Archive for 2008
Debate Prep
Talking heads pay attention to what candidates say in debates. Voters pay attention to who they are. That is why instant debate analysis often misses what is important – and why it takes time for opinions to jell. Sarah Palin got good instant reviews last week. But she left a bad impression: snarky. She may…
Read MorePalin Bingo
A reader of this blog sent this along about last week’s vice presidential debate: Some friends and I played “Palin Bingo” while watching the debate. (Squares said things like, “Pit Bull,” “Terrorism,” and “One Heartbeat Away.”) Between Palin herself and Biden’s stumbles there were a lot of laughs. I guess if you can’t laugh at…
Read MoreBombs Away!
Carter made an apt analogy Friday about the presidential race: It’s the fourth quarter, John McCain is two touchdowns behind and he has to score. The race is not over. But if McCain doesn’t change the momentum in the next two weeks, it will be over. So, once again, Mad Bomber McCain has turned the…
Read MoreVeep-watching
Democratic and Republican partisans breathed a sigh of relief last night. Neither Biden nor Palin ran the family car off the cliff. Democrats secretly worry that Palin’s regular-gal shtick might again ignite McCain’s campaign. His chances seem to rise every time he cedes the stage to her. Once again, she won Miss Congeniality. Miss Congeniality…
Read MoreDefending Perdue
I have quoted before the blunt response Bert Bennett always gave when people started analyzing election wins and losses. Bert, who was Terry Sanford’s campaign manager in 1960 and Jim Hunt’s political mentor, would say: “When you win, everything you did was right. When you lose, everything you did was wrong.” This year, Democrats are…
Read MoreQuick Hits
Sarah Palin puts me in mind of a quote by Goethe, who apparently followed American politics very closely: “Nothing is more frightening than ignorance in action.” Maybe one thing more frightening for Democrats is Joe Biden’s mouth. When it comes to shooting himself in the foot, Biden uses a machine gun. Tonight’s debate will have…
Read MoreA Brick from Skip
I received a curious email, followed by a phone call, from Richard the Intellectual. Richard tends to watch politics from afar but something happened yesterday that left him completely, absolutely enraged. He got a brick in the mail from State House Republican Leader Skip Stam. That’s right, a brick. The kind, as Richard said, he…
Read MoreThirteen Days?
When I read James Romoser’s story in the Winston-Salem Journal about Senator Dole spending only 13 days in North Carolina during 2006, my immediate reaction was: “That’s an ad.” Thirteen days out of 365? Less than two weeks out of 52? This is a gift from the political gods to Kay Hagan’s campaign. Any bets…
Read MoreMaybe It Is Change
Who knows, this election may really be about change and not just political double talk about change from politicians reading polls. Or, at least, whether the politicians beating the “change drum” are sincere or not – the voters are dead serious. Which would explain some curious poll numbers we’re seeing right here in North Carolina.…
Read MoreWho Gets It?
I miss Bill Clinton. Not the bad Bill, who can’t bring himself to say a good word about Obama or a bad word about McCain-Palin. But the good Bill. The only person in politics who can talk both intelligently and empathetically about The Problem and The People. That’s what this Great Financial Crisis – Depression…
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