Let’s say you’re Rudy Giuliani. Your poll numbers are tanking, your money is drying up, your “firewall” strategy is falling apart, and you’ve gone from “frontrunner” to “you’re still here?” in about six weeks’ time. What do you do? You pull the same trick dumb 16-year-old boys pull when they bring 16-year-old girls to see […]
Thursday’s political 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: * Here’s an interesting tidbit: how many days each Democratic candidate has spent in Iowa during the campaign — Dodd 96, Biden 90, Obama 80, Edwards 78, Clinton 69, and Richardson 6. (No […]
What ‘triangulation’?
I suppose, in the minds of most political reporters, the words “Clinton” and “triangulation” go together like chocolate and peanut butter. But Bob Novak’s hit-job on Hillary Clinton today is not just wrong, it doesn’t make any sense at all. Sen. Hillary Clinton faces tonight’s Iowa caucuses not as the inevitable Democratic presidential nominee but […]
Huckabee flubs the latest in a series of policy tests
Mike Huckabee appearance on the “Tonight Show” last night seems like inconsequential trivia. It’s an entertainment show; Huckabee is trying to score some 11th-hour likability points; and it’s probably a sign that the former governor’s campaign is trying to expand his base beyond religious right activists in Iowa. But the problem with the appearance is […]
Iowa Caucus 101: How It Works (and It Does. Really.)
Guest Post by Zeitgeist [Editor’s Note: With Caucus Day finally here, and after having a few uncharitable thoughts about the process in Iowa yesterday, Carpetbagger regular Zeitgeist offered to share some valuable insights on the caucuses in this very helpful post. Zeitgeist is, by the way, a real, live Iowan. -CB] In the past few […]
The fight for second-choicers
As most political observers probably know by now, when Democrats caucus tonight in Iowa, voters who back candidates who do not draw 15% support in a given precinct then shift to their second-choice. Given that second-tier Dems combine to create quite a lot of Iowans, there’s enormous interest in who Dodd, Biden, Richardson, and Kucinich […]
Thompson to exit stage right?
No matter how flawed the process in Iowa, one side benefit of the caucuses is some wheat-chaff separation. Candidates who fail to meet their own (and the political establishment’s) expectations invariably start to feel pressure to withdraw. More often than not, they do, resulting in a trimmed-down field. The Republican roster of candidates has already […]
Wednesday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * I guess this was only a matter of time: “Crude oil prices soared to $100 a barrel Wednesday for the first time, reaching that milestone amid an unshakeable view that global demand for oil and petroleum products will outstrip supplies. Surging economies in China and India fed by oil […]
Justice Department launches criminal investigation over CIA torture tapes
It looks like the CIA’s torture-tape scandal has hit the big time. Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed an outside prosecutor Wednesday to lead a criminal investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes. The CIA acknowledged last month that it destroyed videos of officers using tough interrogation methods while questioning two al-Qaida suspects. The acknowledgment […]
Giuliani’s collapse — The right way to ring in the New Year
I suspect Josh Marshall speaks for many (including me) when he notes that now is an “appropriate moment to give thanks for something we can all be thankful for, even across our political divisions and support for contending candidates — that’s right, the collapsing campaign of Rudy Giuliani.” In Iowa, where admittedly Rudy hasn’t made […]