Backstage Politics: The Way Things Change after the Election

Senator Claire McCaskill, the newly elected (with a boost from Michael J. Fox) Missouri Democrat, won “election last year with a populist campaign bashing special interest and corporate lobbyists.” (News and Observer; 1-29-07). That was before the election. After the election Senator McCaskill invited dozens of those same lobbyists “to a fundraiser: $1,000 per political…

Read More

Just a little Chat among Friends

We Democrats are chatty folks. Our presidential candidates launch their campaigns with web-side chats. Hillary sits on the couch for a chat. Then she flies around the country for more intimate chats recorded by forests of cameras. She invites us to join in: “Let the conversation began.” Actually, she and Bill have been having this…

Read More

Over Answering, Indeed!

It may be a coincidence and not the vaunted Clinton PR machine at work, but since Hillary announced there have been two attacks on John Edwards (see Gary’s post below: The Orange County White House.) and one on Barack Obama in the media. The attack on Edwards went like this: How can he build a…

Read More

The Orange County White House

Re John and Elizabeth Edwards’ new home: The only thing they’re guilty of is over-answering. In situations like this, the less said, the better. Remember the first rule of getting out of a hole: Put down the shovel. It’s his money, he earned it and he can spend it like he wants. Click Here to…

Read More

Bush and Webb

In his State of the Union Speech, President Bush laid out his vision of the war on terrorism, saying Islamic Radicalism is an ideology – much like Communism and Nazism were ideologies in their times, opposing everything we stand for and determined to destroy us. Democratic Senator Jim Webb, in his rebuttal, did not differ…

Read More

Why Shouldn’t Congress Vote Now on the War?

The Democratic leaders in Congress – such as Speaker Pelosi – made it clear during the election they believe President Bush is sacrificing the lives of young men in Iraq for no good purpose. So it comes as a shock when President Bush asserted he can send more troops to Iraq without Congress’ approval, by…

Read More

John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary’s ‘PR’ Machine

A year ago it appeared, with any luck, John Edwards’ drive for the White House would die a quick death. Today, Edwards’ fortunes soaring. What happened? Edwards was on Jay Leno the other night and, I have a feeling, he’s stolen a page from Barack Obama’s play book. Obama is an unusual politician. Because of…

Read More

Making War on Ideology

President Bush said on “60 Minutes” Sunday night that Americans must understand “we’re in an ideological struggle.” That’s precisely the problem, Mr. President. We understand that. We Americans will fight a war for our national interests and survival. That’s why we fought the Nazis and the Japanese. That’s why we fought the Cold War. That’s…

Read More

Chapter Two – Nancy Pelosi

With North Korea building missiles and Iran building nuclear bombs it looks like the time has come for us to build the Strategic Missile Defense. After all, if Korea or Iran are dead set on building nuclear weapons, there doesn’t seem to be a way to stop them – short of launching a pre-emptive nuclear…

Read More

The Female Mystique

I must admit the primordial male in me is having a little trouble coping with all the gushing over ‘the first female Speaker of the House.’ It seems to me we are having another pop-culture moment – a media feeding frenzy not as intense as like Tom Cruise’s wedding or Angelina Jolie’s baby – but…

Read More