In a dramatic error yesterday, John McCain told Katie Couric that it’s “just a matter of history” that Bush’s “surge” policy “began the Anbar awakening.” That, of course, is backwards. Today, thanks to some efforts by the Obama campaign, the media started picking up on McCain’s bizarre confusion on his signature national security issue, most […]
We can trust oil executives, can’t we?
The surge, coastal drilling, and a “gas-tax holiday.” That’s it. That’s all John McCain has left, and those are the only substantive policy issues John McCain is prepared to talk about as a presidential candidate. In fact, he already doubled-down on the surge, and this week, McCain is doubling-down on a coastal-drilling policy that he […]
WaPo editorial still doesn’t believe Maliki, Iraqi officials
The editorial board of the Washington Post continues to be a mysterious group, making strange arguments that are detached from the paper’s own reporting. Indeed, the gap between the quality of the WaPo’s news division and editorial division is greater than at any major newspaper in the country. The Post’s unwavering editorial support for the […]
Time to start rationing veterans’ healthcare?
It seems hard to imagine a presidential candidate, running in the midst of two wars, openly speculate about cutting back on veterans’ healthcare. And yet, here we are. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain appeared Tuesday to suggest rationing of veterans’ health care may be needed so combat veterans can receive the care they deserve. […]
Lieberman ignores concerns, cozies up to radical evangelist
When Joe Lieberman agreed to headline John Hagee’s Christians United For Israel Washington Summit, it was some months ago, before the political controversy over Hagee’s radical worldview, and before even John McCain decided Hagee is a little too nutty to be associated with. I thought it was at least possible that Lieberman, citing his loyalty […]
Novak sends pedestrian to hospital after hit-and-run
Ordinarily, traffic citations aren’t exactly important political news, but for Bob Novak, let’s make an exception. I worked in D.C. for several years, and saw Novak driving his Corvette convertible like a lunatic many, many times. I can think of plenty of instances in which I’d see him and think, “One of these days, that […]
Moving beyond ‘optimism’
For the last generation or so — pretty much since Reagan — we’ve heard a lot of talk about presidential campaigns and the search for “optimism.” The “optimistic” candidate tends to win. Voters necessarily gravitate towards an “optimistic” vision. Four years ago, the Bush/Cheney campaign took this notion quite literally, creating a television ad in […]
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: * Despite the latest web video from his campaign, John McCain said yesterday he does not believe he’s been subjected to unfair media treatment. I guess it’s a good-cop/bad-cop routine. * There was […]
No attack too vile — McCain goes after Obama’s Holocaust remarks
It may only be July, and Election Day may still be 104 days away, but we’ve reached the point at which the McCain campaign is even willing to attack Barack Obama’s remembrance of the Nazi Holocaust. Speaking today at Yad Vashem, Obama said, “Let our children come here and know this history so they can […]
Maliki really did endorse Obama’s withdrawal timeline
Over the weekend, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Der Spiegel, unprompted and by name, that he supports Barack Obama’s withdrawal timeline for U.S. troops in Iraq. The White House furiously sought to characterize this as a transcription error, while the McCain campaign insisted that Maliki’s words had been taken “out of context.” Now, we’ve […]