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November 2007 - Posts
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So that happened . The hostages have been released, Leeland Eisenberg has been arrested, and the citizens of Rochester, N.H., are now safe. That means we can finally get to the postgame analysis of who wins and who loses. (Too soon? Too late! ) Winners: Read More...
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Tomorrow night the Democrats are having a debate in Iowa. Who knew? See, you probably can’t watch it, even if you wanted to, since the event is airing on HD Net, the Mark Cuban-owned channel that broadcasts only to HD-ready sets. Seven million people Read More...
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"The Democrats, for once, have had a fairly quiet week ..." -- Marc Ambinder, Nov. 30, 9:42 a.m. And then this . Local networks are reporting that a man strapped with a bomb took campaign workers hostage at the Clinton campaign's Rochester, N.H. offices. Read More...
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Since when did Chuck Norris go from badass killing machine to Sarah Lawrence visual arts major? Behold: UPDATE 1:47 p.m., Dec. 26: Embedded image removed. (Source: Screenshot of an AP photo from the Washington Post 's The Trail.) Read More...
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Team Hillary hosted a conference call this morning to discuss a letter they wrote to Barack Obama’s campaign (available here ). The letter asks Obama to take down a political ad claiming that his health-care plan would “cover everybody.” In fact, they Read More...
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Slate 's Garin K. Hovannisian sends in this dispatch from New York: “Is Jesus in the house?” “Yes!” roared the capacity crowd at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. “Louder!” yelled the founder of the Harlem Gospel Chorus. “Is Jesus in the house?” Yes, yes, Read More...
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The lead story (as of 4:30 p.m.) on CNNPolitics.com has a headline that seems like a veiled insult at Politico.com, its web-journalism competitor. Referring to Politico's agenda-setting story on Giuliani's questionable expense allocations after trips Read More...
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Both Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are out with new ads today, following up on yesterday’s debate in which the two candidates tussled like hyperactive siblings. Rudy’s, titled “ Promise ,” is pretty straightforward, pitching his experience in New York Read More...
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The best part about Mike Huckabee’s surge in Iowa—and his resulting increase in speaking time during last night’s debate—is that we’re bound to hear more Huckabee-isms. No, not those cute jokes about Jesus being too smart to go into politics . I’m talking Read More...
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Using transcripts from CNN and the New York Times debate analyzer , I crunched some stats from last night's GOP debate. 3: Number of times Hillary Clinton was mentioned 4: Number of times Bill Clinton was mentioned 2: Number of times Mitt Romney mentioned Read More...
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We'll leave it to the experts to declare winners and losers. But we hope everyone can agree that 1) Huckabee came across well, despite not being really pushed, and 2) Romney took every opportunity to choke. And judging from activity in the Romney press Read More...
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Mitt Romney finished off a dreadful debate with an awful last word. The former Massachusetts governor, supposedly a member of Red Sox Nation, said that the Red Sox waited 87 years in between championships. It was 86. This won't sit well in New Hampshire. Read More...
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Mitt Romney, referring to how long the Red Sox had to wait to win the World Series: "We waited 87 years ..." Eight-six years, Mitt. It's 86 . Botching a major statistic known to every resident of his supposed home state--Romney couldn't have found a worse Read More...
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Mike Huckabee: “I will accept the support of anyone and everyone I can get.” Cut to Chuck Norris sitting in the audience. Someone give these CNN directors a raise! Read More...
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Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr asks a question about gays in the military. He is gay; he was in the military. Romney's answer is painful to watch. Anderson points out that in the past, he said he looked foward to getting rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Now, he refuses Read More...
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Through 23 questions, the breakdown of the main characters in the questions: White men: 15 White women: 6 (including the woman from Alabama wearing a hijab) Black men: 1 White cartoon character: 1 No Latinos, thus far. Read More...
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... On the question of whether waterboarding is torture. Romney says he doesn't want to get into specifics as a presidential candidate. He might as well have said he's going to consult his lawyers. As Romney speaks, McCain looks like he's getting ready Read More...
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That question from FoxBrosStudios --the one that one of the candidates scolded for exercising poor gun safety--is a low-concept offering from the award-winning team that brought you the under-the-radar hit Vigilantes . The Web-based comedy series takes Read More...
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These questioners make Tim Russert look like Larry King. One of them asks whether Jesus would support the death penalty. Huckabee has the best answer: “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office.” Cooper moves on. I like that if your joke is funny, Read More...
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Scratch that earlier quip about Rudy not having to answer the question of diverting bills to city agencies. Looks like Anderson Cooper came to play hardball. Here’s what Rudy said about the report (paraphrased): It’s not true. I had 24 hour security. Read More...
