Swift Boating Obama?
Andrew Sullivan has declared that the "Swift-Boating" of Barack Obama has begun, noting that both Republican operatives and Clinton supporters are piling on over the Jeremiah Wright scandal. He cites a report by The Politico's Jonathan Martin that, "A YouTube video mash-up that attacks Barack Obama on issues relating to his patriotism that has rocketed around the Internet in recent days ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on March 20, 2008 09:07
Wright Videos and Timing
Stacy McCain questions the timing: "Is it coincidental that Jeremiah Wright's racially provocative rants made national news in the run-up to the key primary in Pennsylvania, a state with a population that's 86% white?" He doesn't have any evidence but he sees the fingerprints of Hillary Clinton on both the turtle and the fencepost. I'm not sure how the story ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on March 18, 2008 14:21
American Elections Like American Idol
John Cole offers example of bottom-up* YouTube videos for the Clinton and Obama campaigns that have gone viral and quips, "Someone is lucky elections don’t work like American Idol." He's got an open thread on the subject but my initial response was, They don't? Turns out that there are two posts in the OTB archives, one from 2006 and another from 2007, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on March 13, 2008 15:32
Time on Hillary’s Side? Or Obama’s?
Two reports highlighted at memeorandum give opposite views on what impact the six week lull between the Mississippi and Pennsylvania primaries will have on the Democratic race. ABC's Rich Klein argues that it will benefit Hillary Clinton in a piece headlined "Time on Her Side: Obama Maintains Lead, but Clinton Might Have the Edge." "When a team comes from far behind ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on March 13, 2008 06:05
The Many Faces of Hillary Clinton
Danny Glover marvels at Hillary Clinton's adaptability. Hillary Clinton adopts a new persona for every setting. She is alternately a lover, a fighter, a mocker, a whiner and a crier as she competes with Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Whatever it takes! As I recall, the same was true of Bill Clinton in the 1992 contest. Goodness, even his ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 26, 2008 15:30
12 Year Old Taliban Boy Beheads Man on Video
A few years back, the horrific videos of Islamic terrorists sawing off the heads of kidnapped hostages on video had the Internet abuzz. Eventually, though, the tactic lost its shock value and it seemed to backfire, causing disgust among the Muslim populations who had otherwise been sympathetic to the Islamist cause. Indeed, there were so many that I'd forgotten the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 16, 2008 08:58
Republican Diaz-Balart Disrupts Lantos Memorial
Silliness in Congress has morphed into ugliness, including a disruption of the memorial service for recently passed colleague Tom Lantos, NBC's Mike Viqueira reports. Republicans are outraged. Democrats are putting forward a resolution holding White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress. House GOP rank-and-file are planning a dramatic walk out ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 14, 2008 14:51
Confederate Flag Flies in South Carolina Primary
The Civil War might have ended 143 years ago but the Confederate battle flag refuses to die as a political issue. The Republican presidential candidates on Thursday moved to appeal to different types of conservative voters before the South Carolina primary, with Mike Huckabee using colorful language to declare the Confederate flag a states’ rights issue and Senator John McCain ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on January 18, 2008 11:34
McCain’s Promise to Cut Medicare Premiums
In reading McCain's position on taxes I came across this little gem, Lower Medicare Premiums: Seniors face a growing threat from higher Medicare premiums that tax away their Social Security and retirement savings. John McCain has proposed comprehensive, pro-market health care and Medicare reforms to reduce health care costs and control increases in premiums -- while delivering high-quality health care. Let me ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on January 16, 2008 09:07
Fred Thompson Wakes Up for South Carolina Debate
Fred Thompson showed up at last night's presidential debate enthusiastic, prepared, and seeming to care. If this keeps up, George Mitchell might need to investigate him for use of performance enhancing substances. [...] Mr. Thompson leavened his responses with the kind of one-liners that many supporters had hoped he would use sooner. Asked about the United States response in a ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on January 11, 2008 07:46
