A couple of weeks ago, the NYT’s Elisabeth Bumiller asked John McCain about his contradictory stories regarding joining John Kerry’s 2004 Democratic ticket. McCain claimed he “never even considered such a thing,” which is clearly false. When Bumiller pressed him on the issue, McCain’s infamous temper didn’t exactly erupt, but he certainly made his displeasure […]
The latest in a series of metrics: how about the electoral-college vote?
I miss January. It seems like quite a while ago, but after the Iowa caucuses, there was general agreement about the metrics for the Democratic presidential race. The Obama campaign said it was a race for delegates; the Clinton campaign said it was a race for delegates. The Obama campaign said Florida and Michigan shouldn’t […]
The mysterious credibility McCain has ‘in the bank’
Last week’s biggest campaign screw-up came when John McCain, on at least four separate occasions, claimed that al Qaeda terrorists have traveled to Iran, received support, and then re-entered Iraq to fight U.S. forces. Obviously, that’s false. The good news is, the Sunday morning shows were kind enough to mention the embarrassing incident. The bad […]
A painful milestone — U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 4,000
As the war in Iraq has faded from the front page, and bloodshed in Iraq has lessened in recent months, it’s tempting to think fewer American servicemen and servicewomen are sacrificing their lives in a tragic and mistaken war. Then we reach yet another painful milestone, and we’re reminded of the U.S. troops who aren’t […]
Jeremiah Wright, in context
When Bob Bennett confronted John McCain with some of John Hagee’s more inflammatory ant-Catholic comments, McCain went with the weakest of all responses — Hagee’s comments, McCain said, were taken “out of context.” So, when I first started hearing that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s post-9/11 comments were taken “out of context,” my first instinct was […]
McCain’s numbers still don’t add up
When it comes to taxes, John McCain wants to make Bush’s cuts permanent, and slash the corporate income-tax rate from 35% to 25%. In all, according to the McCain campaign and the Congressional Budget Office, McCain’s plan would cost an additional $400 billion a year (at a time of already huge budget deficits), and at […]
Putting missile defense on the table
As campaign issues go, missile defense isn’t generating much in the way of attention, but it might end up being a subject of a pretty interesting debate. John McCain, for example, loves missile defense systems, which he believes are “critical” to protect the country. His campaign argues, “America should never again have to live in […]
Let’s define ‘national controversy’
I have a feeling Kevin Drum might tease me again for writing this, but I can’t help myself. It’s just too annoying. The New York Times’ Deborah Solomon chatted with notorious televangelist John Hagee this week for an interview that ran in today’s NYT Sunday magazine. Hagee, of course, is best known as a bigoted […]
Time for the ‘Make Room for Serious Criminals’ bill
It’s hard to imagine a bill like this passing in its first iteration, and it would almost certainly draw a veto from this president, but Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is nevertheless poised to do something interesting. During an appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Frank announced that he will soon introduce legislation to […]
State Dept. snooping and a degrees-of-separation game
One of the week’s more interesting controversies came a couple of days ago when we learned that three State Department contractors inappropriately accessed the passport files of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain. Bush administration officials chalked it up to “imprudent curiosity,” fired the workers, and launched an investigation. It’s still unclear whether those […]