The Carpetbagger Report

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: * The significance of the “bitter” remarks is based largely on how the public perceives them. At this point, the initial reaction for Obama isn’t encouraging for his campaign: “A new Rasmussen poll […]

What a pleasant surprise; the Associated Press has made note of John McCain’s political ideology. The independent label sticks to John McCain because he antagonizes fellow Republicans and likes to work with Democrats. But a different label applies to his actual record: conservative. The likely Republican presidential nominee is much more conservative than voters appear […]

Every Saturday night, I check in on the “Meet the Press” homepage to see who’s going to be on Sunday morning. Most of the time, it’s a panel of political reporters, political spin doctors, and occasionally some combination therein. I’m invariably relieved, knowing I can safely skip the episode and do something else with my […]

Atrios raised a very good point over the weekend, which captures an important aspect of the presidential campaign: “95% of the time in politics, all that matters who is perceived as playing offense and who is perceived as playing defense. The details are usually irrelevant, although occasionally such things backfire. If you can get the […]

I’ve marveled for years at the apparent corruption and incompetence in Bush’s Department of Housing and Urban Development, but the Washington Post ran a disconcerting front-page item yesterday explaining that mismanagement and criminal investigations arguably weren’t the most offensive part of Bush’s HUD. In late 2006, as economists warned of an imminent housing market collapse, […]

When Faith in Public Life first scheduled a forum weeks ago for the presidential candidates, it sounded like it was going to be a pretty compelling event. While not a debate, per se, the event would press the candidates specifically on issues relating to compassion, morality, and culture in a way that most forums usually […]

There may be an explanation for this that doesn’t look like an obvious snub, but nothing comes to mind. Guess who’s not coming to dinner? Pope Benedict XVI. President Bush and his wife, Laura, will host a White House dinner in honor of the pontiff Wednesday evening. U.S. Catholic leaders from around the nation will […]

Following up on an item from a couple of weeks ago, much to everyone’s surprise, House Democrats simply wouldn’t budge when the Bush administration demanded that Congress pass a permanent “Protect America Act” — with retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. The law expired, the president threw a fit, and lawmakers broke for a two-week spring […]

Waste, fraud, and abuse have been rampant in Iraq in recent years, but somehow, this example seems slightly more breathtaking than most. An $833 million Iraqi arms deal secretly negotiated with Serbia has underscored Iraq’s continuing problems equipping its armed forces, a process that has long been plagued by corruption and inefficiency. The deal was […]

Tom Burka, at Opinions You Should Have, reported yesterday on a closely-held secret that I’d hoped would never come out: “Steve Benen, the liberal blogger who runs The Carpetbagger Report, has recently been discovered to be the sole author of almost every liberal blog dealing with U.S. politics on the internet.” Indeed, in a hard-hitting […]