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Saturday, August 9, 2008
McCain vs. Obama on Caucasus Crisis
Posted by on 8.9.08 @ 11:08AM
Ben Smith of the Politico notes a characteristic difference in the way Barack Obama and John McCain address the Russian invasion of Georgia. Note the diplomatic neutrality of Obama's statement:
"I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict. Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full scale war. Georgia's territorial integrity must be respected. All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis."
Obama refers to "the outbreak of violence," calls on "both sides" to seek peace, and invokes "the international community." Meanwhile, McCain bluntly speaks of the Russian invasion and makes prominent mention of the NATO military alliance:
Today, news reports indicate that Russian military forces crossed an internationally-recognized border into the sovereign territory of Georgia. Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territorySo, if getting tough with the Russkies is what you want, Maverick's your man. (Cross-posted at The Other McCain.)
We should immediately call a meeting of the North Atlantic Council to assess Georgia's security and review measures NATO can take to contribute to stabilizing this very dangerous situation.
Re: Beer Goggles
Posted by on 8.9.08 @ 10:54AM
Mr. Henry, perhaps your erstwhile bar-crawling in L.A. has resulted in long-term damage to your ability to use a search engine. Thus, you are "beer googling."
Beer Goggles
Posted by on 8.9.08 @ 9:27AM
Robert, your post immediately brought to mind a song that a favorite L.A. band used to play once in a while, a little country ditty ending with the lines:
"Omigod, I musta drank a fifth
You're not the one I thought I left the bar with."
Alas, a little Googling cannot turn up the full lyric, or any part of it.
Friday, August 8, 2008
'Beer Goggles' -- Scientific Proof!
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 11:59PM
The
Clare Boothe Luce Policy Center
now has online
"Sense and Sexuality," a new pamphlet by Dr.
Miriam Grossman that will be distributed this fall at colleges
and universities. The pamphlet is aimed at helping girls avoid the
"hookup" culture on campus. Here's something interesting from the
pamphlet:
Science has confirmed the existence of "beer goggles" . . . In a British study, 80 college students rated photos of unfamiliar faces of men and women their age; alcohol consumption significantly raised the scores given to photos of the opposite sex. Drinking affects the nucleus accumbens, the area of the brain used to determine facial attractiveness. It's probably one of several reasons that casual, high risk sex is often preceded by alcohol consumption. In the morning, you both look different.
Mrs. Edwards on 'Absurd Lies'
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 10:41PM
Elizabeth Edwards blogs at Daily Kos, helping her husband spin his affair:
[A] recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private.
So, after Edwards admits the affair he previously denied, his wife still believes his denial that he fathered Rielle Hunter's baby. And why is this fallback denial so important? As Stephen Spuiell points out, Hunter's baby was born in February 2008, while Elizabeth Edwards learned her cancer had recurred in March 2007. So if the love-child is Edwards', that means he continued seeing Hunter at least two months after his wife began cancer treatment.
Flashback: John Edwards On Bill Clinton
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 5:25PM
"I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen."
Hat's off to Matt Welch for digging that one up.
Evangelicals, Catholics, and Abortion
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 4:29PM
Ross Douthat has two posts answering the question of why evangelicals are more pro-life than Catholics. While the details of his posts are well worth reading, I think he gets to the meat of it with this line: "[D]escribing oneself as an 'evangelical' tends to be a proxy for religious intensity in a way that describing oneself as a Catholic isn't." Self-described evangelicals of all denominations are likely to be intensely observant, theologically conservative, and at least somewhat socially conservative. Self-described Catholics run the gamut from ultra-tradtionalists to lasped Catholics who haven't attended Mass in years.
Re: John Edwards' Affair
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 4:17PM
Stephen Spruiell receives an e-mail that explains it all: "Well, there are two Americas. Edwards had a wife in one and a girlfriend in the other. What's the big deal?"
Can the Major Newspapers Report This Now?
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 3:43PM
John Edwards admits (on Nightline, on a Friday night, on the first day of the Olympics...) that he had an affair was Rielle Hunter. He's still denying that the baby is his. Bring on the paternity tests!
Hillary's Delegates Still Disgruntled
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 2:31PM
"Unity" in Denver may be more difficult to achieve that some realize:
Brenda Krause is tired of fearmongering among the Democrats.While Team Obama was busy jetting The One around Europe, they were failing to quench the PUMA rebellion on the home front:
The 55-year-old delegate to the Democratic National Convention doesn't think the party -- or its unity -- is in any way compromised by her voting for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the roll call. . . .
Though the majority of the Democratic Party backs Sen. Barack Obama, an undercurrent of staunch and loyal Clinton supporters say they'll fight all the way to the national convention, which begins Aug. 25 in Denver, to put her name on the ballot.
With the clock running out on preparations for the Democratic convention, advisers to Sen. Barack Obama are scrambling to reach a compromise with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to appease her supporters and find roles for her and her husband.
That they're still "scrambling" two months after Obama clinched the nomination -- and barely two weeks before the convention -- suggests an alarming inattention to the problem. And the fact that Obama still hasn't announced his running mate should also worry Democrats.
Introducing the Veep Test
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 1:41PM
How can we tell what politicians really think of their parties' chances in the race for the White House 2008? In today's Reason, I have a modest proposal that involves the vice presidency.
House Republicans Energized
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 1:06PM
At least the House Republicans who have stayed behind during recess to try to persuade Nancy Pelosi to call the House back into session for an energy bill that includes expanded domestic production through drilling. The American Spectator and Americans for Tax Reform held a Newsmaker Breakfast this morning with Congressmen Mike Pence (Ind.), Bob Goodlatte (Va.), and Dan Burton (Ind.) to talk about the House GOP's energy protests and what they hope to accomplish.
All three men emphasized that high energy prices have created hardships in their district and that they want to pass a bill rather than simply use the issue for political advantage. They described a "bipartisan majority" in favor of more drilling, saying that as many as 50 Democrats would vote with the Republicans if Pelosi allowed a bill to reach the floor. They mentioned Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) as someone who has been working toward a compromise on the other side of the aisle, though they said he would leave ANWR drilling off the table in order to bring in more Democrats.
Their talks overlapped, but Goodlatte focused on the economic impact of high energy prices and made the case that increased production would provide both short- and long-term relief. Burton brought up the foreign-policy angle, arguing that our lack of energy independence was causing us to subsidize "people who don't like us," including purveyors of radical Islam. Pence exhorted conservative media, bloggers, and activists to spread the message about what the Republicans were doing on energy policy. He also said that the best strategy for voters is to call their own congressman, especially if he or she is a Democrat, rather than to contact the speaker directly.
