Ed Rendell has some advice for Sarah Palin on that whole eBay thing. Turns out there’s sort of a Craigslist for airplanes: Pennsylvania is preparing to turn over the keys to one of its two executive planes to an Illinois company that has agreed to buy it for $1.375 million – above its appraised value [...]
A pre-Palin take on McCain and the ladies: He is visibly uncomfortable talking about social issues and, when pressed, tends to veer between conservatism-in-a-can (“I agree that marriage, as [a] uniquely important institution, should be protected”) and a kind of jokey admission that he is reciting talking points, his voice taking on a sarcastic tone [...]
Pay no attention to those top-line numbers. The most interesting stat in the post-convention polling is the dramatic swing toward McCain of white women, a crucial demographic group that pollsters are watching very carefully. Obama has had trouble closing the sale here with one slice of this electorate in particular. They are older and less [...]
The McCain campaign keeps telling us Sarah Palin is the most popular governor in the country. Michael Kinsley explains one reason why: Alaskans like government. And wouldn’t you?: Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks No. 1 in taxes per resident and No. 1 in spending per resident. Its tax burden per resident is 21/2 times [...]
Apparently, Kim Jong Il has been dead all along: He doesn’t appear in public very often so it’s difficult to verify but there are allegations today that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Il has in fact been dead for five years. A Japanese expert on North Korea is claiming that the role of the “Dear Leader” [...]
The Wall Street Journal today reports out all the evidence showing that Sarah Palin was very much for the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” before she was against it. And she turned on it only when it became politically untenable to be for it. And Alaska got the bridge money anyway. Writes the Journal: But Gov. [...]
Yesterday, our colleague Mark Halperin made the point that we should “watch” how the “media” are “framing” the “race.” Well, we have our answer! From Politico: A TIPPING POINT, OR JUST JOSTLING? Gallup.com – “McCain Now Winning Majority of Independents: Majority of independents now prefer him over Obama, 52 percent to 37 percent” – “John [...]
In 2007 the federal budget deficit shrank to $163 billion, which the Bush Administration hailed as proof of the wisdom of its economic policies. The President even promised a balanced budget by 2012. Today we learn that the deficit has ballooned by 150% in just one year, to $407. And next year is likely to [...]
I’m curious about the decision to slow down the U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq. Earlier in the summer, the feeling was that Petraeus would resume the drawdown this autumn–removing one, perhaps two combat brigades before the end of the year. Now, the Bush Administration is talking about pulling out an Army combat brigade and Marine [...]
