One of the wonderful things about our bloated, endless, tedious, miraculous presidential campaigns is that sooner or later you find out just exactly who these pretenders are. Thursday night in Jacksonville, after 18 debates in which his bluster camouflaged a myriad of flaws, Newt Gingrich’s deficits–the sloppiness, the hyperbole, the …
The State of the Union (and the Presidency)
I have a new print column, which TIME subscribers can find here, about Barack Obama’s rousing and very effective State of the Union message. It was effective in three ways–as a policy response to the Republicans running for President, as a spiritual response to the Republican insinuations that he was not quite American and as a response …
Another Great Press Release
The Romney campaign has another very effective press release, excerpting an article that Elliott Abrams, the former Reagan Assistant Secretary of State For Trading Arms for Hostages, has written about Newt Gingrich’s criticisms of Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy. It will come as no great surprise that Gingrich was impatient with Reagan …
The Quiet Debate
The best performance in last night’s Republican debate was turned in by Brian Williams of NBC, who somehow managed to avoid having Newt Gingrich jump all over him. Deprived of his usual strawman–the stupid press–Gingrich had to direct his fire at his opponents, especially Mitt Romney, and, as in past debates, that fire was muted. It …
Santorum Blows It
I saw this on the evening news and couldn’t quite believe it. At a Santorum town meeting today a woman claims the President is an “avowed Muslim” and therefore ineligible to be President. Santorum doesn’t correct it. He says that he wants to get rid of Obama, too. Totally disgusting….But also, the woman: where does she get information? …
Mitt Attacks
Two new polls this morning–by Insider Advantage and Rasmussen–show Gingrich with a significant (8 or 9 point) lead over Mitt Romney. And Romney clearly knows he’s in trouble. He has a new ad–paid for by his campaign, not a Super Pac–slamming Gingrich.
The word of the day is: disgrace. As in Gingrich resigned from the Congress …
The Trouble With Private Equity
Mitt Romney is about to release a couple of years of tax returns. The numbers are sure to be enormous. Except for one: his marginal tax rate, an outrageous 15%, or thereabouts. James Surowiecki has a terrific column in the New Yorker that explains why the taxes Romney paid have always been low. It’s all about the so-called “carried …
A Great Press Release
Within minutes after Newt said, “I think grandiose thoughts” at last night’s debate. The Romney campaign released a devastating and hilarious compendium of Newt’s grandiosities. I’d be shocked if this didn’t become a TV ad very soon:
Newt’s FullaBluster
Charleston, South Carolina
Debates, like life, just ain’t fair. Newt Gingrich “won” the debate last night with an opening 5-minute tirade against CNN’s John King, ABC News and the liberal media who–I love this part–”protect Barack Obama by attacking Republicans.” King’s crime was to raise the accusations that Newt’s ex-wife …
Likudnik Paranoia
Uh-oh, there’s another wave of attacks–both here and in Israel–on those of us who support Israel, but not in the mindless, aggressive way that neoconservatives do and not at the expense of America’s national interests. Over there, Bibi Netanyahu has proclaimed the New York Times and Haaretz the “biggest” enemies of Israel. Over here, …
Newt on Fire
Charleston, South Carolina
I have a new print column, which TIME subscribers can find here, about the most riveting four minutes of the campaign so far–the confrontation between Newt Gingrich and Juan Williams in the Myrtle Beach debate on Monday. That confrontation seems to have given Gingrich a major boost: most of the polls taken …
Not so Nimble
To follow up on yesterday’s post about the “greatest act of presidential weakness” in Newt Gingrich’s lifetime, my estimable friend and fellow Ashkenazi Goldblog asked the Pentagon why the joint Israeli-US missile-defense exercise was postponed. Answer:
Newt Be Nimble
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
You may have missed it, but the “biggest act of weakness by any American President in my lifetime” took place this morning. At least, according to Newt Gingrich, who has a bit of a problem with hyperbole. Indeed, in the ensuing moments after denouncing the wimpatheticity of Barack Obama, he proclaimed the …
