Today’s edition of quick hits. * NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker has released a statement: “We are heartbroken at the sudden passing of Tim Russert. We have lost a beloved member of our NBC Universal family and the news world has lost one of its finest. The enormity of this loss cannot be overstated. More […]
Clark hits McCain — and hits all the right notes
Wesley Clark spoke with the Huffington Post this week, and was unrelenting in his criticism of John McCain. “I know he’s trying to get traction by seeking to play to what he thinks is his strong suit of national security,” Clark said. “The truth is that, in national security terms, he’s largely untested and untried. […]
Tim Russert dies of heart attack
Stunning news. Tim Russert, the host of “Meet the Press,” and NBC’s Washington bureau chief, has died, according to a family member. He was 58. Mr. Russert was a towering figure in American journalism and moderated several debates during the recent presidential primary season. Tom Brokaw, the former anchor of NBC Nightly News, came on […]
McCain sees detainee ruling as ‘one of the worst decisions in the history of this country’
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday, in a narrow 5-4 decision, to extend access to the federal courts to detainees at Guantanamo Bay. When reporters asked John McCain for his reaction a few hours later, he struck a disappointed note, but seemed pretty level-headed about the case. “[I]t is a decision that the Supreme Court has […]
McCain can’t defend privatization plan, so he redefines the word
Following up on an item from this morning, there’s already video proof that John McCain supports privatizing Social Security, just as Bush attempted to do in 2005. Realizing the pressure’s on, today McCain attempted to, well, lie about it. For those who can’t watch clips online, McCain told voters at an event in New Jersey, […]
Obama wants five debates; McCain wants 13; we may get three
For the last 10 days or so, the McCain campaign has been pretty aggressive in pushing its desire to have a series of town-hall debates with Barack Obama, with neutral audiences asking questions. Obama has publicly expressed some interest in the idea, prompting McCain to announce he’d like to see a total of 10 events, […]
McCain lashes out at economists
I have to say, I’ve had quite enough economist-bashing for one campaign cycle. A month ago, defending her silly gas-tax holiday proposal, Hillary Clinton said it didn’t matter than every professional economist in the country insisted the idea was ridiculous. “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists,” Clinton said, adding that economists […]
Friday’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: * More intra-party reconciliation: “As we first reported here, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe wooed top Clinton donors at a private presentation in Manhattan yesterday, and the early indications are that such efforts […]
A closer look at whether ‘the world’ will ‘accept’ Obama
A couple of days ago, the NYT’s Thomas Friedman sounded a slightly hyperbolic note about Barack Obama’s popularity on the global stage: “It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Democrats’ nomination of Obama as their candidate for president has done more to improve America’s image abroad … than the entire Bush public […]
Bush administration corruption gives new meaning to the phrase, ‘Best Friends’
Following up on an item from earlier this week, it’s bad enough when the Bush administration awards tax dollars to abstinence-only programs that don’t work. It’s worse when our money goes to far-right abstinence groups based on their political connections. And it’s even worse still when these same abstinence groups get more money than they […]