Month: August 2008
-
Howard Wolfson plays the “If only” game
I don’t have much patience with former Clinton flack Howard Wolfson’s claim that Hillary would have been the Democratic nominee if John Edwards had been out of the race. First, we don’t know what would have happened if Edwards was out of the race. Al Gore could have jumped in or another candidate might have
-
“Hot tubbing” of expert witnesses
Today’s New York Times reports what may the best legal term ever and a good substantive idea to boot — forcing opposing expert witnesses to testify together, which Australian lawyers call “hot tubbing”: He might have preferred a new way of hearing expert testimony that Australian lawyers call hot tubbing. In that procedure, also called
-
Balz: Close campaign still close
I don’t understand political journalism. Dan Balz is a top reporter, but the lede for his big-picture analysis of the presidential campaign doesn’t make sense: The opening round of the general-election campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain has produced memorable images, negative ads, snarling e-mails and pointed exchanges over war, the economy and energy.
-
Nicole Wallace undermines McCain criticism
One of the key tactics of the Bush White House after 9/11 was to try to delegitimize any criticism of President Bush. Media Matters reports that McCain spokesperson Nicole Wallace took a similar approach on MSNBC, telling David Gregory that Barack Obama is “fillet[ing] an American hero, a former POW” when he criticizes McCain on
-
Costas presses Bush in Olympics interview
Was anyone else surprised that Bob Costas made the traditional softball interview of the president by a sportscaster so substantive? (Hopefully the White House press corps was taking notes.) Judging by Bush’s joke at the end of the interview about Costas not letting him leave, he may have been surprised too. Update 8/11 11:13 AM:
-
The myth of Bob Casey’s 1992 non-speech
A New York Times story this morning headlined “Obama’s View on Abortion May Divide Catholics” begins with this parable: Sixteen years ago, the Democratic Party refused to allow Robert P. Casey Sr., then the governor of Pennsylvania, to speak at its national convention because his anti-abortion views, stemming from his Roman Catholic faith, clashed with
-
McCain distorts Obama on nuclear power
When are the media going to start pointing out that John McCain and his campaign are misrepresenting Barack Obama’s position on nuclear power? On Monday, McCain said “[Obama] doesn’t want nuclear power” and claimed that “[Obama] continues to oppose the use of nuclear power.” Similarly, during a press conference yesterday, McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin claimed
-
The myth of the Democratic landslide
John Sides reiterates an important point: the perception that Barack Obama “should” be winning by a huge margin (echoed today by David Brooks) is not supported by empirical evidence. The leading statistical models of presidential election outcomes forecast a narrow Obama win. The consequences of this are actually more serious than most people realize. In
-
The Bush 41 grocery scanner myth
Writing in the Los Angeles Times, James Rainey revives a longstanding myth that will frequently crop up again in stories about “gaffes” and supposedly out-of-touch politicians: In 1992, George H.W. Bush reportedly was surprised to find a price scanner in a grocery store, which “proved” he was out of touch with the common man. In
-
Obama’s dollar bill comment triply distorted
Has anyone else noticed that Barack Obama’s comment that George W. Bush and John McCain are going to remind voters that he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills” is being distorted in multiple ways? It’s a reminder of how disturbed the national debate on race can be. Here’s what Obama