I stopped by the House floor to watch Pence and his fellow Republicans in action, calling for Congress to return to Washington. Todd Tihart of Kansas, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, and Joe Barton of Texas were some of the other members present. Their session opened with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, and Barton gave a brief civics lesson to the watching tourists before launching into his pro-drilling arguments.
Broadway Brett
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 12:47PM
I guess it's just as well that Broadway Brett wound up in the Big Apple rather than in
The Bucs already have a good superannuated quarterback in Rich Garcia. They also have a complex offensive scheme that produces a lot of 13-10 wins with few highlights.
Both Favre and Bucs head Coach John Gruden like to have things their way, and it would have been painful watching those two tangling over who's running the show. Gruden would have been loathe to modify his complex but stodgy offense to accommodate the NFL’s wild child. And Favre wouldn't have wanted to lower his horizons. He's not used to getting the bunt sign.
A
Daily Must-Reads
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 12:22PM
Terrorists threaten Olympics in video
Bin Laden driver sentenced to a short term
Incumbent Tenn. congressman loses Republican primary primary
The Favre Factor
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 12:22PM
I hate to disagree with Wlady about anything, but I think he's wrong about Brett Favre. You're talking about the most durable quarterback to play the game and one with the most natural swagger. I think he retired and realized that being a quarterback is the most important thing to him.
The J-E-T-S will N-O-T rue the day they made this move because Favre is a massive upgrade (even if not at his best) over anything they had coming up for this season. Kellen Clemens? Injury-prone Chad? He's also going to have a pretty darn good coach with Eric Mangini.
Great move for the Jets. Thomas Jones and Laveranues Coles are excited.
Kasich Moves Up
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 10:07AM
First, a disclaimer. Put me in the camp of those who believe that John McCain already has chosen Tim Pawlenty as his running mate. As I have written before, I have soured seriously on Pawlenty, in large part because of his statement two years ago that "the era of small government is over" and that government should be more "proactive" and "aggressive." (Yeah, Governor: and if you believe that, please go play in the sand with Barbara Boxer.) That said, I note several things. First, I continue to believe that Chris Cox, if planning were right, would be the best choice for the long term. And I know that the McCain camp considered him. But he isn't "out there" making the case for himself. Second (and sorry for the delayed lede, but this IS a blog entry, not a column), the main point of all this is to say that in terms of the "outside game," i.e. not necessarily within the McCain inner circle but in terms of "buzz," the person who is making the biggest news right now is John Kasich -- who was always in my top five, and who more than a month ago moved up to my co-top choice with Cox, and who several weeks ago I installed as my choice #1 (with Cox stepping not back but to the side as #1A). So... What's the buzz? (Tell me what's a-happenin'? -- that's a line from JC Superstar, by the way.) Well, a couple of days ago, none other than Newt Gingrich listed him as one of his top two choices (Gingrich had been a Bobby Jindal booster earlier); yesterday the Wall Street Journal did its own internal survey of what it considered good possibilities (it included Fred Thompson, by the way, and made a decent case for him) -- and the survey ended with it, well, not endorsing Kasich, but making a very strong case for him while also saying good things about some others. But the editorial was constructed in sort of an ascending order, giving the impression that the last name mentioned was the one the editorial board felt best about -- and that last one was indeed Kasich. I note also -- and this is disturbing -- that a good source tells me Kasich apparently hasn't even been contacted by the McCain people. If that is true, then the McCain folks just aren't doing their homework. I hope it's not true. Anyway, in addition to the discussions here taht have mentioned Kasich, and some continuing buzz are NRO's The Corner about him (boosted by our friend the great Michael Novak), the fact is that if you Google Kasich's name you all of a sudden see a lot more Veep references in connection with him. Frankly, I see no real downside. He thrills most economic conservatives; he satisfies Evangelicals (he's pro-life and attends an Evangelical church); he's acceptable on defense; he has a decently high profile; he was the guy who balanced the budget while cutting taxes (or so the tale from 12 years ago can be simplified); he has a blue collar persona; he is from the Ohio/Pennsylvania heartland; and my wife, who isn't tremendously political, watched him on TV the other night and said "I like that guy." So there. Kasich for Veep. Sen. McCain, are you listening?
Bush in China Shop; Colorado Faithless...
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 9:42AM
Several other good items (I hope you will think they are good) at the Examiner today. I write about a crucially important court case from Colorado where religion was protected against government hostility. DC resident Charles Repine says District officials still aren't respecting the recent Supreme Court decision affirming gun rights. And the editorial says that Bush should speak even more strongly against the brutal Chinese leaders.
A Tribute to Novak
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 9:37AM
Today in the Examiner, in a superb piece of writing, Tim Carney pays tribute to his ailing boss, Bob Novak. If you read ANY piece at all today, read this one. And Godspeed to Mr. Novak. He and his family remain in our prayers.
Re: Thrilled About Favre
Posted by on 8.8.08 @ 1:20AM
Phil, sorry to be slow in responding to your item, but when you get to be my age moving about in the editorial pockets isn't what it used to be, which is essentially the point I wish to make about your Jets' attempt to score a quick fix: Brett Favre at age 38, after the psychological let down and release he went through last March after what turns out to be a short-lived (but universally ballyhooed) retirement, isn't going to have too much to offer the Jets. At least when Joe Montana moved on to the Kansas City Chiefs, he did so as an active player, one clearly not ready to retire. Even so, he wasn't quite the same player, in part because he was that much older, but probably more so because he was in a new system in a new environment. And needless to say, the players around him weren't as good as those he'd left behind. Favre will run into all these problems. Plus he'll be playing half his games in the worst stadium in sports -- and on artificial surface, on which he's always had his worst games. You'll rue the day the Jets took this route.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Re: Thrilled About Favre
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 4:03PM
Even though it would complicate things for my team, the Patriots, I wish Favre well. Although no matter how good or badly he plays with the Jets, he will be remembered and go into the Hall of Fame as a Packer. But after all this, he will diminish his great legacy if he isn't truly 100 percent up to playing football this season. I hope he is.
Ahmadinejad's New World Order
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 3:51PM
And now for a bit of self-promotion. Over at the Washington Times today, I take a look at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's efforts to rally a whole host of Third World nations against the United States and the West.
For Independents' Eyes Only
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 12:51PM
Don't expect John McCain's new Web ad, which is filled with clips of Democrats praising him, to win him any fans on the right, but it does end with a nice poke at Obama from Hillary Clinton: "I know Sen. McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House, and Sen. Obama has a speech that he gave in 2002."
