John McCain was for affirmative action before he was against it. ABC News’ Teddy Davis and Kevin Kilbane Report: During a “This Week” interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos John McCain reversed himself on affirmative action and endorsed for the first time a proposed state ballot measure which would end race and gender-based affirmative action […]
McCain may not speak for the McCain campaign
The Tax Policy Center prepared an interesting report (pdf) this week, noting the key differences between the economic policies articulated by John McCain and the economic policies presented by John McCain’s presidential campaign. There’s a bit of a gap — to the tune of $2.8 trillion (that’s “trillion,” with a “t”). According to the study, […]
Obama gets media attention, but not necessarily positive attention
Left with little else to say, the McCain campaign started attacking the media this week, accusing reporters of going easy on Barack Obama. Frank Rich found this rather laughable, noting “the press … still gives free passes to its old bus mate John McCain.” But let’s take this one step further and consider a more […]
After a successful international trip, Obama says, ‘We don’t buy our own hype’
It’s hard to imagine how Barack Obama’s week-long international excursion could have gone much better. But as Obama heads home, there are a handful of questions at the fore: Did the trip help? Do voters care? Will the effects of the trip linger? The LA Times’ report notes that Obama “conquered” the Middle East and […]
Obama thankful for the foreign policy endorsements
On Friday afternoon, John McCain told a national television audience that he thought a 16-month withdrawal timetable for U.S. troops in Iraq, as embraced by Barack Obama and Nouri al-Maliki, sounds like “a pretty good timetable.” Yesterday, speaking to reporters in London, Obama mentioned how delighted he is to see the Republican establishment come around […]
When the going gets tough, McCain gets disgraceful
It’s nothing short of breathtaking to watch a once honorable man want the presidency so desperately, he’s willing to flush his credibility and reputation down the toilet. John McCain’s new TV ad marks a turning point, not only in this presidential campaign, but as a measurement of McCain’s increasingly absent character. “Barack Obama never held […]
The presidential candidate voters don’t know much about (no, not that one)
The conventional wisdom is that voters are still getting to know Barack Obama. John McCain is a known quantity, who’s been part of the political establishment for more than a quarter-century, but Obama is still fairly new to the political stage. There may be a discomfort/unfamiliarity factor for Obama to overcome. The NYT’s Bob Herbert […]
It’s not ‘presumptuous’ to think about transition teams
This report should have been fairly innocuous this week, but it touched off a flurry of far-right criticism. With less than six months to go before he would be sworn in as the nation’s 44th president, Sen. Barack Obama has directed his aides to begin planning for the transition. “Barack is well aware of the […]
An update on Jukebox John
For those keeping score at home, we’re up to 69. I just added these three: * McCain staunchly opposed Obama’s Iraq withdrawal timetable, and even blasted Mitt Romney for having referenced the word during the GOP primaries. In July, after Iraqi officials endorsed Obama’s policy, McCain said a 16-month calendar sounds like “a pretty good […]
Knowing then what we know now…
Following up on the last item about John McCain’s speech in Denver yesterday, I was also struck by his interest in hindsight. “Sen. Obama said this week that even knowing what he knows today that he still — still — would have opposed the surge,” said McCain. As McCain arguments go, this one is relatively […]