Of the 43 contests held today, 42 are either primaries or caucuses. The exception is West Virginia’s Republican state convention, which met this afternoon. And the first winner of a Super Tuesday contest is … Mike Huckabee, who picked up all of West Virginia’s 18 delegates today. Huckabee bested Mitt Romney, who entered the Mountain […]
It’s not just Limbaugh — Dobson weighs in against McCain
There’s ample evidence that far-right GOP activists and talk-show hosts have been surprisingly vocal in their opposition to John McCain’s presidential campaign, but in some ways, they’re Johnny Come Latelys — the religious right hated McCain before hating McCain was cool. In 2000, James Dobson went so far as to issue a personal press release, […]
RNC careful not to humanize Clinton, Obama
Once in a while, it’s worth taking a moment to realize how very, very odd Republicans can be. There’s a new rule at the Republican National Committee. Refer to the two leading Democratic presidential candidates simply as “Barack” and “Hillary” and you’ll be fined $10. The reason: Using first names makes the candidates sound more […]
Playing the ‘perceptions and expectations’ game
When it comes to Super Tuesday (or Tsunami Tuesday, or Super D’ Duper Tuesday), watching the results come in will be a little tricky, at least on the Democratic side. We’re accustomed to looking at these contests and considering who gets the most votes — Obama won Iowa, Clinton won New Hampshire, etc. But as […]
Tuesday’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: * If recent fundraising is indicative of a larger trend, Barack Obama is moving in the right direction in the race for the Democratic nomination. Last week, Obama announced he’d raised $32 million […]
How George learned to stop worrying and love the deficit
When it comes to red ink, George W. Bush has a colorful history. In 1997, as he began toying with a presidential campaign, Bush called for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution because we “owe it to our children” to avoid deficits. In 2001, he described deficits as “dangerous” and promised to pay down […]
National Journal defends its liberal-conservative rankings (badly)
Last week, to the delight of Republicans, National Journal released its latest rankings of U.S. senators, from most liberal to most conservative. The publication, which strives to be scrupulously non-partisan, found that Barack Obama was the chamber’s #1 lib — a development which caused a considerable stir in the media. For all the reasons we […]
Limbaugh becomes the center of the conservative universe
As far as I can tell, Rush Limbaugh is more than just a right-wing entertainer; he’s like a kid who can’t get enough attention. If so, the talk-radio clown must be loving life right about now. It may be the best sideshow in presidential politics: the nation’s top radio talker trying to take down the […]
The ‘Dream Ticket’ strategy
A week ago, at the Democrats’ debate in Los Angeles, moderator Wolf Blitzer’s very last question to both candidates was this: “The more I speak to Democrats out there, not only to Democrats here at the Kodak Theater but all over the country, they take a look at the two of you and they see […]
It’s Super Tuesday — Do you know where your 3,156 delegates are?
Asked to assess the Super Tuesday landscape, Democratic strategist Bill Carrick told the WaPo yesterday, “To paraphrase Churchill, the Democrats are at the end of the beginning and the Republicans are at the beginning of the end.” That sounds about right. We’ll probably never have an actual national primary, but today is about as close […]