Last I checked, our former colleague Jay Carney was still Joe Biden’s communications director, but I’m wondering if he might be on vacation this week. Even as Barack Obama travels abroad, it has twice fallen to the Top Guy to clean up after clarify his Vice President’s comments.
White House
Alberto Gonzales Finds A Job
The ranks of the nation’s unemployed have dropped by one.
As we had noted earlier in this space, at least one former Attorney General had been having trouble finding work in the legal profession. Now, the Austin American-Statesman tells us that Alberto Gonzales has landed a job teaching political science and recruiting minority …
1,000 Words
Thinking of redecorating the family room? Here’s a nice look, from our White House Photo Blog:
Rahm Emanuel: Ready to Deal on a Public Plan
Over and over again, President Obama has expressed his commitment to the establishment of a government-run “public plan” as part of health reform, saying it is needed to keep the pressure on private insurance companies. Just as often, we have pointed out here that this kind of general statement can mean a lot of different things to …
Michele Bachmann is Cens(us)less
The constitution doesn’t require much participation from the American people. It protects their rights — free speech, to bear arms, a fair trial, etc – but it doesn’t even make voting mandatory. The one action it does require is for citizens to stand up and get counted, which is why every 10 years the census bureau floods the …
Inauguration Day: A Historic (And Personal) Moment
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Hollywood Style GOTV
Alas, my GOTV calling pals at the VA Blue Ridge Lock n’ Load gun club have not sent me any photos, but I did get this cool one from a hip Obama phoner working with the “30Barack” group. This is an Obama phone bank — mostly targeting Nevada I’d suspect– located inside a giant movie soundstage in Los Angeles. All volunteers. Gotta …
Ready for Prime Time…
In the category of more unsolicited advice they didn’t ask for, are tired of getting, and will certainly ignore, I’ll holler one more pitch from my armchair to the McCain campaign (I’m a political consultant, I can’t help it).
There is no state by state way to break out of the campaign’s current spiral. Trips to Iowa will not do it. …
McCain Curtails Ads in NH and WI
A Democratic source tells TIME that John McCain is stretching his media buys in New Hampshire and Wisconsin, spacing out ads they’ve already bought to last through the rest of the election. The move would mean they would not spend any more ad money in the states, effectively pulling out without taking the hit in the press the way they …
Wright off?
Voter Harrassment
Powell
I am not normally of the view that endorsements mean much in Presidential politics. But Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama today is a real sledgehammer blow to the already staggering McCain campaign. Not just because a Powell endorsement shores up Obama’s shaky foreign policy bona fides, but even more because of the content of …
Powell Endorses Obama
Colin Powell today announced on NBC’s Meet the Press he’s crossing party lines and to become the highest-ranking Republican to endorse Barack Obama.
The former general and secretary of state under President Bush said that after following the race closely for the last two months, he was left troubled by the McCain’s handling of the …