The Carpetbagger Report

Today’s edition of quick hits. * After Republicans successfully blocked consideration of a better bill yesterday, the Senate returned to the fiscal stimulus again today: “Senate Democrats have agreed to an amended version of a House-approved plan to spur the economy, making swift passage of a final stimulus measure likely. The new Senate plan, which […]

Under normal circumstances, presidential candidates host town-hall meetings so they can answer voters’ questions and present their ideas. They don’t usually invite their rival to share a stage. But these, my friends, are not normal circumstances. In an unusual move, Hillary is inviting Barack Obama to appear with her side by side at a town […]

There wasn’t any real doubt before Mitt Romney ended his presidential campaign, but now that the former governor has officially called it quits, and John McCain’s nomination is all but assured we have a new question: what is McCain going to do with Mike Huckabee? Mr. McCain is now left with one serious opponent — […]

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has been kind enough to share some fascinating insights with the House Judiciary Committee today on an administration that believes it can immunize itself from law breaking. Seriously. Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) explained to the AG that several administration officials have acknowledged in recent days that the Bush administration subjected […]

Following up on an earlier item, Mitt Romney not only ended his presidential bid this afternoon, he did so with the kind of class and dignity we’ve come to expect from the Republican presidential field. John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign. […]

For a while, the Republican electoral-vote scheme in California seemed like a fairly serious effort, and certainly something to keep an eye on. Fortunately, at least for now, it’s dead. If you’re just joining us, it was quite a clever little scam: the state GOP, far-right activists, and Swiftboat financiers, under the guise of “fairness,” […]

Mitt Romney has many, many faults, but he’s not dumb. And after a successful career in the private sector, he probably learned very well that it’s a mistake to throw good money after bad. So, he’s exiting stage right. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will suspend his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, GOP sources […]

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 post-Super Tuesday fundraising push is more intense than I even imagined: “[T]he Hillary campaign has raised roughly $4 million since the polls closed, the Clinton campaign tells us. The Hillary camp […]

At first blush, there’s not much more to be said about far-right opposition to John McCain’s campaign. Limbaugh, Dobson, Coulter & Co. hate him. We get it. But reading this LA Times piece, which is a good overview of the lay of the land, got me thinking. “We’re in a political dilemma, as well as […]

Following up on yesterday’s reports hinting at the likelihood of a brokered Democratic convention in August, it’s worth keeping in mind that DNC Chairman Howard Dean apparently has some kind of plan to intervene. The narrow margin in delegates, and the growing likelihood that it will remain close, prompted concern on Wednesday from the chairman […]