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  • Tire Joke


    Call it the Candidate-Campaign Consistency Quotient: the ability of the candidate to remain in line with the campaign’s message. Judging from the past few weeks, John McCain’s CCCQ is low and trending downward. Last week, the Washington Post noted McCain’s Read More...
  • Obama's Travel Schedule: TBA


    Complaints of tighter press handling by both campaigns have been mounting in recent weeks. Obama’s people push back on stories. Reporters on the McCain beat can’t ride shotgun . What next—secret travel schedules? Oh, wait. One of the great frustrations Read More...
  • Does Sarcasm Sell?


    Comedians have been fretting about how hard it is to make fun of Barack Obama. Now John McCain is running up against the same problem. In two weeks, the McCain camp has released its “ Obama Love ” video, the now-famous “ Celebrity ” ad, and now a Web Read More...
  • The $2.8 Trillion Deficit Gap: Holtz-Eakin Responds


    John McCain’s tax policy has come under fire in the past, particularly for its dependence on huge revenue windfalls to balance the budget. But now a new study from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center (a joint venture between Brookings and the Urban Institute) Read More...
  • The Next Rumor


    Is Barack Obama a secret Jew ? Read More...
  • Department of Unwelcome Endorsements


    From the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger : PARCHMAN—Before he died Wednesday evening, death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop apologized to his victim's family, thanked America and urged people to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. "For those Read More...
  • In the Year 2030


    This ad , created by Ohio congressional hopeful John Boccieri, dings his opponent for supporting domestic oil drilling. But it could just as easily be an Obama spot. Obama has criticized McCain for suggesting that off-shore drilling would ease oil prices Read More...
  • Careful What You Wish For


    The reviews are in : Obama’s trip to Iraq came off without a hitch. John McCain, meanwhile, has managed to attract relentlessly negative coverage . His only break was Drudge touting his rejected New York Times op-ed, which wasn’t exactly flattering either. Read More...
  • Dodging Blackwater


    Over the past year, Barack Obama has spoken out aggressively against private security contractors in Iraq. He proposed legislation to hold these firms accountable for their actions eight months before Blackwater employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Read More...
  • Samantha Power on How To "Frame" Withdrawal


    AUSTIN, TEXAS — Samantha Power has kept a low profile ever since leaving the Obama campaign. But she resurfaced Saturday to appear on a panel about “war pundits” at Netroots Nation. Power no longer speaks for the Obama campaign, at least not officially. Read More...
  • Maliki's Gift to Obama


    Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki gave John McCain a headache last week when he publicly announced his desire for American troop withdrawals. The Bush administration then turned the screws yesterday by agreeing to a “general time horizon” for withdrawal. Read More...
  • Chris Dodd’s Loan Problem


    On the surface, Chris Dodd is the perfect vice presidential candidate for Barack Obama. He’s Catholic, while Obama has struggled to win over Catholics. He speaks fluent Spanish, which could help among Latinos. He’s a veteran, just like you-know-who. Jews Read More...
  • The Refiner


    If you flip-flop on an issue that itself flip-flops all the time, is that considered flip-flopping? That’s the question confronting Barack Obama, who hinted Thursday that he might “refine” his position on withdrawal from Iraq. Obama quickly held a follow-up Read More...
  • Is a War Room Really a Room?


    Democratic strategist and former Kerry communications director Stephanie Cutter has joined the Obama campaign.* Her responsibilities include heading up a "war room" for Michelle Obama. A campaign’s "war room" typically refers to its rapid response team. Read More...
  • Web 2.Oh No


    BHO, JSM advisers tweet-debating tech policy tonight. Useless—like Twitter. How debate with 140 char limit? http://tinyurl.com/6ypjh8 about 0 minutes ago from Trailhead Read More...
  • The Calculator


    Barack Obama’s decision yesterday not to take public financing came as a surprise to no one. But it has still earned him scorn. The New York Times editorial page, a longtime proponent of public financing, tweaked him for renouncing the system. The AP Read More...
  • Where Does Obama’s Public Finance Money Go?


    Now that Barack Obama has opted out of public financing for the general, it means John McCain is the only one taking cash from the public coffers. So if you checked off the $3 donation box on your tax returns—the source of national public campaign financing—your Read More...
  • Larry Sinclair and Slander


    The National Press Club has been taking some heat for allowing Larry Sinclair, the wanted, formerly incarcerated crazy person who claims to have engaged in certain deviant behaviors with Barack Obama, to hold a press conference in its Washington, D.C., Read More...
  • Obama's Perfect Slogan


    Barack Obama has always acted suspicious of his own popularity, as though he suspects that the ability to inspire adolescent worship is not, shall we say, presidential. He has a special word for the way he feels about himself when he sees thousands of Read More...
  • The Primary’s Seven Best Real-Life Campaign Metaphors


    Every four years, campaign reporters dust off the old metaphor kit. Some phrases reappear—the "horse race," the "coronation," the "salvos" and "barbs" and "verbal hand grenades" being "fired" and "traded" and "lobbed." Other riffs are specific to a particular Read More...
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