Category Archives: The making of the President

However the election turns out this fall, I think it’s safe to say that Barack Obama is a much stronger brand than John McCain. Political T-shirts — particularly those supporting presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama — are emerging in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s another story about the campaign Barack Obama will be running in Texas, which is more about getting downballot Democratic candidates elected than it is about Obama carrying the state. It doesn’t break any new ground, but it does give … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Yet another national poll shows Barack Obama doing very well among Latino voters compared to John McCain. The poll of 2,015 Latino voters conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center found that Democrat Barack Obama, who lost the Hispanic vote to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Julia Pippert was on a conference call yesterday with the Obama campaign, which had to do with their Latino outreach strategy. The good news is that they have one: Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA) [hosted the call and] unveiled the new … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Impressive. Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee revved up their money machine in June, outpacing their Republican rivals by almost $25 million, the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign said Thursday. Obama and the party have also all but caught up … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is a good start: Former San Antonio Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros is out campaigning for Barack Obama. “I’ll be traveling to a dozen to 15 states to carry the Obama message to the Latino community,” Cisneros said … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s your quote of the day, courtesy of John McCain’s good buddy, Phil Gramm. “You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession,” he said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I know the media loves a horse race and all, but this is pushing it. With the dust having finally settled after the prolonged Democratic presidential primary, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I like the sound of this. Mostly, anyway. Barack Obama will focus his resources largely in 14 states George W. Bush won in 2004, his chief field operative said Tuesday, hoping to score upsets in places such as Virginia, Indiana … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Put me down as being skeptical of that much-ballyhooed Newsweek poll that showed Sen. Barack Obama now enjoying a 15-point lead over Sen. John McCain. It’s not so much that I think the result is impossible, it’s that it’s clearly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Clinton plans to hit trail with Obama Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton will campaign together next Friday, the first joint public event for the former rivals, as the senator from New York returns to the political scene following … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A new national poll of Latino voters has some good news for Sen. Barack Obama. The survey found that 60 percent of Latinos planned to vote for Obama, compared to 23 percent for [Sen. John] McCain, while 16 percent were … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Part of me is just plain amused to read about the Clayton Williams kerfuffle, in which his infamous “rape is like the weather” joke from the 1990 gubernatorial campaign has caused some embarassment for John McCain, who cancelled a scheduled … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You might have heard (via Kos) that Democratic Oklahoma Rep. Dan Boren is not endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for President. Oh, he’ll vote for him, he just won’t endorse. This has gotten no small amount of press. Meanwhile, there are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I still don’t know why it is that anything Tom DeLay says would be considered newsworthy, but given that he’s going to get quoted, he’s at least doing us all the favor of being amusing. Tom DeLay will vote for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Burka drops some early thinking on what Democratic performance in Texas might look like if the Obama campaign does some real work here. Democrat (sic) numbers-crunchers believe that if Obama gets 42-43% in the state, Democrats will fare well in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just a little check to see how the reunification of the Democratic Party is going. First we have former DNC Chair and outspoken Hillary Clinton supporter Terry McAuliffe: I’ve told all of the donors this week that we need to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I have two things to say about this story concerning some still-existing divisions within the Democratic Party after Hillary Clinton’s exit from the Presidential race. Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, and Clinton is supposed to endorse him today … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t need a reason to vote for Barack Obama against John McCain, but if you do, consider that a McCain presidency would mean putting this guy back in power. With the U.S. economy now battered by a tsunami of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I think everyone knew this was coming, but it was still a bit of a surprise to actually hear. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to end her historic bid to become the first female president while leaving her options … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m ready for November. How about you? PS: “Did we say Hillary will save us? We meant Obama will save us!” Continue reading →

Guest-blogger: Greg Wythe Your intrepid blogger, Charles Kuffner, is literally adrift at sea this weekend. In his absence (of the physical sort), he’s turned the keys over to others like myself (which may well represent an absence of good judgment). … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I generally don’t watch the national news on TV if I can avoid it; since Tiffany does like to watch, I often can’t. The other night during one of the broadcasts, there was a bit on how Republicans in North … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Associated Press says Sen. Barack Obama won 38 of the 67 available delegates at Saturday’s Senate conventions. Phillip Martin says it’s a 37-30 split, though some outstanding challenges and still-uncertified results may make the final result 38-29. We won’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I note this news item about John McCain with some interest. Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has promised a serious bid to win California in the fall presidential election, bulked up his dream team of Silicon Valley managers and advisers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Spotted in my neighborhood the other day, on White Oak at Harvard: I dropped in for a short chat after I took the picture. They’re in donated space and will be out shortly after Tuesday, but everyone inside was confident … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron says Barack Obama is leading in Texas. Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama appears to be consolidating a lead over Hillary Rodham Clinton among most constituent groups in Texas except Hispanics, according to a new tracking poll. The survey … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This may be my favorite Presidential campaign-related blog post of all time; certainly, it’s my favorite of this cycle. It’s the fangirl-crushiness of it that takes it to the next level for me. I mean, hey, geeks vote, too. And … Continue reading → Continue reading →

On the whole, I thought the Bill Clinton rally last night was pretty uninspiring. Not just because he started speaking almost two hours late or because Hofheinz was barely half-full (I think the capacity is 8,500). I haven’t been excited … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ll be posting later or early tomorrow about the Bill Clinton rally at Hofheinz Pavilion at UH tonight. I think it’s completely OK to call it a Bill Clinton rally because none of the fliers or anything I’ve seen about … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Juanita, I see that John McCain is using John Mellencamp songs in his campaign. And Mellencamp isn’t happy about that. Uplifting heartland rock must have seemed like a smart pick, but there’s just one problem: Mellencamp is an ardent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s a start. Barack Obama pledged Thursday to meet Hillary Rodham Clinton in Democratic presidential debates in Texas and Ohio before the March 4 primaries. But the Illinois senator stopped short of committing to attend an event planned for Feb. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Let’s get ready to rumble! Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday challenged Sen. Barack Obama to meet in four separate Democratic debates before the March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio — including an event scheduled for Feb. 28 in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the GOP Presidential primary field as demons from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I think the only quibble I have is that the Mayor was about a billion times more witty than Mitt Romney could … Continue reading → Continue reading →