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Did both Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani just say they support corn subsidies because we could face a devastating food shortage? Romney: “We don’t want to find ourselves in the same position with food supply as we are with energy supply.” Giuliani: “We Read More...
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Even Mitt Romney admits that, and the audience seems to agree. Huck puts up a damn good first showing, answering a question about whether he gave tuition breaks to children of illegal immigrants. The money line—“We’re not going to punish a child because Read More...
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Throughout the evening, we'll be doing spot background checks on some of the YouTube questioners' video libraries. Emilyekins , who wants to return to the small government of the GOP's past, is a blank slate on YouTube. She is a new aunt , though, and Read More...
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ConservativeVoiceUSA, who asked the amnesty question, is a brooding vlogger. Every video on his YouTube page has the same dimly lit background that made for the awful-looking image you saw on your TV. He's 49, a Fred Thompson supporter, and has video Read More...
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Rudy accuses Mitt Romney of employing illegal immigrants in his home, saying he not only had sanctuary cities in his state, but that Romney even lived in a "sanctuary mansion," in which he employed six illegal immigrants. Romney: "Mr. Mayor, you know Read More...
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Throughout the evening, we'll be doing spot background checks on some of the YouTube questioners' video libraries. First up, pudgenet , who sang a nice little diddy for the candidates. Pudgenet, n é Chris Nandor, is a budding musician who sings Lisa Loeb Read More...
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So they're doing the staggered entrance thing again. John McCain is making everything awkward by trying to shake each candidate's hand as they come onstage. Also, speaking of making things awkward: The Politico broke news earlier today that Rudy Giuliani Read More...
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The Democratic National Committee wants another "macaca" moment, bad. So bad, in fact, that it launched a new site today, Flipper TV , which compiles footage of the GOP front-runners on the campaign trail. Here’s how it works, in theory: Web-savvy Democrats Read More...
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"He talks in the third person a lot. That's just the way he speaks. It can make it hard for him to connect to the listener." -- Hillary Clinton strategist Mark Penn on Barack Obama, speaking to reporters after the Hanover, N.H., debate in September. “Every Read More...
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Is Duncan Hunter even trying any more? Examples A, B, and C: His home page has "60 second Daily Updates" that purport to be daily podcasts of what's happening in the Hunter campaign. The date above the play button changes every day, but the content does Read More...
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The Republican presidential debates are starting to look like Lost , in which each character gets his own episode. First there was the Thompson debate , with all eyes on Fred. Then came the Hillary debate , in which her name was invoked more than 40 times Read More...
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John Edwards unveiled a new Web site today that asks voters not to vote for any candidate who takes money from lobbyists or Political Action Committees. Sorry, let me rephrase that. Edwards unveiled a Web site today that asks voters not to vote for Hillary Read More...
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Here’s a shot of a young, lawyerly Fred Thompson from his most recent ad, “ Marie ”: And here’s Javier Bardem as hypnotic serial killer Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men : Hulking frames. Rumbling bass voices. Floppy Prince Valiant 'dos. Sign this Read More...
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UPDATE 3:15 p.m.: I have to retract this entire post, which was wholly inaccurate. The Edwards campaign called me to rightfully inform me that the question in the conference call was about whether Hillary Clinton's support had peaked in Iowa and the rest Read More...
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One fascinating aspect of the antiquated, convoluted Iowa caucus system is that each candidate has to teach his or her own supporters how to, er, caucus. (‘Tis the season where caucus becomes a verb.) The state parties also hold training sessions, but Read More...
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An upcoming issue of TV Guide has an amusing roundup of the 2008 presidential candidates’ favorite television shows. Nothing too surprising here: Hillary watches Grey’s Anatomy , Barack Obama likes The Wire (for the record, that’s the right answer ), Read More...
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Barbra Streisand threw her vocal chords behind Hillary Clinton today, a not-so-surprising endorsement for the long-time Democratic activist. Streisand sang at Bill Clinton's inaugural gala and dedicated a song to 42 and Hill. Most interesting, though, Read More...
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Spotted in an AP story about Fred Thompson's visit to a gun store in Bristol, N.H.: "I used to have my own skeet shoot," Thompson boasted as he wandered through the gun shop and bought his children gifts . "Some of my opponents, you know, have a bad record Read More...
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They say the Democratic candidates’ gloves came off at the Philadelphia debate on Oct. 30, when Obama and Edwards “piled on” Hillary. If that’s true, then the latest flurry of belligerent e-mails suggests the gloves have now been shredded, burned, pulverized, Read More...
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At 11 a.m. today, one of FoxNews.com's top stories was an article about a Nevada brothel owner endorsing Ron Paul. But the story wasn't written by Fox News; it was a tweaked version of an Associated Press story that hit the wires early Monday. And, to Read More...
