My story out today on Obama’s swing to the middle as the General Election starts. My sense is it’s probably best to get through much of this stuff now during the summer lull and still months away from November for both candidates.
Obama Asks Donors to Raise Money For Clinton
Barack Obama asked his finance committee this afternoon to help Senator Hillary Clinton retire her debt. On a conference call that lasted about 45 minutes Obama made a personal plea to his top donors, telling them he considered it a personal imperative now that Democrats are all “one big family,” a donor who was on the call recounted …
Saving the River of Grass
Charlie Crist, governor of Florida, may have just done more to save the Everglades than anyone since Marjory Stoneman Douglas. On Time.com today, Michael Grunwald, a modern heir to Douglas in his knowlege of and passion for the Everlades, explains Crist’s agreement to have the state of Florida buy out U.S. Sugar’s lands in the Everglades …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Neocons Gone Wild
My post below, re the surge, has set off squeals of outrage over at Contentions, the Commentary magazine blog. This is to be expected, but still sad when one of the squealers is Max Boot, whose work I admire. But Boot, a McCain advisor, goes so far as to reinforce his candidate’s call for 100 years of neocolonial military presence in …
Pelosi On Clinton
At a Christian Science Monitor breakfast this morning Nancy Pelosi was asked about sexism in the Democratic primaries. The highest-ranking woman to ever win U.S. public office seemed a little taken aback. “Is there sexism? Probably so. Is it responsible for the defeat? I really wouldn’t have the scientific knowledge – all of the …
Umbrage Alert: Black’s Gaffe
In Michael Kinsley’s famous formulation, a gaffe is what happens when a politician says what he actually thinks is true. As the latest skirmish in the Outrage Wars shows, Kinsley’s formulation now applies to political strategists as well. When asked by Fortune Magazine how a terrorist attack on U.S. soil between now and the election …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Surge Protection
I think David Brooks has it essentially right here about Bush’s stubborness–as opposed to his knowledge of strategy or tactics or the situation on the ground in Iraq–as the reason why he made the correct choice on Iraq in late 2006. But, as Brooks says, history is complicated–and the current reduction in violence in Iraq was a …
On Electioneering With Satan’s Name
Bill Keller is a publicity-savvy televangelist with a penchant for politics who works out of the back room of a used car lot. Last year, he caused some controversy by announcing that “A vote for Romney is a vote for Satan” on his nationwide email list, called LivePrayer.com, which has more than two million recipients. His claim was …
Was Opting Out Necessary?
In choosing to forgo public financing for the general election campaign, Barack Obama calculated that the upside of being able to vastly outspend John McCain would outweigh the downside of being hit with charges that he had broken his word and was behaving like a typical pol. He’s betting that most voters won’t pay attention to what is …
Who Wins If the Terrorists Win?
It is a morbid sort of hypothetical brain teaser: If there is another terrorist attack before November, who benefits? Republicans or Democrats? McCain or Obama?
Charlie Black, a senior adviser to McCain, actually answered the question, according to the latest issue of Fortune magazine. Here is the quote from the article, which is rather …
In the ArenaUncategorized
They’ll Let Anybody In
Karl Rove on Barack Obama…I mean, is this hilarious or what?
Actually, what does it say about the Republican mindset that Rove sees Obama as the cool, caustic guy at the country club as opposed to a Wright-wing terrorist-loving secret Muslim? Does it mean that the Republicans see profit in another Clinton line of attack: that Obama is …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Too Good to Check
I have no way of knowing if this is true, though the source is excellent…but the word in Republican circles is that John McCain is quite frustrated by the vice presidential selection process because he can’t go with any of his top three choices. They are:
1. Former Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania–McCain loves the guy, I’m told, …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Corn Porn
Gotta say, this is another example of McCain being better on agripork issues than Obama.