The Carpetbagger Report

With about seven months to go before voters choose the next president, Democrats are not only divided over which candidate should get the nomination, they’re divided about whether the fight for the nomination has gone on long enough. Great. We’ve heard plenty of talk this week about the need to wrap things up relatively soon, […]

The conventional wisdom about the role of the war in Iraq in the presidential campaign now appears to be in its third iteration. In early 2007, we were told Iraq would easily be the most important issue in the ’08 cycle. By early 2008, media coverage of the war had slipped badly, the daily violence […]

There had been some talk in isolated circles that Hillary Clinton should seriously consider gracefully bowing out of the presidential race before this week, but the past several days saw the discussion reach an entirely new level. Leading Dems, most notably Pat Leahy and Chris Dodd, have grown increasingly blunt, while many others have grown […]

For all the jokes and mockery directed at the president for his apparent confusion about, well, pretty much every issue, subject, and controversy anyone can think of, it’s sometimes hard to get over the fact that when it comes to the war in Iraq, Bush seems unusually fond of arguments that don’t make a lick […]

Upon his release from prison yesterday, former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman sounded like a man intent on figuring out why partisanship apparently landed him behind bars for nine months. Speaking by telephone in his first post-prison interview, shortly after he had left the federal penitentiary at Oakdale, La., Mr. Siegelman said there had been “abuse […]

Back in January, John McCain admitted to the Wall Street Journal editorial board he “doesn’t really understand economics.” He told the editors, though, that he was nevertheless reliable because his former Senate colleague, Texas’ Phil Gramm, was his chief economic advisor — McCain had even brought Gramm along for the meeting — and the man […]

Most political observers, regardless of ideology, assume that there will be a Democratic House and Senate next year. It’s too soon to know what to expect from the presidential race, but it’s hardly a stretch to think that come January 2009, there will be a Democratic White House and a Democratic Congress for the first […]

First up from the God machine this week is one of the more painful religious stories I’ve seen in a while. I suspect very few people would ever want to interfere with parents’ rights and the religious upbringing of their children, but this does seem criminal. Police [in Weston, Wis.] are investigating an 11-year-old girl’s […]

OK, new rule for Democratic presidential campaigns: unhelpful praise for John McCain should, from now on, be off limits. Sure, the candidates may get along well with McCain, and McCain may be a nice guy to hang out with, but this is a partisan exercise and a zero-sum game. As much as I love the […]

The significance of high-profile endorsements in a presidential race is certainly debatable, but I’m certain that the Obama campaign was thrilled to pick up Sen. Bob Casey’s (D) support yesterday in Pennsylvania. Casey’s a major player in a key state; he may help Obama connect with white, working-class voters who’ve been skeptical about his candidacy; […]