Just so everyone knows, I polled a bunch of journalists last night and we decided that Hillary needs to beat Obama by at least six points in Pennsylvania for it to be a win.
You say a win is a win is a win? Ha, ha. A win is what we say it is. By which logic, of course, Hillary was elected president late last year before losing to Obama …
The man who brought us Willie Horton is back. Floyd Brown, who created the 1988 political ad, has announced the beginnings of a multi-pronged, long-range independent expenditure campaign against Barack Obama. He has started four organizations to serve as front groups, plans to blast out a fundraising email to between 3 and 7 million …
New city; same stump speech. So I thought I’d share the insights and impressions of some of the voters I met here at the Zembo Shrine. They are hardly a scientific sample, but all seemed thoughtful about the choices they have made in an election that they are clearly taking very seriously. Two were Clinton supporters; one is agonizing. …
This morning at a diner in Scranton Obama sat down at the counter to enjoy a waffle breakfast with Senator Bob Casey. He’d already spent more than 30 minutes glad handing the restaurant’s denizens, and with the 15+ press pool crammed behind the counter before him Obama dug in. Which is when one of the network reporters took the …
This has been making its way around the internets lately. It’s one of the most thoughtful personal — and political — essays I’ve read in awhile… or at least that’s resonated so strongly:
I was in Berlin giving a talk when the Marxist writer Tariq Ali invited me out to a dinner that included a male writer and translator and three
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In the ArenaUncategorized
I missed this debate between Rob Satloff and Mark Perry on Lehrer last week–all Pennsylvania for me, all the time–but I did think Perry got the better of it…in large part because, in my view, people who want to negotiate with our enemies almost always have a stronger argument than people who don’t. Not that I have any illusions about …
The speech: More of the same, only with Bill there.
It’s 3 p.m., and the campaign is offering us our fourth meal of the day. This one is a sandwich that is some kind of local delicacy, involving kiolbassa, kielbasa,* sauerkraut and french fries (all inside the sandwich) that you are supposed to drench in hot sauce. I’m starting to think …
All the candidates have released their FEC reports today. McCain’s report, the Politico suggests, cements the prediction that he will accept public funds in the general. This has one obvious outcome — he will be outspent badly. Very badly — and one slightly less obvious one: He’ll also be going to the Republican National Committee for …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Hillary Clinton has spent the past few days hammering Barack Obama for saying something that doesn’t sound very controversial to me: that either Democratic candidate would be a much better President than GWB…and that John McCain would, too. Now, let’s leave aside the fact that Clinton–just a few weeks ago–was saying that McCain had …
Hillary’s new “comparison” ad up in PA.
It’s unusual for the genre: Hillary’s the one in b&w, not her opponent, and the music is a peppy yet vaguely menacing sort of waltz (it sounds like the music that would be playing while Hannibal Lecter looks up recipes). The last lines, however, are classic: “There are more and more questions …
The Swampkids–who were lobbying last summer for us to vacation here–are thrilled that I’ve finally made it to Scranton, though there have thus far been no sightings of Michael Scott. I’m sorry I missed the St. Patrick’s Day parade, where a Clinton staffer tells me much of the town was decked out in green Dunder Mifflin T-shirts.
If …
Dispatches from the Obama trail: Obama ventured into Hillary territory, quite literally where her father is buried, to Scranton, Pennsylvania tonight and rallied 4,800 eager fans. Under the neon lights of a massive indoor soccer field, Obama also unleashed some of his harshest criticism yet of Clinton, laying out three reasons why he’d …
In the ArenaUncategorized
State College, Pa.
I’ve spent the weekend with the Democrats–yesterday with Obama, today with Clinton. I’ll have a lot more to say about the race in my print column this week…but a few quick notes from Pennsylvania:
Substance: Both Clinton’s and Obama’s stump speeches have collapsed into blatant pandering. Obama doesn’t talk about …