Thrilled About Favre
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 12:40PM
I didn't know what to make about the whole off-season drama surrounding Brett Favre, but as a long-suffering Jets fan, I couldn't be more ecstatic now that it's ended with him joining my team. I've always admired Favre from afar (here's what I wrote in March when I thought he retired), and it's been a long time since Jet fans had anything to get excited about going into a season. Who knows how much he has left in him, or how much protection he can get from an offensive line that had to be rebuilt in the off season because it was so dreadful, but if nothing else, he should make things more interesting.
Bad Blood/Big Success
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 12:13PM
Detroit Mayor in the Hoosegow?
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 11:39AM
Just days after nearly torpedoing his mother's congressional career, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been ordered to jail for violating the terms of his bond in a perjury case. Kilpatrick went to Canada without the court's permission. It is unclear from the reporting whether or not he is already in jail.
Daily Must-Reads
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 11:14AM
Israeli PM pledges prisoner release
Archbishop of Cantebury wrote that gay relationships are okay
Governor Moonbeam Plots His Return
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 10:58AM
There's much that's interesting in this George Will column about a possible gubernatorial bid by former California Gov. Jerry Brown in 2010, but my favorite is this bit: "Brown, a Catholic in everything but theology, regrets the end of the Latin Mass and three years ago had Gregorian chants and medieval music at his wedding."
We Keep On Waiting
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 10:43AM
The Olympics, of course, begin tomorrow. On the front page of the July 25 Washington Post, a report on McCain's impending running mate announcement was subtitled "Aides Predict Announcement Before Olympics":
Two top aides to the presumptive Republican nominee said the decision is likely to be announced after Obama returns from Europe on Sunday and before the Beijing Olympics begin Aug. 8. They said the campaign fears that unanticipated events coming out of China -- whether in the form of athletic accomplishments or human rights protests -- could deflect attention from the announcement if it were made during the Games.So, is an announcement coming in the next 20 hours or so? Were those aides just blowing smoke about the overshadowed-by-the-Olympics worries? Is McCain having trouble making up his mind? Or have they decided it would be better to let Obama announce his running mate first? (Obama, taking David Cameron's advice, is leaving for a vacation in Hawaii, and his people say he won't announce a running mate before he gets back next week.)The Olympics conclude the day before the Democratic nominating convention opens in Denver, and the GOP convention begins in Minneapolis-St. Paul just four days after the Democratic gathering ends.
Fun fact: By this time in 2004, not only had we known the vice presidential nominees for a month (Kerry picked Edwards during the first week of July), the Democratic convention had already come and gone. No wonder this summer seems so long...
Portman Otherwise Engaged
Posted by on 8.7.08 @ 9:32AM
This announcement from the White House would seem to indicate
that Rob Portman won't be spending time preparing for a
running-mate announcement:
President George W. Bush today announced the
designation of a Presidential Delegation to Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic to attend the Inauguration of His Excellency
Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna, President of the
Dominican Republic, on August 16, 2008.
The Honorable Robert J. Portman, Former
Congressman, United States Trade Representative and Director of the
Office of Management and Budget, will lead the
delegation.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
NBC Reporter Brings Obama His Mommy's Cookies
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 7:41PM
This is just pathetic:
So why did Sen. Barack Obama come to the back of the plane and join reporters on Monday?
Well, it was, in part, to thank NBC embed Mike Memoli for the cookies his mother had sent to Obama.
While home on Sunday, Memoli told his mother -- famous at The Hotline (Memoli's previous employer) for her cookies -- that Monday was Obama's birthday so she sent her son back on the trail with some homemade treats (she once gave Bill Clinton cookies, too).
Memoli gave them to the campaign ("If you can pass them on to him, it would make my mom happy," Memoli told the campaign staffer) and, lo and behold, Obama joined reporters later to thank Memoli for the gift.
Is McCain Surging to the Lead?
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 7:08PM
Rich Lowry looks at a poll showing John McCain beating Barack Obama 51-36 in terms of his "ability to manage the Iraq war" and writes, "This shows that the success of the surge is probably helping McCain, which makes sense: 1) It vindicates his judgment; 2) the better conditions are, the more likely it is that we can keep drawing down responsibly, thus removing the sting of the '100 years in Iraq' charge." Maybe, especially on the second point. But McCain's military service, foreign-policy experience, and perceived independence from Bush may all have something to do with it too. Remember: McCain beat Ron Paul among antiwar voters in the New Hampshire primary and otherwise did well among independents and Republicans who are against the war. I'm willing to guess that they weren't, in the main, voting for him because of his position on the surge.
Barr On Track to Be on the Ballot in All 50 States
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 6:46PM
In their blogger conference call today, Bob Barr's campaign manager announced that they were "on track" to be in the ballot in all 50 states despite continuing problems in Oklahoma, West Virginia, Massachusetts, and elsewhere. Barr himself joined the call to talk about presidential signing statements, toll roads, the economy, and shrinking government, but the ballot access update was the main focus of the call.
Russ Verney reported that the Barr-Root Libertarian ticket was already on the ballot in 34 states. They have or soon will be turning in signatures for South Dakota, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Signatures will be turned in for Maine on Friday. They are engaged in legal action about the number of signatures required in Oklahoma and the American Civil Liberties Union is suing to get Barr on the ballot in Massachusetts, where the secretary of state is said to have told them they could gather signatures for a substitute candidate before the Libertarian National Convention but has since refused to allow substitutions.
On other topics, Barr said one of his first priorities if elected would be to establish a "Grace Commission on steroids," referring to President Reagan's special commission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending. Barr's proposed commission would go further: it would determine "the constitutional basis" of every agency, see which federal functions could be devolved to state and local governments, and also perform a cost/benefit analysis on all federal activities. Barr also said he would meet with his military commanders "both in Washington and in primary locations" to reduce "the American economic and military footprint" first in Iraq and then elsewhere in the world.
Gotta LOVE the PGA
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 5:44PM
From the Department of Never Admitting I am Wrong: Before the British Open, I predicted, outrageously, that 2004 champion Todd Hamilton would win again -- and by the lights of psychic phenomena, I was right! (Bear with me here: I am having fun with this, wink wink.) You see, I saw in my mind's eye the name of the winner, and it was a former champion whose name began with "H-a" and ended with "t-o-n." And I heard in my mind's ear the announcers talking about a former champion who was thought to have NO chance of winning making the turn for home (the final nine holes) with a one-stroke lead, as the long-shot of all long-shots. I naturally put two and two together and assumed that that longshot former champion would be the same former champion who actually did win and whose name started "H-a" and ended "t-o-n." Naturally, putting all that together, I came up with Todd Hamilton, because of course nobody even gave Greg Norman a second thought.... and because, well, NOBODY this side of Tom Watson, Lee Trevino or Arnold Palmer (i.e. an all-time great) ever successfully defends his title, thus ruling out defender Padraig Harrington, a decent enough player but no all-time great by any means.
