So jokes McCain about his veep search. Yeah, if only this “Google” had been around back when they were courting this Hagee character…
In the ArenaUncategorized
Lame
John McCain quipped yesterday that Barack Obama is “running for Jimmy Carter’s second term.” I can’t imagine that most people under the age of 40 are old enough to remember what Carter’s first term was like. It was done 28 years ago. For my kids, it’s as vivid as Calvin Coolidge’s first term.
Of course, I remember Carter’s sad …
Obama’s Economic Plan
Justin Fox isn’t impressed.
Well Played: Laura Bush
The First Lady, in an interview with ABC News, proves that magnanimity hasn’t gone completely out of style in politics.
That Clinton Campaign Debt
Tomorrow’s NYT has an interesting story on the unprecedented financial straits in which Hillary Clinton ended her presidential campaign. Michael Luo suggests that even if Barack Obama is willing to try to put his own fundraising machinery to work on her behalf, it might not be so easy:
Several Obama fund-raisers interviewed, however,
…
Overdue Jumble: Polling, Food, Pew
It’s been awhile since I posted a bunch of non-sequiturs. This is my attempt to catch some of those bits from the past week or so that haven’t fallen all the way through the cracks.
• Looking for love in all the wrong places
• Interview with Raj Patel, author of “Stuffed and Starved,”
about living in a
…
Another Awful Day in BlackBerry Politics
Last week, I wrote a piece bemoaning the political ramifications of my own email inbox, where BlackBerry politics happens. Some readers noted that it might be nice to know more about the silly rapid-fire give and take that takes place behind the scenes, as campaigns and parties try to spin reporters via mass email.
So herewith is …
Evangelicals for Obama?
If this Barna poll of Evangelicals* is right, McCain has a LOT of work to do. From the poll’s synopsis:
1. Among likely voters, Sen. Obama holds a 50% to 35% lead over Sen. McCain.
2. There are relatively few undecided voters – just 15% of the registered voters who are likely to vote have not yet chosen a candidate to support. For Sen.
…
The Heat in Washington
It’s an unseasonably hot June in Washington — today could go over 100 degrees the weatherman says. The heat wave is probably not directly linked to global warming but in case anyone was wondering about what happened to the Lieberman/Warner bill I posted about last week, my colleague Eric Pooley has this great wrap up on the bill’s …
McCain Campaign on FISA
The McCain campaign got back to me on McCain’s FISA position and, putting it succinctly as possible, a staffer says this: First, current legislation is unclear about whether or not the President has the authority to execute warantless wiretaps. In absence of clear legislation, they argue, the president retains the authority. (Sort of an …
Rick Davis Flashes Some .PPT
In true Romney-esque fashion, McCain campaign manager, Rick Davis, has posted a PowerPoint laying out the campaign’s strategy for winning. It could not come at a better time, as concerns among some Republicans about the still-prepping state of the campaign continue to grab ink. Just today, both William Kristol and Robert Novak have …
McCain’s Lack of Clarity
McCain’s recent statements about warantless wiretapping and FISA have not clarified the seemingly contradictory messages that came out last week. (The Greenwald has a typically exhaustive run-down on the back and forth here.) In 2006, he was definitive (ish):
WALLACE: But you do not believe that currently he has the legal authority to
…
In the ArenaUncategorized
Swiftboating From the Right
But not of Barack Obama. (ADD: there is a hateful piece of garbage on Youtube)–which revisits, in its last minute, the same slanderous nonsense about John McCain’s time as a prisoner of war that the Bush campaign helped spread through South Carolina in 2000. It wouldn’t be worth commenting on but for the provenance. It was made, …