Palin’s Speech Reax
Most of the analysis of Sarah Palin's vice presidential acceptance speech has, predictably, divided on party lines. Republicans tended to love it, thinking it struck the right tone, while Democrats think it was mean-spirited and full of lies. If one reads through the text of the remarks, thereby ignoring the delivery and optics, one sees a pretty standard party convention ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on September 4, 2008 08:33
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 ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on June 3, 2008 08:10
Libertarian Party Embraces Big Tent
Something really strange is going on with the Libertarian Party. I mean, more so than usual -- I wouldn't bother to point out the obvious. Their annual convention is going on as I write. Some highlights: Bob Barr, most famous for opposing medical marijuana and for his role in the impeachment of Bill Clinton, is running to be its presidential ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 23, 2008 13:36
Rebuilding the Republican Brand
It's not exactly news that the Republican Party is in the doldrums at the moment. It lost control of both Houses of Congress in the 2006 elections, its president is at historic lows in the polls, it has lost a string of special elections and its incumbent Congressmen are retiring in droves, and the odds are better than even ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 20, 2008 11:43
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 | OTB on May 7, 2008 06:11
William F. Buckley, Jr., RIP
Kathryn Jean Lopez has the sad news that "William F. Buckley Jr., died overnight in his study in Stamford, Connecticut. After year of illness, he died while at work." Sad news, indeed. More from AP: Author and conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. has died at age 82. His assistant Linda Bridges says Buckley died Wednesday morning at his home in Stamford, Conn. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 27, 2008 11:32
Ron Paul Phenomenon Not About Ron Paul
Joe Carter, in an interesting reflection on his 30 days working for the Huckabee campaign, makes this observation: The Ron Paul Phenomenon is Not About Ron Paul -- It will take a more astute political mind than I possess to comprehend this Ron Paul phenomenon. All I know is that it has less to do with the candidate than about ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on January 3, 2008 16:41
Fighting for Other People’s Freedom
Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson defends the neo-conservative agenda -- and trashes liberals and traditional conservatives -- in a WaPo column entitled "Why Fight For Anyone's Freedom?" In the backlash against President Bush's democracy agenda, conservatives are increasingly taking the lead. It is inherently difficult for liberals to argue against the expansion of social and political liberalism in oppressive parts of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on October 10, 2007 14:50
Demonizing Ahmadinejad
University of Michigan Middle East scholar Juan Cole argues that the demonization of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is misguided and part of a right wing propaganda campaign to agitate for another war. Critics have also cited his statements about the Holocaust or his hopes that the Israeli state will collapse. He has been depicted as a Hitler figure intent on ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on September 25, 2007 07:48
Why Lefty Bloggers Are Owed a Living Redux
Susie Madrak, under the attention-grabbing headline "No More Dead Bloggers," laments "the utter injustice of a Democratic political system that is very, very happy to take the money and volunteers the blogosphere sends its way" and yet returns only "Bubkis" to the non-A-listers. There is not even a little doubt in my mind that, if Rittenhouse Review’s Jim Capozzola had remained ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 6, 2007 09:19