So you see, I was right! Former champion Greg Norman was the longshot with the lead, and former champion Padraig H-a-rring-t-o-n won the Claret Jug. By the standards of psychic accuracy, I was dead on target! Yea!
Now, why go through all of this balderdash? To make any reader silly enough to have gotten this far actually give some credence to my prediction for the winner of this week's PGA Championship.
The answer: Davis Love III. With Justin Leonard second. It's 1997 all over again, and you heard it here first.
(Now if Charles Howell III wins, of course I will have been right by psychic standards because he also is a IIIrd. So there!)
Enjoy the tourney!
Hotness News, Paris Hilton-Free Edition
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 3:29PM
Our own JP Freire has been nominated by FishbowlDC for Hottest Media Type, Male Off-Air Division. Vote here.
John Kennedy for Louisiana
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 3:11PM
The GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Louisiana against incumbent Dem Mary Landrieu has the very Democratic name of John Kennedy. He hasn't always campaigned as a conservative, but he is quite proudly campaigning as a conservative now. The truth is that in his longtime elective job as state Treasurer -- Landrieu's former job -- he has indeed done a superb job of managing the state's finances, and in a prudent, fiscally conservative manner. His new campaign commercial highlighted by K-Lo at the Corner is quite well done, and all the more effective for being absolutely accurate. I know John slightly: He and I were classmates in 1990-1991 in becoming Fellows of the Loyola (New Orleans) Institute of Politics. He's a very friendly, engaging guy, and very, very bright. It's a race that bears watching.
The Celebrity Theme
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 2:09PM
The McCain campaign must think it's working, because they launched a sequel to the original ad (sans Paris Hilton) that asks, "Is the biggest celebrity in the world ready to help your family?"
Overexposed Obama
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 1:34PM
In another indication that McCain's "Celeb" ad struck a cord, a new Pew study finds that 48 percent of Americans think they've been hearing too much about Barack Obama, compared to only 26 percent who feel the same about John McCain. Also, "nearly four in 10 said they've been hearing too little about McCain -- about four times the number who said so about Obama."
Bush Bashing from the House Republicans
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 1:20PM
As the House Republicans continue their vacation protest, they have some sharp words for President Bush. The New York Times reports on a tart statement from Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-Michigan) and the Republican Policy Committee after Bush went to China for the Olympics without calling Congress back into session to haggle over energy policy: "Perhaps our Compassionate Conservative in Chief will bring our absent Democrat Congress some 'Made in (communist) China' souvenir T-shirts: 'Bush went to Beijing and all I got was this lousy five week, paid vacation."
The statement continues: "Bon voyage, Mr. Bush. House Republicans will fight on for America." I don't know what took them so long, and I can think of some issues where this scrappy independence was needed a bit more, but good for them.
Pollsters Play Hardball with Matthews vs. Specter
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 12:51PM
Jeffrey Lord wrote about a potential Senate campaign by Chris Matthews on the main site earlier this week. Now we have our first poll: Snarlin' Arlen Specter is up against Matthews 41 percent to 36 percent. The numbers don't really look good for either candidate. Specter, a five-term incumbent, has just a five-point lead and is well below 50 percent. Matthews's celebrity doesn't seem to have bought him much: 55 percent don't know enough about him to have an opinion, his favorable rating is just 28 percent against a 15 percent unfavorable rating.
Paris When She Sizzles
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 12:16PM
Disgusted by the whole Paris Hilton come-hither-look politics, a friend writes in with this declinist thought for the day:
This country should just elect Paris Hilton as an honest statement of what it's become. She is the one we have been waiting for, she is the only kind of change -- pocket change and a change of clothes before jumping in the sack -- that we believe in.
Another friend is in a better mood. He points to this cheeky headline over an AP story at Yahoo news: "Paris Hilton issues tart rebuttal to McCain ad."
Daily Must-Reads
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 11:52AM
Terror detainee convicted by military panel
Texas seeking custody of polygamist's chidren
France denounces genocide claims
Texas executes Mexican killer in defiance of Bush, World Court
Protection From The Protectors
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 11:40AM
Residents of Eureka, California will vote this fall on the Eureka Youth Protection Act. At first blush, who could be against protecting youth? But who are they protecting them from? Ah, here it is:
Dorothy, Ryun and Kline Aren't In Kansas Anymore
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 10:09AM
At least not as elected officials. Former Congressman Jim Ryun was narrowly defeated in his comeback attempt, losing the Republican primary to Lynn Jenkins. Former state Attorney General Phil Kline (not to be confused with our Phil Klein), best known for his abortion-related prosecutions, also lost his bid to be nominated for a full term as Johnson County district attorney. Kline narrowly lost a reelection bid as attorney general in 2006 but has been serving as DA since then.
Sorting Out the Big Sort
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 9:47AM
Robert Samuelson has a fine column on Bill Bishop's interesting book The Big Sort. He points out that there is much to Bishop's thesis that we have sorted into little red and blue enclaves -- to cite just one statistic, 48 percent of counties went for one presidential candidate over the other by 20 points or more even though the national popular vote was split 51-48 -- but concludes Bishop's "argument is slightly overdrawn." That's my own view too, though I think aspects of Samuelson's counterargument are overdrawn as well.
Samuelson counters that there is a greater difference of opinion between the ideological extremes in both parties than among the general public. Like Bishop, I think he's on to something. The two parties are more homogenously ideological than ever before (even if principled liberals and principled conservatives could and should still criticize the Democrats from the left and the Republicans from the right) and that has made some people feel politically homeless. Both the Republican president and the Democratic Congress are deeply unpopular. Both major-party presidential candidates are having trouble getting more than 44 percent of the vote. But Samuelson's examples of how the two parties ignore the "vital center" leave much to be desired:
Consider two decades of polls from the Pew Research Center. On many questions, there was little change. One question asked whether "government should care for those who can't care for themselves." In 1987, 71 percent agreed; in 2007, 69 percent did. Or take immigration. In 1992, when the question was first asked, 76 percent of respondents favored tougher restrictions; in 2007, 75 percent did. On some cultural issues, opinions converged. In 2007, only 28 percent thought school boards should be able to "fire teachers who are known homosexuals," down from 51 percent in 1987. In 1987, only 48 percent thought it was "all right for blacks and whites to date each other"; by 2007, 83 percent did.
