On Monday, Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) appeared to shake things up with a Senate speech in which he said Bush’s war strategy is not working and that the U.S. should downsize the military’s role in Iraq. Given Lugar’s stature in the GOP, it was perceived as a seminal moment. Lugar’s spokesperson added, however, that the […]
Wednesday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Reuters: “World powers named Tony Blair as their Middle East peace envoy on Wednesday, handing the outgoing British prime minister a daunting new challenge on a day Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” Gordon Brown was officially named the new British Prime Minister this afternoon. * […]
California GOP might have violated federal immigration law
Just to follow up on yesterday’s item on the California Republican Party’s immigration problem, things have quickly gone from bad to worse (except for Dems, for whom the story has gone from entertaining to pass-the-popcorn hilarious). To briefly recap, the state GOP hired Christopher Matthews, a Canadian citizen, through a coveted H-1B visa, which seemed […]
The ‘Grand Obstructionist Party’
Does it seem as if every time the Senate is poised to consider an important measure, Republicans launch a filibuster? That the party that whined incessantly about Democratic “obstructionism” for the last several years is blocking everything that moves, hypocrisy be damned? I knew it was bad; I didn’t know it was this bad. * […]
Gerson’s detached analysis
In a column otherwise directed at congressional Dems, Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, best known for being Bush’s chief speechwriter in his first term, is willing to acknowledge some flaws in his former boss’ Iraq strategy. History seems to be settling on some criticisms of the early conduct of the Iraq war. On the theory […]
Dumbest. Argument. Ever.
Scott Collins has an entertainment column for the LA Times, in which he writes about television. Today, Collins decided to use his TV column to wade into a political debate. (via Too Sense) It’s become unfashionable in most media circles to stick up in any way for Fox News Channel, so it’s not surprising that […]
White House, Cheney’s office, subpoenaed in warrantless-search investigation
A few days ago, commenter bjobotts asked, “Now that the [Senate Judiciary Committee] has agreed they can issue subpoenas, how long will it be before they actually do?” Wait no longer. The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney’s office Wednesday for documents relating to President Bush’s warrant-free eavesdropping program. […]
Did Cheney ‘throw in the towel’?
I think this report, from Politico’s Mike Allen, is rather misleading. We know that the Office of the Vice President has come up with a new (and ridiculous) defense for ignoring an executive order about classified materials, but Allen argues it’s part of a “flip-flop” and an example of Cheney “throwing in the towel.” It’s […]
Of push polls and haircuts
Greg Sargent had an interesting report yesterday afternoon about Mark Penn, the pollster for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and a message-testing poll he has in the field right now. The story started when Jason Eness-Potter, an Iowa resident, said he received a call from Penn’s polling firm. Greg followed up with him about the questions […]
Wednesday’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: * As part of his trip to Virginia Beach yesterday, Rudy Giuliani sat down with David Brody of Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. Brody noted a 1993 Giuliani quote in which the former […]