantive issues wasn’t much better. The first 50 or so minutes […]