It's not that everyone agrees on everything (divisions remain strong on the Iraq War, abortion, gay marriage). But growing polarization predominates among political elites of both left and right. The "Big Sort" of residential segregation is still reshaping the political landscape, though more indirectly. With fewer competitive congressional districts, the real political struggles now often take place in primaries, where activists' views count the most. Candidates appeal to them and are driven toward the extremes.
But is precisely on the Iraq War, abortion, and gay marriage, the truly polarizing issues, that the two parties are divided. Neither the two parties, nor the left and the right, are divided over interracial dating, even if there are some outliers. Ronald Reagan opposed a ballot initiative that would have banned known homosexuals from teaching in public schools back in the 1970s; such a ban is hardly a major priority of any socially conservative elite today. Neither party is dedicated to the proposition that government shouldn't help those who can't take care of themselves, though they might have different definitions of who would actually qualify for help. The only issue Samuelson mentions where you could truly make the case that public opinion is being ignored is on immigration. But support for immigration restrictions tends to be labeled far-right, not centrist.
Re: Forget Bob Barr
Posted by on 8.6.08 @ 1:02AM
That's hot.
Too bad she's not 35. Her energy policy wasn't really that much different from McCain's and she is as experienced as Obama.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Forget Bob Barr as the Leading 3rd Party Candidate
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 9:07PM
I'm voting for Paris Hilton.
Obama Compared Self to Paris Hilton
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 7:37PM
Sorry if this has made the rounds already, but via Newsbusters, I see that a February 2005 Washington Post article contained the following quote:
"Andy Warhol said we all get our 15 minutes of fame," says Barack Obama. "I've already had an hour and a half. I mean, I'm so overexposed, I'm making Paris Hilton look like a recluse."This should put to rest the moronic accusation that McCain was injecting race into the campaign in his recent ad by flashing images of white party girls before a black candidate. Clearly, Obama himself once used Paris Hilton as an example of an overexposed celebrity -- the exact context in which she was used in the ad.
Re: There Will Be Harassment!
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 7:24PM
Reminds me of my personal hero, U.S. District Judge Berle M. Schiller.
Overheard at the YAF Conference
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 7:20PM
"I'm just looking forward to when I turn 21 and can get my concealed handgun permit ..."
A Matter of Trust
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 6:40PM
This latest report from Rasmussen is about the best polling news I've seen for John McCain all year. It says that McCain "is now trusted more than Barack Obama on nine out of 14 electoral issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports." Not only has McCain opened up a 51 to 39 edge on Iraq, but on the economy, the candidates are now tied 45 to 45. Polls have consistently been showing McCain with the advantage on foreign policy issues, but if Obama is deadlocked with McCain on economic issues, he simply won't be able to win the election. Also, the report shows the trust numbers trending toward McCain on every issue, even the ones he still trails Obama.
There Will Be Harassment!
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 6:33PM
The Russians have sexual harassment guidelines that we might call, well, slightly lax:
The judge said he threw out the case not through lack of evidence but because the employer had acted gallantly rather than criminally.
"If we had no sexual harassment we would have no children," the
judge ruled.
With that level of clarity, it's a small wonder we won the Cold War.
Bernanke Blows it Again
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 5:01PM
I continue to argue that the Fed should stop its interest rate targeting and instead target a stable dollar instead, but Bernanke and company seem wedded to their absurd old ways. That said, I think the Fed blew it again today by keeping interest rates steady. As I argued in the past, I argue again today: Hiking the interest rates a bit, while issuing the right sort of statement, would have been the wiser course. Counterintuitively, it might have helped home mortgage interest rates FALL. How? For the same reason that cutting the Fed's rates did NOTHING to cut the mortgage rates: because mortgage rates are set by lending companies based on their analyses of long-term trends. It does no good for shrot-term Fed rates to be low if, by virtue of being low, they boost long-term inflationary expectations -- because then the mortgage lenders will want to keep their rates high so that the interest they get paid is not dwarfed by inflation in the future. Conversely, in these weird circumstances that apply today, a move by the Fed to demonstrate a real commitment to a strong, non-inflationary dollar could lessen the inflationary expectations that private actors now hold. With the inflation worries subsiding, they could allow their 30-year notes to drop in price -- and there will still be PLENTY of room for them to do so even if the Fed raises its short-term rates by half a point, because that would put the Fed rate at 2 1/2 percent, which is still amazingly low.
The markets responded very well today to the Fed holding the short-term rates steady. But in very short order, I predict that fears of inflation will cause the markets to tank again -- all because the Fed blew yet another opportunity.
Let Them Eat Yellowcake
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 3:50PM
According to the Politico, Ron Suskind's new book claims "that the White House ordered the CIA to forge a back-dated, handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein." The purpose was to falsify an operational connection between Hussein's regime and 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta to justify the Iraq war. Stephen Hayes counters: "To believe Suskind's account, then, you would have to believe: 1) that the Bush administration ordered the CIA, in writing, to forge a letter that was a rather obvious hoax; 2) that the CIA, hostile to the Bush administration and leaking against it at every turn, eagerly complied."
'Harmful Delusion'
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 3:39PM
The idea of "heaven on earth" -- a godless temporal utopia -- is "the most harmful delusion in history," said Dan Flynn, author of A Conservative History of the Left, in a speech to the Young America's Foundation conference this afternoon at George Washington University.
Addressing some 400 students from across the country, Flynn recounted the history of 19th-century socialist Robert Owen's "New Harmony" commune, "a complete disaster." Noting Owen's opposition to private property, religion and marriage, Flynn said, "It is as it was -- not a lot has changed in 180 years."
As mentioned in my article on the conference, this is the temporary headquarters of "Youth Against Hope." To give an idea of the "brand damage" problem on some campuses, one student reported that one of her classmates told her, "I'm a libertarian -- I'm for Obama."
Who's Afraid of George W. Bush?
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 1:52PM
Bill McGurn's column is looking awfully prescient in light of the latest McCain ad, which essentially throws Bush under the bus. Now, I'm no Bush fan by any stretch of the imagination and I think he is the leading reason the Republican dog food is being taken off the shelves. But it would be nice if McCain wouldn't distance himself from Bush by coming up with a domestic policy that is worse, or at best less coherent, than the current president's. McGurn's closing is a good one: "Mr. McCain seems intent on reassuring skeptics that he's no George W. Bush. If he loses in November, he'll prove it."
The Next Cheney
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 1:39PM
Democrats have a new site up attacking McCain's possible running mates. It's pretty silly, but worth viewing if for no other reason than to see how they would go after the various candidates if McCain were to nominate one of them.
