Month: December 2008
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The collapse of the Bush reputation bubble
Despite the fact that President Bush’s approval numbers are below 30%, I’m shocked at how little respect he commands from what remains of his base in polls asking about presidential greatness. In April 2003, a USA Today/Gallup poll found that 11% of Americans rated Bush as the greatest US president ever. Now a LA Times/Bloomberg
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Will Blagojevich wreck Obama’s honeymoon?
Until the Blagojevich scandal broke, Barack Obama looked to be on his way to a presidential honeymoon (though not a mandate). Now, however, things look less clear. Just a few days ago, Obama’s approval numbers were remarkable, as CNN noted: A new national poll suggests that Barack Obama’s having one heck of a honeymoon. Nearly
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Change.gov open for (favorable) questions
The only thing dumber than opening a website for the public to submit and vote on questions to Barack Obama (which will either provide a platform for anti-Obama content or require suppression of it) is to do so in the midst of a scandal that people are trying to link to Obama. And — sure
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Caroline Kennedy and Chris Matthews: No!
Let me join the unlikely duo of Bob Somerby and Ross Douthat in being embarassed that the Washington Post published this Ruth Marcus column on Caroline Kennedy potentially being appointed to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. After noting that she “recoil[s] from political dynasties” and calling them “fundamentally un-American” (I agree!), Marcus proceeds to describe how
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Ironically named anti-Obama activists
You have to admit it’s pretty funny that the executive director of the “United States Justice Foundation”, which is pushing (PDF) the Obama birth certificate myth, is named Gary Kreep. He’s right up there with the anti-Obama robocaller Orson Swindle. PS Make sure to read the histrionic USJF email (PDF) calling Obama a “Usurper.”
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The irony of McCain’s unaired Wright ad
Isn’t there some irony in the McCain camp leaking an unaired Wright ad with the tagline “Character matters, especially when no one’s looking” and then suggesting it illustrates McCain’s virtuous behavior? Wouldn’t “character … when no one’s looking” suggest that you should keep quiet about the ad instead of taking credit for something you did
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Silly Wash. Times article on Obama videos
Breaking news from the Washington Times: fewer people are watching online videos of Barack Obama now that the campaign is over. Who would have guessed that interest in politics would decline after an election?
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TypePad Connect beta turned on
FYI to commenters: I have turned on the TypePad Connect beta, which offers some improved commenting features (threaded comments, better spam detection, no CAPTCHA, etc.). Please let me know if you have problems with it.
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Quoted on Obama birth certificate myth
I’m quoted in a Chicago Tribune story today on the persistence of the myth that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as president: This is a story that won’t go away. Five weeks after the State of Hawaii vouched for the authenticity of President-elect Barack Obama’s
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Brad DeLong smears Jim Rutenberg
Brad DeLong has written a nasty post attacking Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times as having “neither memory nor morals” and suggesting he be used as “a cosmetics testing subject”: Why oh why can’t we have a better press corps? Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times demonstrates once again that he would be