Jim Webb: Confederate Sympathizer?

Senator Jim Webb, touted by many as a vice presidential candidate who would help shore up Barack Obama with Southerners and those uncomfortable with his lack of national security experience, has an "affinity" for the Confederacy, Politico's David Mark reports breathlessly. He has suggested many times that while the Confederacy is a symbol to many of the racist legacy ...

Goldfarb and McCain

Yesterday's announcement that Weekly Standard blogger Michael Goldfarb is taking a leave of absence "to serve as deputy communications director of the McCain campaign" has been greeted with surprising interest from bloggers across the political spectrum. Just sampling those in my RSS reader: Radley Balko points out that "Goldfarb has written (falsely, by any reasonable reading of the Constitution, Federalist ...

Webb for VP Backlash

After several weeks of being the odds-on favorite to be Barack Obama's running mate (at least if bloggers were doing the picking) it appears is if the inevitable backlash has set in. Kathy G, guesting at Matt Yglesias' site (apparently, the Atlantic Monthly has given their bloggers the week off) takes the lead, setting out the anti-Webb argument ...

The Next Right

Jon Henke, Patrick Ruffini, and Soren Dayton are launching a new initiative they've dubbed "The Next Right." It's apparently yet another attempt to create a right-of-center counterpart of the Netroots. Not yet launched, it purports to be "an online community for change-minded activists and hardcore political junkies in the conservative movement." All three of the founders agree that a ...

Obama-Webb 2008

I've mentioned in passing several times, both here and on OTB Radio, that Jim Webb would be the Democrats' smartest choice for Vice President, particularly if (as seems exceedingly likely) Barack Obama is their nominee. Alex Massie makes the case in detail. Some excerpts: The political considerations first: the Democrats have no other plausible candidate with anything like ...

Fred Thompson Endorses McCain

Fred Thompson has become the latest former 2008 Republican presidential candidate to endorse John McCain. Fred Thompson, the one-time Republican presidential candidate, endorsed Sen. John McCain Friday, calling on the party to "close ranks" behind the presumed nominee. "This is no longer about past preferences or differences. It is about what is best for our country and for me that means ...

John McCain CPAC Speech

John Hawkins, Joy McCann and I just wasted half an hour trying to get in to the McCain speech but, even with media credentials, we couldn't. Something about the fire code. I don't feel too bad: Clarence Page was there getting turned away with us, along with several less notable journalists working for mainstream media ...

George Allen for President

Richard Viguerie, the pioneer of the direct mail fundraising approach and a guiding force in Republican politics since the 1970s, has been campaigning at least since this time last year for the nomination of a Reagan style conservative. He was going around the halls at last year's CPAC convention lamenting the ways in which "Rudy McRomney" fell short ...

Ron Paul, Racist?

There has long been a buzz about the fact that Ron Paul's vast network of supporters includes white supremacists and anti-Semites. Paul has disassociated himself from them and he's shrugged it off as the nature of a bottom-up organization. While I'm by no means a Paul booster, that has struck me as quite reasonable. Today, though, TNR (the ...

George Allen Comeback?

The Swamp: Rebounding George Allen, rising Fred Thompson Former Sen. George Allen, who made "macaca" a household word and upset his once-promising political career, already shows signs of preparing for a possible comeback. His new Web site, www.georgeallen.com, touts his travels around Virginia, mostly in Republican-friendly territory. A press account posted on his site of a Republican fundraiser in Harrisonburg quotes ...