The Debates
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 1:19PM
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the moderators and format of this fall's presidential and vice-presidential debates:
First presidential debate Friday, September 26 The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss. Jim Lehrer Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour, PBS
Vice presidential debate Thursday, October 2 Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Gwen Ifill Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour, and Moderator and Managing Editor, Washington Week, PBS
Second presidential debate (town meeting) Tuesday, October 7 Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn. Tom Brokaw Special Correspondent, NBC News
Third presidential debate Wednesday, October 15 Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y. Bob Schieffer CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent, and Host, Face the NationOne presidential debate will focus on domestic policy, one on foreign policy, and the second one will be in the town hall format. That means that at least two of the debates (foreign and town hall) will play to McCain's strengths. A key, as always, will be the expectations game. If, going in, McCain is expected to dominate because of his experience, a fairly competent performance by Obama may convince Americans that he has what it takes to be president. If, however, Americans who haven't seen Obama before are expecting a rock star performance, they may be surprised to see Obama come off (especially in the town hall format) as pretty aloof and humorless, while McCain, instead of being a boring old guy, connects with the audience, and manages to make the laugh.
The Price of Gas vs. The Price of Ads
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 12:55PM
I'm on Capitol Hill for the Heritage Foundation's weekly Conservative Bloggers' Briefing, which today is being held in Minority Leader Boehner's office. Republicans are continuing their protest on the floor, and Representatives are filing in to issue their talking points and take a few questions. So far Jeb Hensarling, Duncan Hunter, Mike Pence, John Carter, and Marilyn Musgrave have been here. Their basic message: Many Americans can't afford to go on vacation because of high gas prices, so Congress shouldn't be taking a vacation without passing an energy bill.
In a bad year for the GOP, this is easily Republicans' best issue. But it will only work if high gas prices can successfully be pinned on the Democratic Congress (as opposed to the President). My question is, do Republicans have the money to get that message out? As of the most recent filings, the National Republican Congressional Committee has about $8.46 million on hand, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committtee has $54.65 million. It's going to be tough for Republicans to sway voters without swaying donors.
P.S. Several (micro-)bloggers are Twittering the goings-on here on the Hill; you can find their tweets on the blogger briefing here, and on the protest more generally here.
Fight From the Beginning
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 12:46PM
Pat Buchanan in top fighting form. Hard to see Obama getting off the canvas after this one.
Satan's Helpers Play Nice
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 12:26PM
I see John McCain was a big hit at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Good for him. I happened to find myself in the middle of that event last year and spent a good deal of it feeling like I'd stepped into the Satan's Helpers bar from Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
McCain Isn't the Original Maverick
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 11:56AM
John McCain just launched a new ad , clearly aimed at independents, in which he casts himself as the anti-Washington reform candidate who "has taken on big tobacco, drug companies, fought corruption in both parties" and who will "reform Wall Street" and "battle Big Oil." It also borrows from Mitt Romney by declaring that "Washington's broken," (is McCain giving us a hint?) and creates distance between McCain and President Bush by declaring "we're worse off than we were four years ago." It also includes a factual error. The ad refers to McCain as the "original Maverick," but the original Maverick was actually a man named, Sam Maverick , a 19th-century Texan who refused to brand his cattle.
The Deval Patrick Effect?
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 11:43AM
Obama is below 50 percent in Massachusetts, according to a Suffolk University poll. His lead in the second most Democratic state in the country has been cut from 23 points in early June to 9 points in late July/early August.
Daily Must-Reads
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 11:39AM
Iran allows IAEA inspectors to visit
India and Pakistan to cut trade barriers
Republicans drop in state voting rolls
In Defense of Obama
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 11:25AM
The McCain campaign has released a statement defending Barack Obama from the charge of flip-flopping on offshore drilling. They cite Obama saying, "This wasn't really a new position," and then provide five examples of Obama panning drilling. There's been a lot of talk as to whether it is better to portray Obama as a shameless flip-flopper or a liberal who is out of step with mainstream American opinion, especially since these two charges can undercut one another. In this press release, at least, they've clearly decided that the out-of-the-mainstream liberal tag is the way to go.
Fred for Veep
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 10:28AM
No, not THAT Fred, although as I said yesterday, I could easily warm to the idea of Fred Thompson as Veep. But Rich Lowry follows up Bill Kristol's mention of FedEx founder Fred Smith. And at first look it appears to be an incredibly solid choice! I still favor Kasich and Cox, or Ryan or Pence. But of the "outside the box" options, this one -- again, at VERY first glance -- looks by far to be the most intriguing. If the McCain team is really considering him, it would reassure me that they do have some creativity. I think politically, too, the choice would be a home run. Successful businessman (incredibly so). Great military record. Great education. Boards of good organizations like the St. Jude Hospital. Just awesome. He is worth a closer look.
Holy Hypocrisy, Batman!
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 10:14AM
In the Guardian today, I argue that the new Batman flick is a two-and-a-half hour brief for hypocrisy. Warning: contains spoilers. Lots of 'em.
Texas To Execute Killer, Ignore UN
Posted by on 8.5.08 @ 12:41AM
The state of Texas is scheduled to execute rapist and murderer Jose Medellin today, despite the best efforts of the Mexican government, the United Nations International Court of "Justice", and of course the Bush administration, among other liberals. Good.
Monday, August 4, 2008
The Hard Sell: Dinner Under The Stars Edition
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 10:09PM
First Hillary. Then Bill. Now Terry McAuliffe:
If you haven't already entered the contest to have dinner with Hillary, there is still time left. This is a great chance for you and a guest to have dinner one-on-one with Hillary. Have dinner with Hillary. Contribute today. I would never skip a chance to sit down and chat with Hillary, and neither should you. Best of luck!
-Terry
Zogby: McCain 42%, Obama 41%
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 8:20PM
Note that Zogby shows a much larger percentage of undecided voters than either Gallup or Rasmussen. New Republic poll-watcher Nate Silver sees evidence of a momentum shift toward John McCain in recent state-by-state surveys.
Obama Veep: Is It Bayh?
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 6:08PM
Liberal blogger Bill Browning goes out on a limb and says Barack Obama will name Evan Bayh his running mate on Wednesday. Browning offers some sound evidence and logic for such a move.
If it is Bayh, watch out for the backlash from disappointed Hillary supporters -- potentially strong enough to put Obama behind in the polls by next week. The choice of the moderate Bayh may also turn off some of the hard-left anti-war types who would see this as another in a string of just-another-politician moves by Obama.
UPDATE: Politico sees an omen in the cancellation of a game involving Bayh's Senate staff softball team. By the way, have I mentioned lately how much I hate the veepstakes speculation game?
