The Carpetbagger Report

I mistakenly thought it was obvious that the president’s new health care ideas, unveiled in last night’s State of the Union, were awful. The media, however, seems to think Bush has suddenly become liberal on the issue. Chris Matthews praised Bush for embracing a “bipartisan” approach to health care. Charlie Gibson said the proposals sounded […]

Well, this is a bit of a surprise. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts , the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, won’t make a second bid for the White House, sources familiar with Kerry’s thinking told CNN Wednesday. Since his 2004 loss, Kerry has struggled to gain support for his re-nomination within the Democratic Party. In […]

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee began working this morning on how best to deal with the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq. It appears that the number of committee members willing to stand up and defend the president’s latest escalation plan was about zero — the question was what the senators were prepared to do about […]

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: * A few weeks ago, we learned of leaked portions of Rudy Giuliani’s presidential playbook, given to the New York Daily News by a still-unknown GOP rival. Today, the Daily News’ Ben Smith, […]

One of the key domestic policy initiatives of the last State of the Union was a discussion of energy independence, so it came as little surprise that the president would revisit the subject this year. It must poll well. Unfortunately, there are a few problems with Bush’s energy agenda. OK, more than a few. President […]

Over the last decade or so, official responses to the State of the Union — Republicans responding to Clinton, Dems responding to Bush — haven’t gone particularly well. Some have even joked about a “curse,” leading to either ineffective speeches, political peril, or both. I think it’s safe to say Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) has […]

For all the talk earlier this week about the president using the State of the Union to “change the subject” away from Iraq and onto domestic policy, Bush addressed the war in Iraq quite a bit last night. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much to offer. There were the three key sentences on what Bush wants. […]

As a political geek, I look forward to State of the Union addresses, no matter who’s president. These speeches, at a minimum, nearly always make for great political theater, and capture the political world’s attention. I usually enjoy the spectacle of it all. Bush, for all of his many tragic flaws, is capable of delivering […]

I’m afraid I’ll be away from my computer at 9 (ET), and won’t be able to comment on the president’s State of the Union address until morning. But that’s no reason not to have an open thread on the big occasion. In fact, I’ve obtained an advance copy of the entire text, which, if recent […]

Today’s edition of quick hits. * Remember way back in July 2005 when Plame-related speculation began to shift to Ari Fleischer? There was a good reason — he told “multiple reporters” about Joseph Wilson’s wife. In exchange for his testimony, Fleischer received immunity from prosecution. * The latest BBC poll on global opinions of the […]