Political Tides Turn
I had occasion to stumble on a post from the OTB archives, "Democrats Threaten to Filibuster Unnamed Court Nominee," written on September 25, 2005. What's interesting in hindsight is how fundamentally the landscape has changed. Not only is it Republicans now about to be in a position to try to avert a person they deem too ideological from getting on ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 5, 2009 15:19
Obama’s Afghanistan Plan
[caption id="attachment_27340" align="alignright" width="300" caption="German Bundeswehr army soldiers of the ISAF monitor a valley during a mission near Kunduz, Afghanistan on September 26, 2008. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)"][/caption] Over at New Atlanticist, I discuss "Obama's Afghanistan Plan," noting that actually achieving results will prove far more difficult than criticizing the Bush administration. My main criticism is of his continued harping on catching Osama bin Laden: [I]t ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 11, 2008 08:04
Obama to Test 50-State Strategy
DNC Chairman Howard Dean's "50-state strategy" has been controversial but Barack Obama is going to attempt to test it this fall, Sam Stein reports. Obama will likely start the general election with 180 or so "reliably Democratic" electoral votes. With the goal of getting to 270, the DNC believes it could play a role in carrying the rest of the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 5, 2008 13:27
Indiana and North Carolina Postmortem
Barack Obama moved to within 200 delegates of securing the Democratic presidential nomination yesterday, scoring a 56-42 blowout in North Carolina while narrowly losing, 49-51, in Indiana. Barring revelations that would make the Wright affair look insignificant in comparison, the race is all over but the shouting. Obama Wins the Night AP's Calvin Woodward: On the rebound, Barack Obama left Hillary Rodham ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 7, 2008 06:11
Dean: Superdelegates Must Decide Now
DNC chairman Howard Dean is tired of the democratic process and wants the superdelegates to decide who the Democratic nominee will be now. An increasingly firm Howard Dean told CNN again Thursday that he needs superdelegates to say who they’re for – and “I need them to say who they’re for starting now.” “We cannot give up two or ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 18, 2008 08:11
Republicans Beating Democrats at Money Game
Eric Kleefeld reports that, while Democratic candidates are beating their Republican counterparts by embarrassing margins at fund raising, the reverse is true at the national level. The Republican National Committee has announced that they have $31 million cash-on-hand at the end of March, money that can be used to assist John McCain as well as down-ballot races this Fall. Quarterly figures ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 17, 2008 14:35
Do McCain’s Medals Matter?
Jake Tapper, notes the contrast between DNC chair Howard Dean's statements about John Kerry's military service in 2004 and McCain's in 2008. Commenting on John McCain's new "The American President that Americans Have Been Waiting For" ad yesterday, Dean said, "While we honor McCain’s military service, the fact is Americans want a real leader who offers real solutions, not a blatant ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 29, 2008 06:36
Florida and Michigan Do-Overs
The Democratic National Committee is trying to work out a means for Florida and Michigan to stage delegate selection contests within the rules but there has thus far been no plan that's acceptable to the states and both campaigns. Meanwhile, some supporters of Hillary Clinton are arguing that the DNC should simply seat the delegates from the previous round of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 10, 2008 10:11
Dean to Florida and Michigan: Your Move
The DNC is making it very hard for Hillary Clinton to win Florida and Michigan's delegates through the back door, Marc Ambinder reports. Howard Dean will not bend the party rules to grandfather in the disputed delegates from Michigan and Florida, the Democratic party chairman said in a statement today. Instead, he put the state parties on notice: either they can ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 6, 2008 09:07
Moving on to Pennsylvania
Jim Henley makes the case that, if he were a Democratic superdelegate, he would want the campaign to move on to Pennsylvania.In a "marriage-length" campaign window, the Obama campaign has time to work its magic, then the magic has time to work off. That may be what we saw in the interminable two weeks between Wisconsin/Hawaii and Texas/Ohio. In particular, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 5, 2008 10:51
Fred Thompson Quitting – Or Surging?
Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen of The Politico have a story entitled, "Fred Thompson may drop out, back McCain." Several Republican officials close to Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign said they expect the candidate will drop out of the race within days if he finishes poorly in Thursday’s Iowa caucus. Thompson’s campaign, which last spring and summer was generating fevered anticipation in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 3, 2008 08:34
Can Iowa Caucuses be Polled?
John Zogby asks, "Can the Iowa caucuses be polled accurately?" and then more-or-less answers the question. The premise is straightforward enough: The Iowa caucuses require voters to go to a local school, church basement, private home or similar meeting place to spend between 90 minutes and two hours to register their preference. The process is a mixture of discussion, debating, a ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 12, 2007 08:52
Hillary Clinton Expectations Taking Media Pounding
Two reports out today offer hope to those for whom the notion of a Hillary Clinton presidency is unbearable. First, a new Zogby poll shows Clinton losing in a general election matchup against the top five Republican contenders -- and her chief rivals, Barack Obama and John Edwards, winning those races. Second, Mike Allen and Carrie Budoff Brown are ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 26, 2007 19:00
Ron Paul – Ralph Nader, Bill Buckley, or Howard Dean?
John Derbyshire and Andrew Sullivan see great similarity's between Ron Paul and a young William F. Buckley, Jr. John Podhoretz and Richard Fernandez, though, see more similarities between Paul and Ralph Nader. Ed Morrissey, meanwhile, thinks he's this years' Howard Dean. To the extent he's following any of those parallels, I'd go with Dean. As Derbyshire notes, Buckley's conservatism ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 7, 2007 10:17
Ron Paul Sets Online Fundraising Record
Yesterday's bid to raise $10 million in one day for Ron Paul fell well short. Paul's campaign will happily settle, I'm sure, for the $4.2 million they brought in, which is easily the most brought in on a single day of online fundraising. He'll also gladly take the outpouring of media attention. "Ron Paul Raises More Than $4.2 ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 6, 2007 08:08