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What is it with Massachusetts governors and convicted killers? Back in 1988, a hapless Michael Dukakis buckled after George H.W. Bush managed to turn a murder committed Willie Horton, a convict released under a Massachusetts furlough program, into a major Read More...
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Now this is how you rally voters. From today's New York Times piece on Obama organizer Rory Steele: On the Fourth of July, [Steele] vowed to have himself tattooed with the initials of whoever turned in the most signed supporter cards. Delane Adams, a Read More...
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You know it’s 2007 when a candidate, in this case Mike Huckabee, holds a bifurcated conference call, first with reporters, then with bloggers. I listened in on both calls to see what the differences were. The reporters’ questions were much more concise Read More...
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It's fascinating to see candidates dance the line between virtue and authenticity. They're good people, the pitch goes—but they're also people. Rudy Giuliani constantly reiterates that he is but human: "I'm not a perfect candidate," he told an audience Read More...
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Barack Obama announced a new piece of his education plan yesterday that essentially makes community college free for most Americans. But he’s not the only presidential candidate proposing on-the-house schooling. Both Chris Dodd and John Edwards unveiled Read More...
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"Parsing" is an occasional series in which we dissect the candidates' words down to the nitpickiest detail. First up, Hillary's remarks today on Barack Obama's foreign-policy experience: Hillary Clinton knows how to craft an insult. On the same day that Read More...
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The celebrity endorsements—they just don't stop. Today, former WWF (now WWE) champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair endorsed Mike Huckabee, offering these thoughts: "His authentic conservative qualifications and level of executive leadership experience are unmatched Read More...
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Barack Obama's campaign has leaked a new television spot that is set to air in South Carolina, according to Ben Smith. Listen closely and you'll hear the same background music from his black radio ad in S.C. earlier this month. Is Obama's campaign hinting Read More...
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One problem with always talking like you're in a rocking chair is that you tend to mumble, or trail off at the end of sentences. Fred Thompson has a tendency to do this. But sometimes it's not his fault. Just watch his latest ad and the short postscript Read More...
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With many of the big-name donors tapped out, campaigns have turned to the Internet to try and wrangle up new funding in the fourth quarter. And what's a fund-raising campaign without a few gimmicks? A roundup of some recent offerings: John Edwards: If Read More...
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The Obama-Clinton Enemy at the Gates -style sniper showdown escalates today, as Barack Obama unveils " Fact Check ," a site dedicated to rebutting attacks and setting his record straight. It's similar to Hillary's " Fact Hub ," which she unveiled earlier Read More...
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I've seen parts of Edwards' latest stump speech a few times now--first in this ad , then at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Las Vegas last Thursday, then again at Saturday's environmental forum hosted by Grist. And every time, he repeats the same line Read More...
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A thought about the 9 p.m. start time for the general election debates come September and October 2008: Isn't that a bit late? Not that many elementary school kids want to watch the debate, but shouldn't parents at least have the option to let their kids Read More...
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When we wrote about Chuck Norris fundraising for Mike Huckabee last week, we didn't realize that was only the first glimmer of a major Norris-themed media blitz. Huckabee has now unleashed a new TV ad in which the candidate and actor-turned-pundit take Read More...
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While attending the final Nextel Cup race in Florida yesterday, Rudy Giuliani was asked to comment on the news that his beloved Yankees were close to re-signing Alex Rodriguez: "‘I'm glad to see as an American League fan, as a Yankees fan, we're keeping Read More...
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The weekend’s big item—the skirmish fueled by Robert Novak’s column claiming that “agents” of the Clinton campaign have unspecified dirt on Obama—has inspired a few different theories. TNR ’s Noam Schieber thinks the rumor is “a little too convenient” Read More...
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LAS VEGAS, Nov. 17—The Democratic presidential candidates have just passed through town, and Anthony, perched behind a formidable stack of chips in the Excalibur Casino, couldn't care less. “In here, there's no Democrats and Republicans,” he says. “Only Read More...
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Barack Obama just won the anonymous blog commenter vote. In his tech plan ( PDF ) released Wednesday, Obama pledged to give Americans “an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days before signing any non-emergency legislation.” Read More...
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Joe Biden has a goofy new Web video (goofy because it's scored by Randy Newman ) that compiles clips of the other Democratic candidates agreeing with him during debates. For a full minute plus, they spew variations on "Joe is right." It's not just a trick Read More...
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Team Edwards is already on message today, expanding on last night's insta-spin that seized on Hillary's response to a question about NAFTA—a laugh, followed by a dismissive quip—as an indication of her soulless disregard for working people. The campaign Read More...
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Just so everybody is aware, Lou Dobbs is thinking of running for President . Read More...
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