Brendan Nyhan

Month: September 2005

  • The tide turns against Bush

    How quickly things change in politics. In February and March 2005, GOP-leaning scholars surveyed by James Lindgren of Northwestern University implausibly rated President Bush the sixth-best president in US history. Even on Sept. 7, almost two weeks after Katrina hit, Fred Barnes published an op-ed quoting a Bush aide who touted the President’s low approval

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  • Drudge up to old tricks

    Drudge’s headline: REUTERS has acknowledged Bush ‘Potty Note’ photo was enhanced via Photoshop… Sounds like the widely circulated pic was doctored, right? Wrong. According to the article he linked, Reuters just cleaned up some overexposure on the note. I’m sure someone will take the bait, though.

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  • Picture of the day: Martha & Diddy

    I’m swamped (my comprehensive exams are next week), so until I can post more, here’s your picture of the day courtesy of Gawker: Today’s lesson in Rap 101? Vocabulary! On the blackboard: 1. Cheddar 2. Shorty 3. Flossin’ 4. Benjamins 5. Ballin’ Martha: “Is ‘cheddar’ cheese?” Diddy: “No. No no no no no no. No.”

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  • Conservatives and the press open up on Bush

    For almost five years, conservatives inside and outside the White House have refused to tell us what they really think about President Bush and the state of conservatism for fear of retaliation. Likewise, the media has generally been a lapdog, cowering in fear of accusations of liberal bias. But with Bush’s approval ratings at record

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  • More from Alterman

    For those who are still interested in the vitriol of Eric Alterman, I’ve posted a second update to my post about his attacks on me below.

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  • Review – The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney

    Chris Mooney, who appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night, has written a very important book. I want to recommend that everyone pick up a copy of The Republican War on Science. The reason why I am endorsing the book is simple: it addresses a very important part of the problem that

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  • Brooks describes dishonest White House PR strategy

    Media Matters has transcribed a fascinating admission from David Brooks during his appearance on The Chris Matthews Show: MATTHEWS: Do you think there’s a problem with this? I remember when the president wrote in his diary — his father, President Bush senior — “you know, I picked [former Vice President Dan] Quayle the first time

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  • “We’ll take the 40s”

    In the Fred Barnes op-ed I mentioned last week, a Bush aide makes a striking statement defending the President’s terrible poll numbers: [T]he simple fact of governing in Washington is that popularity is not a measure of power. In the late ’90s, President Clinton’s approval rating stayed well above 60%, even after he was impeached.

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  • Watch Chris Mooney on the Daily Show tonight!

    I forgot to note that my friend Chris Mooney will be discussing his excellent new book The Republican War on Science on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” tonight. Make sure to tune in, and check back tomorrow morning for the post-mortem and my (belated) review of the book.

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  • When Alterman attacks

    On Saturday morning, Eric Alterman sent me this charming email in reference to my post about him: You are making a jerk of yourself which is why I am doing you the favor of ignoring these baseless accusations on the blog. You have now twice accused me of imputing intentions to the administration on the

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