Re: Obama Running on Empty
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 6:01PM
Watch it while you can, boys and girls. Jackson Browne is a liberal, and that video will be on YouTube only as long as it takes for Browne's copyright lawyers to fire off a cease-and-desist letter.
Obama Running on Empty
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 4:58PM
The Ohio Republican Party has an ad up going after Barack Obama's inflate-your-tires approach to energy:
Re: Republican Capitulation of the Day
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 4:43PM
I wonder if this is just an effort to ensure that the integrity of the lame duck presidency remains intact.
'Veep frenzy'?
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 4:39PM
"The veep frenzy is getting crazier by the minute." -- Mary Ann Akers, Washington Post
Calm down, Quin. Get a hold of yourself, Phil. This frenzy is starting to frighten the ladies.
Republican Capitulation of the Day
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 3:58PM
Bush won't call a special session of Congress. It wouldn't have changed the legislative outcome -- only the congressional leadership can set the agenda -- but it would have helped highlight the House Republicans' protest on the energy issue.
Forget Obamacans...
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 3:20PM
...Barry is going to have his hands full shoring up support from "progressive Muslims," at least if one judges the lay of the land according to this op-ed/bill of grievances by Brooklyn college professor Moustafa Bayoumi:
Obama still hasn't visited a mosque in the United States, though he has frequented churches and synagogues. He refused to let his supporter Rep. Keith Ellison, the nation's first Muslim American elected to the House of Representatives, speak on his behalf in Iowa. In his famous speech on race in March, Obama acknowledged America's "pastors, priests, and rabbis" but not its imams. Then, the speech abruptly veered 6,000 miles east and landed in the middle of the Middle East, as Obama downplayed any wrongdoing on Israel's part and blamed the lion's share of the violence in the Mideast on "the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam."
***
When his campaign Web site lists his being called a Muslim as a "smear," many of us take offense at that. We want him to support us, not run away from us as though we have a disease. Even a Seinfeld reply on the Muslim falsehood - "not that there's anything wrong with that!" - would go far. It's as if the Illinois senator, who stands for an expansive vision of the United States, has drawn the line at Muslim Americans and Arab Americans. Evidently, we're too much of a political liability.
What exactly constitutes an "expansive vision" of the United States? Who knows. But Muslim Americans should not take any of this personally. Obama has proven himself willing to either cower away from, dismiss as "inartful" or scuttle entirely any politically inconvenient principle, indiscriminately. His assumption is, no doubt, who else are you going to vote for? That's what He thought.
Jerry Seinfeld ain't on the ticket, buddy.
Thompson for Veep
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 3:15PM
Not THAT Thompson. Oh, yes, I would DEFINITELY not complain if McCain chose Fred Thompson. But a guy he should be considering is Larry Thompson, former No. 2 in the Justice Department, now general counsel at PepsiCo. Has good reform credentials of the sort McCain admires because he busted up Enron. Earned extremely high marks as a good manager at Justice. Pretty solidly conservative across the board. And, if I remember correcly, a friend of Clarence Thomas' from their days together at the Monsanto Corp.
'Dire' News for Novak
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 2:52PM
Robert Novak has announced his immediate retirement following the diagnosis of a brain tumor, a prognosis the Sun-Times' political columnist describes as "dire.""Radiation and chemotherapy" -- i.e., surgery ruled out, which sounds a lot like "inoperable." Yet Novak's survived cancer before, and doctors can work wonders these days. Here's hoping.
"The details are being worked out with the doctors this week, but the tentative plan is for radiation and chemotherapy," Novak said.
Should McCain Actually Pick A Conservative?
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 2:25PM
Most on the right, understandably, want McCain to show that he cares by picking a solid conservative to be his running mate. While I would also like to see this in theory, in practice, most of the conservatives I can think of are doing so much good in their current positions that I'd hesitate to waste them. Whether it's Tom Coburn in the Senate, Paul Ryan in the House, or Bobby Jindal at the state level, they're all serving an important function in fighting for conservative principles, often against a Republican Party that has embraced big government and abandoned a commitment to reform. It's hard to see them being more effective in a VP capacity within a McCain administration -- and that's if the ticket wins.
Re: McCain-Cantor?
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 2:14PM
J.P., I think there's still time for Hillary, Obama, and McCain to join forces and form the Onion's nightmare ticket.
Re: Mixed Feelings
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 1:58PM
Quin, I remember that NR "Summit," which was a downer all the way around -- Republicans in denial -- just thinking about it is a bummer. Of Republicans after their 2006 debacle, I'm reminded of Lincoln's description of Gen. Rosencrans after his defeat at Chickamauga: "like a duck that's been hit over the head."
Re: McCain-Cantor
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 1:51PM
Cantor is the first name bruited as GOP No. 2 that's really "outside the box" -- a very young guy, Jewish, not a governor. Try to get your mind in "Maverick" mode: He doesn't want to name just any regular conventional-wisdom Republican. He wants to do something fresh and novel.
I don't know enough about Cantor's record to render a political value judgment, but you could see why he might appeal to John McCain's sensibilities. A quick look at his official bio shows he led a House counter-terrorism task force, which is a plus. No military record, which is a negative, but maybe Maverick figures he's got enough of the war-hero thing.
The interesting veep rumor today is that McCain's going to let Obama pick first, and since it's apparently not going to be Hillary, that's going to generate a lot of negative backlash for the Democrat.
Re: McCain-Cantor?
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 1:34PM
So Jim, you're saying Hillary has a shot?
This is going to be the Best. Convention. Ever.
Mixed Feelings on Cantor
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 1:32PM
Cantor's voting record is undeniably conservative. He's undeniably bright. I think we could do much worse. But I also think we could do much better. In 2007 at the National Review Institute conservative summit (I THINK that is where it was; if not, it was CPAC, but I think it was the former), he and John Boehner gave one of the worst presentations I have ever seen at an event like that. Utterly uninspiring. More a defense of the order than a call for reform, even at a time when the 2006 election losses were so fresh in the mind that EVERBODY with ANY sense was calling for big reforms. And everybody I spoke to, during and after that presentation, agreed with me. It was truly pitiful. I haven't seen anything so disheartening at an event like that since Mickey Edwards prattled on in 1983 at CPAC about how even though it looked like the Reagan presidency was fading out, at least Reagan had changed the terms of the debate. Edwards' tone was elegaic, as if to a lost cause -- and Cantor's tone (and Boehner's) in 2007 AND substance were in their own way equally defeatist -- except with a tone that was almost surly in its defensiveness. As conservative is he supposedly is, he sure as heck didn't seem to "get it."
Re: McCain-Cantor?
