Category Archives: The making of the President

The Associated Press and CNN say that John Kerry has picked John Edwards as his running mate. All things considered, I think this was his best choice. If nothing else, I’ll be eternally grateful to not have to listen to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Whole lot of speculation in the blogs that Kerry is about to name Dick Gephardt as his VP choice. Archpundit started it, then Political Wire and Kos picked it up. There’s a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is the response of Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, to the story that the Bush/Cheney campaign is asking volunteers to share names and addresses from their church directories with the campaign. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The bad news: A group of political scientists are predicting an easy win for Bush based on a forecasting model that has been successful in the past. The good news: This same model predicted a big win for Gore in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Say what you will about Yankee fans, they’re not afraid to express an opinion. [Vice President Dick] Cheney, who visited both clubhouses after batting practice, watched part of the game from the box of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and part … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ralph Nader will not be the Green Party nominee for President. Hallelujah! And may I say, what Julia says. Continue reading →

Apparently, there are no official Presidential campaigns in Fort Worth. As popular as he is in Tarrant County, President Bush is lacking one thing here: someone to organize his local re-election campaign. The Texas Republican and former governor has plenty … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And another one-time Bush supporter switches horses: Four years after former Chrysler Corp. chairman Lee Iacocca cut ads supporting George W. Bush’s election, he’s switching alliances to presidential challenger John Kerry. Iacocca decided to announce his endorsement in person at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s another article about the potential of the Libertarian and Constitution Parties to peel votes away from President Bush. Not a whole lot of new ground covered here, though they do at least talk to an actual Republican (from Ohio! … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Good for Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, archbishop of the Houston/Galveston diocese, for stating that he does not favor making the Eucharist a political football. Wading into a national debate that has entwined presidential politics with religion, Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We all know that there’s a ton of money being spent on advertising and outreach to Hispanic citizens in this year’s Presidential election, but as this fascinating piece in CJR’s Campaign Desk shows, outreach to Hispanic media itself is sorely … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So there’s an initiative being proposed in Colorado that would change their winner-take-all allocation of electoral votes to a proportional allocation. I’m neutral on this for now – it seems to me that if this idea catches on, we may … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You may have seen their BlogAd, now here they are in the mainstream media: Mothers Opposing Bush. Casual chats about Harry Potter matinees and the best places for family vacations were peppered with a very different conversation topic Sunday afternoon … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jim D brings us (via Kos) the Rasmussen poll numbers for Texas: May 1 – May 31 (Purported Margin of Error: +/- 3%) Bush 55% Kerry 38% Other 3% Not Sure 4% Both Jim and Rasmussen note that Bush carried … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Sarah notes that the GOP counterpart to John Kerry Thursdays is called Wictory Wednesday. “Wictory”. Yeah, me too. Remember when Diane Chambers got involved in politics? Carla: “Wim with Jim?” Diane: I thought it up. It’s very Joycian. Carla: If … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just for the record, not everyone in Crawford, home of the Bush ranch, is a Bush backer. The Mayor of Crawford, for example. Crawford may be the heart of Bush country, but the town’s mayor says John Kerry is the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via MyDD, I see that the Libertarian Party has chosen to nominate some Texan no one has ever heard of for President instead of the charismatic and buzz-inducing Hollywood producer Aaron Russo. So much for them having an impact on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Electablog puts the rest of the Presidential campaign in context. How could anyone be undecided about anything or anyone at this point? The true believers were decided at birth. The believers have been decided since Florida. The sort of believers … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As far as I’m concerned, the main thing to take away from this CBS poll is the following: CANDIDATE SUPPORT BY PARTY John Kerry Reps – Now April 11% 7% Dems – Now April 80% 80% Inds – Now April … Continue reading → Continue reading →

What are unusual places to hold voter-registration drives, Alex? Strip club owners are putting a little bada-bing in the presidential campaign by asking patrons to turn their eyes away from the stage for a moment to fill out a voter … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here are the results of the most recent Scripps Howard Texas Poll, which mostly asked approve/disapprove questions about various politicians. We’ll start with the best news for President Bush, which is that he leads John Kerry in Texas by a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I found this CJR article about the Texas press’ relationship with President Bush awhile back, via Amblongus and Easter Lemming. It’s the end of the piece that interests me the most, where some of the editorial board members are asked … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m glad to see this. Presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry today collected the endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, a police union that backed President Bush in the 2000 election. “After three and a half years of disappointing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jerome Armstrong points out that the Libertarian Party will have a dynamic and potentially very attractive candidate for President this year in Aaron Russo. Their anti-war, anti-PATRIOT Act, anti-big government message ought to be compelling and may allow some disgruntled … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Buried in this article on cracks in GOP discipline regarding Iraq is this bit of strategizing: But talk to some House staffers who are privy to the thoughts and concerns of their congressmen and sometimes surprising expressions of anger and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ralph Nader has filed suit after failing to collect enough signatures to secure a spot on the Texas ballot in November. Nader filed a federal lawsuit in Austin challenging Texas ballot access rules as the deadline passed for him to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

YDB brings us the news that former Sen. Max Cleland will be in San Antonio on Wednesday to announce the formation of Texas Veterans for Kerry. Speaking in support of fellow veteran John Kerry will be Max Cleland, a former … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today is the deadline for getting on the Presidential ballot in Texas, and it’s not clear if Ralph Nader will have enough petition signatures to make it. Monday is the deadline for Nader to submit to the Texas secretary of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s an interesting look at the dynamics of the swing states this time around, taking into account population changes and how they benefit each party. Good reading, and more evidence that this will be a close election. Via Political Wire. Continue reading →

John Kerry will be in Houston tomorrow for Earth Day. The scoop, via Get Donkey: Earth Day with John Kerry Rally for the Environment April 22 – This Thursday Doors open at 11:00 AM University of Houston Main Campus 4800 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute makes A Conservative Case for Voting Democratic. Complaints about Republican profligacy have led the White House to promise to mend its ways. But Bush’s latest budget combines accounting flim-flam with unenforceable promises. So how … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ralph Nader isn’t on any state’s ballot yet, but he’s still trying. Texas has the earliest deadline and some of the toughest requirements to secure a place on the ballot. Nader supporters have until May 4 to collect 64,000 signatures. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ever wonder if the owners of your favorite baseball team has given money to a Presidential candidate? This guy did, and he’s got the results for you. I’m strangely gratified by the fact that the Mets’ ownership gave four grand … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Interesting article on how Vietnamese-Americans view the 2004 Presidential election. The older Vietnamese — the ones who fought alongside American troops in South Vietnam and then fled to America after the communists took over — pay close attention to American … Continue reading → Continue reading →