Month: December 2007
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Evan Thomas: Wrong on turnout
Writing in Newsweek, Evan Thomas bemoans the increase in partisanship, claiming it decreases participation among the masses: [T]he real divide, the separation that may matter more to the future of American democracy, is between the political junkies and everyone else. The junkies watch endless cable-TV news shows and listen to angry talk radio and feel
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Hillary polarization watch
A Gallup poll released Dec. 20 finds that Hillary Clinton generates far more fear among opposing partisans than any other candidate: [A] question included in the November and December Gallup Panel surveys finds a majority of Republicans alarmed by the prospect of a Clinton presidency, and insufficient positive sentiment among Democrats to neutralize Republicans’ alarm.
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The elusive legal definition of “coordination”
A New York Times article on a third-party group supporting John Edwards includes a great quote on the legal definition of “coordination” (which is prohibited): Legal experts say the restrictions on coordination between campaigns and third-party groups are narrowly defined and difficult to apply. “The definition of ‘coordination’ has been one of the most difficult
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Is Mitt Romney the next Al Gore?
The recent feeding frenzy over Mitt Romney’s exaggerations is an example of everything that’s wrong with the way the media covers politics in general and political dishonesty in particular. It is driven by perceptions of personality and character (the feeling among journalists that Romney is a phony) and has nothing to do with public policy.
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John McCain’s straight talk on taxes
I missed this a few weeks ago — some straight talk on taxes and revenue from the newly resurgent John McCain (via Steve Benen): [W]hen he came to the Globe Wednesday, McCain took refuge in a supply-side myth: the notion that President Bush’s tax cuts have created a compelling revenue surge. Queried about funding programs
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The dangers of event-based narratives
Via TNR’s Michael Crowley, the New York Times published a short item (backed up by TPM) finding that the Politico story alleging Rudy Giuliani hid security expenses for his affair was misleading. This is bad no matter what. However, Crowley attributes Giuliani’s decline in the polls to the story: Rudy Giuliani’s candidacy has been derailed
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NYT on Hillary’s White House experience
Finally! I’ve been questioning Hillary Clinton’s claims to be the candidate of “experience” since January, and Bill Clinton recently made an obnoxious comment about voters “roll[ing] the dice” with Obama because of his supposed lack of experience. Nonetheless, the press has largely let her claims to superior experience go without scrutiny… until now. The New
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More on the jargon of “concern troll”
Brad DeLong denounced the infamously awful rumor-promoting Perry Bacon piece in the Washington Post by calling it a “concern-troll hit piece” (twice). I’m not an expert on obscure liberal blog jargon, but I have been called a “concern troll.” As I found out, the phrase usually used to attack “anyone who calls for civility in
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The shears and chainsaw event
Paul Krugman’s column today on responsibility for the subprime mess includes a wild anecdote about deregulatory fever: But Mr. Greenspan wasn’t the only top official who put ideology above public protection. Consider the press conference held on June 3, 2003 — just about the time subprime lending was starting to go wild — to announce
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Vacation alert
For the next few weeks, we’re in CA, MA and NH visiting family so blogging will be intermittent until early January…