Ralph Nader: Obama Not Black Enough
Ralph Nader says that Barack Obama "talks white" and ignores "black issues." "There's only one thing different about Barack Obama when it comes to being a Democratic presidential candidate. He's half African-American," Nader said. "Whether that will make any difference, I don't know. I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on June 25, 2008 12:38
John McCain’s Vice Presidential Not-So-Short List
John Hawkins lists 24 candidates that John McCain might conceivably pick as his running mate with synopses as to the pros and cons of each. I'm rather sure the eventual choice is on that list, as there's nobody that I've heard of who isn't. Indeed, there are several people I haven't heard of on it. Frankly, the available ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 12, 2008 11:58
Caption Contest Winners
The Vice Dog Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. (AP Photo/The White House, David Bohrer) The Winners: First: FormerHostage - Hey, it could be worse Rex. That poodle next door is dressed up like John Edwards. Second: McGehee - "Kal-El -- I am your father!" "NOOOOOOOOO-O-O-O-O-O!!!!!!" Third: Bithead - "I sense something. A presence I've not felt since... ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 8, 2007 20:16
The More Things Change…
America's greatest journalist, Radley Balko, has an excellent piece on why a Clinton II Presidency would differ very little from the Bush II Presidency.For seven years, the left has been up in arms about President Bush's aggressive foreign policy, his secrecy, his partisanship, and his expansive claims on executive power. It's odd, then, that they're prepared to nominate Hillary Clinton ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on October 23, 2007 00:52
The Real Crime is What’s Legal
Congressmen running for re-election routinely tout all the money they've brought to the district and presidents love to personally hand out disaster relief funds during election season. While unseemly, that's just the way the game is played. Marisa Taylor and Kevin Hall report that something a little more fishy has been going on, though, in recent years: Top Commerce ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 18, 2007 08:54
Hillary’s ‘Evil and Bad Men’ Joke
Hillary Clinton is the front-runner to follow John Kerry as the Democratic Party's nominee for president. Over the weekend, she displayed a similar penchant for getting into trouble for flubbed jokes. Ian Bishop explains in a cover story for the New York Post: Hillary Rodham Clinton left caucus-goers here yesterday believing that Bubba had given her a baptism ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on January 29, 2007 15:44
Santorum Ouster Means End of Senate Candy Desk
Rick Santorum's re-election defeat has had one previously unexplored consequence: the end of free candy for Senators. With Democrats back in control of Congress for the first time in years, much is changing in the nation's capital, including a longtime tradition in the U.S. Senate: the "candy desk." For a decade until his defeat last year, Sen. Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on January 5, 2007 10:51
Gates Confirmed as Defense Secretary, 95-2
Robert Gates has been confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Defense by an overwhelming 95-2 vote. Update: Here's an odd one: "Sens. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Jim Bunning, R-Ky., voted against Gates." So, the two No votes came from Republicans? One of whom has just been resoundingly defeated and the other of whom has been tabbed ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 6, 2006 17:44
Santorum for UN Ambassador?
Andrew Sullivan: "National Review is touting Rick Santorum as U.N. ambassador. You cannot make this stuff up." Indeed. As a general rule, politicians who are badly defeated in their re-election bids are not ideal candidates for controversial appointments. The NRO gang loves, Santorum, though, with Kathryn Jean Lopez having touted him for SECDEF less than a month ago. Should ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 4, 2006 13:16
Rick Santorum Not Running for President
Despite a draft movement with throngs of supporters numbering in the single digits, Rick Santorum has ruled out a presidential bid. Don't expect to see Sen. Rick Santorum's name on the 2008 presidential ballot. "Absolutely, positively not. Absolutely not," Santorum said yesterday on The Michael Smerconish Show on WPHT-AM (1210). "My wife would throw me out of the house if ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on November 17, 2006 15:45