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 1:19PM
Another drawback is that since Cantor is a congressman, he is up for reelection this year. There's probably nothing in Virginia election law to prevent him from running for both offices simultaneously. Texas's "LBJ law" specificially permitted Lyndon Johnson and Lloyd Bentsen to run for reelection to the Senate while running for vice president, and Joe Lieberman was able to do the same in 2000 in Connecticut, which has no law on the subject. But it may make him look like he lacks confidence in the ticket if he needs a safety net. If Cantor doesn't run for reelection to the House and McCain loses, Republicans will have sacrificed Cantor for at least two years, maybe longer.
But I agree that McCain could do much worse than Eric Cantor. Which is why he probably will.
Daily Must-Reads
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 1:08PM
Grand Theft Auto now illegal in Thailand
Treat the Olympics like a business
China takes step in wrong direction with its monetary policy
Expanding government waistlines...
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 12:59PM
Over at The American Scene, Peter Suderman looks into why it is that politicians are so ineffective at cutting the size of government, particularly when they're people who talk all the time about cutting government:
He then says:
I won't abuse that phrase to mean that he thinks all is lost. I'll agree that conservatives need to learn how to subvert the system a bit better. Twenty years prior to their appearance, Reagan or Gingrich's victories would have been unthinkable. But they were based on a realistic notion of making an appeal to voters and spelling things out.
In other words, conservatives haven't done a very good job of
explaining how they want to deal with entitlements. Rep. Paul Ryan
is one of the few people talking about this -- my only question is
why aren't there more? Even within the conservative caucus?
McCain-Cantor?
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 12:18PM
There's been some talk of Rep. Eric Cantor becoming John McCain's VP choice, and there are several things he has going for him. He made the American Conservative Union's list of the "best and the brightest" in Congress in 2007 for achieving a 100 percent rating, so he would be acceptable to the right, he's been an active McCain surrogate, he's from the swing state of Virginia, and he could help McCain chip away at the Jewish vote, especially in Florida, and at 45, he's still young. The drawback is that he's untested at the national level and as a Congressman, would face the "is he ready to take over if something happens to McCain" question. But McCain could do much worse than picking Cantor.
Ben Smith on David Freddoso
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 11:55AM
Ben Smith's review in Politico of David Freddoso's now-released The Case Against Barack Obama was mostly positive, noting that Freddoso goes more in depth about the presumptuous Democratic nominee. I think Smith softpedals on Obama's tendency to misrepresent himself -- one gets the impression from the review that Obama's more of a pragmatic centrist liberal. I somehow doubt that this is the portrait Freddoso was painting.
And I don't know what to make of this line:
Indeed, we conservative media outlets thrive on providing as little detail as possible. Why tell the whole story when you can simply whisper middle names and the word "risky"?
I'm going to walk across the street to Politico's offices and drop off a copy of our thick magazine to show just how MUCH detail we go into on pretty much anything. Thanks for selling the right short, there, Ben!
All Fun and Games Til Somebody Lacerates His Foot
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 11:50AM
Blogging from California, where I'm detained for a few extra days, because I had a rope climbing accident while playing with my nephew on the beach in Santa Monica, which resulted in a deep gash across the bottom of my foot requiring 11 stitches. "I once saw a guy who sliced up his entire foot on the rudder of a boat," a medical assistant told me. "But your cut is much gnarlier." Perhaps one day I'll write a full account of the incident, including the part when I was driven off the beach in one of those "Baywatch"-style rescue vehicles, with a cheering crowd of onlookers. But for now, just rest assured that all is well, but the scarring will put an end to my foot-modeling aspirations, so it looks like the world will be stuck with my writing forever.
Flashback: Veepstakes Rumors
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 5:10AM
Miami, July 1972:
Later that night, at a party on the roof of the Doral, a McGovern staffer asked me who I thought should have been chosen for VP . . . and finally, after long brooding, I said I would have chosen Ron Dellums, the black congressman from Berkeley.-- Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72
"Jesus Christ!" he said. "That would be suicide!"
I shrugged.
"Why Dellums?" he asked.
"Why not?" I said. "He offered it to Mayor Daley before he called Eagleton."
"No!" he shouted. "Not Daley! That's a lie!"
"I was in the room when he made the call," I said. "Ask anybody who was there -- Gary, Frank, Dutton -- they weren't happy about it, but they said he'd be good for the ticket."
He stared at me. "What did Daley say?" he asked flatly.
I laughed. "Christ, you believed that, didn't you?"
He had, for just an instant.
George Will on Obama's 'Narcissism'
Posted by on 8.4.08 @ 3:29AM
Evidently unafraid that David Gergen might accuse him of speaking in "code," Will addresses the Egocentricity of Hope:
Does Obama have the sort of adviser a candidate most needs -- someone sufficiently unenthralled to tell him when he has worked one pedal on the organ too much? If so, Obama should be told: Enough, already, with the we-are-who-we-have-been-waiting-for rhetorical cotton candy that elevates narcissism to a political philosophy. . . .Will was this close to a Godwin's Law offense.
In Berlin, Obama neared self-parody with a rhetoric of Leave No Metaphor Behind. "Walls"? Down with them. "Bridges"? Build new ones between this and that. "A new dawn"? The Middle East deserves one. And Berlin was the wrong place to vow to "remake the world once again." Modern Berlin rose from rubble that was the result of the last attempt at remaking "the world."
Sunday, August 3, 2008
RE: Solzhenitsyn
Posted by on 8.3.08 @ 10:35PM
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, RIP
Posted by on 8.3.08 @ 7:32PM
The great Russian author and chronicler of communist tyranny has died at age 89.
McCain-Cantor vs. Obama-Bayh?
Posted by on 8.3.08 @ 10:25AM
Not being much for veepstakes games myself, I'll satisfy those suffering from veepmania by reporting that John McCain is said to be seriously considering Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor as his running mate, while Barack Obama's adoring entourage is interpreting a scheduled Tuesday night layover in Indianapolis as a sign that The One is considering Evan Bayh as his No. 2.
Poll: Only 22% See 'Celeb' Ad as Racist
Posted by on 8.3.08 @ 10:05AM
The John McCain "Celeb" ad, which drew howls from Democrats and the liberal media, had no such effect on ordinary Americans, according to Rasmussen Reports:
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of the nation's voters say they've seen news coverage of the McCain campaign commercial that includes images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and suggests that Barack Obama is a celebrity just like them. Of those, just 22% say the ad was racist while 63% say it was not.So much for David Plouffe's claim that, despite his candidate's losing 9 points in five days, this was actually a bad week for Maverick.
However, Obama's comment that his Republican opponent will try to scare people because Obama does not look like all the other presidents on dollar bills was seen as racist by 53%. Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree.
