Today’s edition of quick hits. * Bloodshed in Baghdad: “Six American soldiers were killed and four wounded in a house rigged with explosives during an operation in Baqouba, the U.S. military told NBC News on Wednesday. The soldiers were clearing the house when a huge blast killed the six — the largest single loss of […]
Who can beat McCain? And who can McCain beat?
As the presidential campaign has unfolded, I imagine most Dems have been looking at the Republican field, sizing them up for a general election campaign. Regardless of merit or qualifications, some of these guys would be more formidable than others. Dems, of course, aren’t exactly in a position to influence the outcome — we have […]
An inside look at how Fox News ‘reports’ the ‘news’
Yesterday afternoon, Fox News, which rarely breaks stories of its own, seemed to have a juicy campaign scoop — James Carville and Paul Begala, architects of Bill Clinton’s campaign victories, were leaving their jobs at CNN to help turn around Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. We’d heard quite a bit lately about a significant staff shake-up, […]
For Dems, it’s game on — but is that good or bad?
After a year of campaigning, more than a dozen nationally-televised debates, many more forums, millions of dollars in advertising, one very big caucus, and one very big primary, it’s tempting to look forward to the end of the Democrats’ nominating process. It’s grueling for the candidates and their staffs, but it’s not a walk in […]
Why Giuliani is toast
For the better part of 2007, Rudy Giuliani worried me, in large part because he’s the least capable candidate I can think of. In recent months, however, my concern changed to glee, as Giuliani’s campaign went from frontrunner to laughing stock. Now, I realize that die-hard Giuliani backers continue to perceive the landscape as favorable […]
Edwards’ murky future
I mentioned earlier that yesterday’s results in the New Hampshire primary were probably the worst of all possible outcomes for John Edwards, and not just because his 17% support was lackluster (both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama more than doubled Edwards’ vote total). I should probably flesh this out a bit. After Iowa, there was […]
Wednesday’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: * It’s unclear whether Hillary Clinton will go all out to win Nevada in 10 days, but in the interim, Barack Obama is picking up key support in the state: “[Nevada’s] 17,500-member SEIU […]
Brokaw sets Matthews, pundits straight
I’m willing to cut professional pollsters quite a bit of slack. Professional pundits? Not so much. BROKAW: You know what I think we’re going to have to do? MATTHEWS: Yes sir? BROKAW: Wait for the voters to make their judgment. MATTHEWS: Well what do we do then in the days before the ballot? We must […]
In defense of pollsters
Everyone in the political world saw all the polls over the last several days, and they all pointed to a big Barack Obama win in New Hampshire. Given Hillary Clinton’s narrow victory, this has prompted many to suggest polls shouldn’t be taken seriously anymore. I think that’s a little rash under the circumstances. Josh Marshall […]
When a funny thing happens on the way to the nomination
I’ve seen some arguments that Hillary Clinton’s victory in New Hampshire isn’t that surprising. Polls showed her with enormous leads in the state throughout 2007 — and as far back as 2006. That she managed to beat Barack Obama by five three points will help get her campaign back on track, but to characterize this […]