Category Archives: The making of the President

Regarding all the stuff that has now come out regarding George W. Bush’s apparent failure to fulfill his duties in the Texas Air National Guard, I refer you to what Josh says: And, finally, let’s not miss the obvious point … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ralph Nader’s bid to overturn Texas’ ballot access laws was rejected by a federal court today, meaning that he is still not on the Texas ballot. Nader’s campaign had claimed Texas ballot access requirements for independent candidates are the toughest … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Pretty strong stuff here from William Saletan about Bush’s “heroism” after 9/11. The Talent Show notes that Bill Clinton arrived in New York before Bush did, even though he’d been in Australia when the attack occurred. Somehow, I don’t think … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I was trying to come up with a clever way to describe this USA Today poll which shows that single women are more likely to vote Democratic while married women trend Republican, and the reaction to it by Focus on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

By now, you’ve probably heard of the Ben Barnes story. Former Democratic Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, in a video posted on the Internet, says he is ashamed that he got President Bush and other young men from important families into … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There were many reasons why Clayton Williams lost the 1990 Texas Governor’s race to Ann Richards despite the large lead he held in the polls through most of the campaign. The turning point for him was probably when he refused … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Transcript here (via Julia via Susie). Naturally, I forgot to program the TiVo for it. I’ll see about catching the rerun today. Anyone out there actually watch it? And here’s an AP wire report. Note something interesting here: “I watch … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Political Wire, we have a new Texas poll done by Survey USA (PDF). It shows Bush leading Kerry by a 58-37 margin, which is very close to what the spread was in 2000, and is slightly better for Bush … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Am I the only person who just loves the concept of an anarchists’ convention? Anarchists generally pride themselves on their rejection of government and its authority. But a faction of them fed up with the war in Iraq say they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You know how on Law and Order a witness will try to give a complicated, nuanced, occasionally evasive answer to a yes/no question, and the lawyer asking the question, whether McCoy or a hotshot defense attorney, interrupts to emphasize that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Political Wire asks the following: Q. Which state is most over-represented in the Electoral College? The answer is Wyoming, whose 3 electoral votes cover just over 500,000 people, or about 167,000 per person. California, with over 35 million people and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A group of Texas writers, musicians, artists, and other interested people are raising some money to run a full-page NYT ad with the aim of letting people know that President Bush does not speak for everyone in Texas. You can … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ll be interested to see what kind of response John Kerry gets when he speaks at the national VFW convention next week. Kerry will speak to VFW members Aug. 18, said Brendon Cull, a spokesman for the Democratic Coordinated Campaign … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Swift Boat Veteran Roy Hoffmann, part one: Retired Adm. Roy Hoffmann, head of the Swift Boat group, said they respected McCain’s “right to express his opinion and we hope he extends to us the same respect and courtesy, particularly since … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Three out of four letter writers (scroll to “Undecided? Not Election Day yet”) agreed with me on various aspects of David Langworthy’s op-ed from yesterday. For what it’s worth. Continue reading →

I know everyone has their own criteria for voting for a particular candidate. My primary concern has always been “which one do I agree with more?” I’ve never quite understood why this isn’t universal. Why does anyone care if a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Poll time. In interviews on Thursday, July 29-before the Kerry nomination acceptance speech-Kerry/Edwards received the support of 47 percent of registered voters, Bush/Cheney 45 percent and Nader/Camejo 2 percent, according to the Newsweek Poll. In Friday interviews after the speech, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From John Kerry’s acceptance speech: “I want to address these next words directly to President Bush: In the weeks ahead, let’s be optimists, not just opponents. Let’s build unity in the American family, not angry division.” Headline in today’s Chron: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So I didn’t actually watch Kerry’s speech last night. I’m not a big speech-watching person, and hey, it’s not like he has to convince me that he’d make a fine President. With one notable exception, the lefty bloggers seem to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Josh Marshall perfectly captures the difference between the Democratic mood and tone in 2003 and now. Check it out. UPDATE: Atrios agrees, and adds a few thoughts. Continue reading →

Awhile back, I bashed the GOP for including pop-up ads as part of its Internet outreach strategy. I stand by my assertion that pop-ups are a stupid way to reach consumers, especially considering their looming obsolescence thanks to pop-up-blocking technology, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Regarding last night’s speeches, I think Byron nails this: The only way that Hillary will win the Democratic nomination in 2008 will be if Democrats across the country are fully convinced that she did everything in her power to get … Continue reading → Continue reading →

How’s this for a kick-butt concert tour? Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, R.E.M., Pearl Jam and a deep roster of other rock stars will unite for politically minded concerts this fall that will give voice to dissatisfaction with the Bush administration. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Libertarian Party candidate for President Michael Badnarik will be on the Texas ballot in November. Election officials announced Tuesday that the Libertarian Party has met the requirements to get its candidates on the November second ballot in Texas. As a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

John Edwards was back in Houston last week raising money. That’s unfortunately probably the last we’ll see of the Kerry campaign, given that it’ll be on public funds starting next week. Joe Conanson looks at the funding behind that anti-Kerry … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Karl-T has your list of bloggers who are going to Boston. Check it out, there’s surely a few there that’ll be new to you. Continue reading →

HellieMae has the best reason I’ve seen to be optimistic about the Kerry/Edwards ticket, and a darned nice analogy, too. You Mac users, I swear. Continue reading →

Bill Bishop catches the New York Times in a dumb mistake regarding rural voters. Last week, the New York Times had a front page story headlined “Bush and Kerry Vie for Support of Rural Voters.” Both campaigns pushed out into … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s a quick editorial roundup of Texas papers’ opinions on John Kerry’s choice of John Edwards: The Express News says it suggests practicality on Kerry’s part. The Statesman says that Edwards will appeal to swing voters and his ” toughness … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I suppose this serves as someone’s definition of “balance”. It sure serves as a good reason why the concept is often meaningless in journalism. Two AP headlines, as carried in the Chron.com Politics section: Financial stats prove Edwards is privileged … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In the course of examining the Edwards-as-VP selection, Greg goes off on what may be an entertaining tangent. With the ticket settled, I think its time to begin turning a little attention to debates. The bigs will have their say, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The numbers in this Gallup poll, which deliberately oversampled blacks and Hispanics to get a better picture of their leanings, has what I would call qualified good news for John Kerry. The numbers here are decent, but not as good … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You can tell by the bumper stickers for various Presidential candidates. (May I just say – Fred Harris? Birch Bayh? Jerry Brown? And to think some people thought the Democratic candidates this year were a bunch of nobodies.) Click on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here are a couple of images for you: via Brian Linse via Jack O’Toole I see that the Bush-Cheney team have their McCain ad up. Here’s the Democrats’ response (via Atrios), plus a few words from John McCain on Senator … Continue reading → Continue reading →