See all Swift Boat Watch entries here. Who They Are: Judicial Confirmation Network Purpose: The group supports conservative nominees to the Supreme Court. In this election, they oppose Barack Obama. President: Gary Marx, former coalitions director for Bush-Cheney 2004 and Mitt Romney. Funding: The group is a registered 501(c)4, funded through ...

I didn't hear every word of the debate, because along with most of the other passengers waiting for the 10:35 flight from JFK to National, I was straining to make out what the candidates were saying over the general airport din, plus the patter of an Australian guy who found McCain ridiculous—his mention of Obama's support for a slide ...

In the beginning, there was “The One.” Now, thanks to an off-hand comment in tonight’s debate, there’s “that one.” The result: One ''one'' cancels the other ''One'' out. McCain was discussing a 2005 energy bill “loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney. You know who voted for it? You might ...

''Palin and Biden Stake Their Claims on Change,'' rang the lead headline in the Times after the vice-presidential debate. Who could blame them? With several wars, Great Depression II, a blistering civil conflict in Pakistan, and European economic collapse, change would be welcome.But there's something else going on with this ''change'' business, ...

On Monday, there was an outrage when Politico's Jonathan Martin reported that the Obama campaign was seeking a rape victim for an ad. Apparently, the campaign had contacted Kiersten Stewart (Martin misspelled her name as Steward) with the Family Violence Prevention Fund to help them find a victim for an ad relating to rape. According to the e-mail ...

Dana, I kind of agree with you but for different reasons: I don't have much sympathy for Palin, cringe as I might through those interviews at her ignorance on some major issues, simply because I don't think she shows much sympathy for other victims in her political views. I can never get past her providing no exception for victims of rape and ...

House Republicans and the McCain campaign are currently blaming Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speech today introducing the bailout package for its failure. According to this narrative, she managed to alienate a dozen Republicans who otherwise would have voted for the bill. But read Pelosi’s speech. (Transcript here.)* She wasn’t bashing Republicans; ...

Just a few minutes into Friday's debate and Jim Lehrer was already exasperated. The moderator wanted McCain and Obama to talk to each other. (Did he expect the candidates to banter away the next 90 minutes like two buddies in a fishing boat?) And Lehrer was convinced McCain and Obama hadn't stated their ''fundamental differences'' in how the two ...

A small point about the debate last Friday: Obama called McCain ''John'' routinely in the first part of the debate, switching to ''Senator McCain'' only after McCain pointedly refused to return the favor by saying ''Barack,'' ever. In debators' terms, it was a clear win for McCain: He stiff-armed his opponent and took for himself more authority. ...

So I thought McCain did slightly ''better'' in the debate than Obama. Like Dahlia, I thought Obama came across as wonky—he had trouble shifting from long, rather academic-sounding answers to short and punchy. I though McCain seemed folksy and confident while Obama seemed annoyed and sometimes defensive. McCain was aggressive; Obama was a ...