President ’08

The New Refrain That We’ve Heard So Many Times

By Justin Katz | July 27, 2008 |

Conservatives don’t seem to be “attacking” Obama so much as expressing a lack of surprise at his hollow recitation of trigger phrases. Consider the ending to a piece by Andrew Ferguson: To pump a little vigor into his limp sentiments, Obama attached them to a hypnotic refrain. “This is the moment,” he said in Berlin,…

We Can Change What We Believe In

By Justin Katz | July 26, 2008 |

Catholic blogger Mark Shea has been keeping an eye on the messiahfication of Barack Obama, and I have to admit that there’s something foreboding about the fanaticism. The feel is not unlike that sparked by a piece, years back, reporting that Pat Buchanan’s young staffers referred to him reverently as The Candidate. Enthusiasm for a…

Fonz-bama

By Marc Comtois | July 25, 2008 |

Many in the press have recognized that the surge in Iraq has worked. USA Today (no right-wing paper), for instance: Why then can’t Obama bring himself to acknowledge the surge worked better than he and other skeptics, including this page, thought it would? What does that stubbornness say about the kind of president he’d be?…

BerlinObama

By Marc Comtois | July 23, 2008 |

The Obama campaign’s worldwide campaign–er, fact-finding–tour continues. (h/t) For days, campaign advisers have attempted to present the trip as a listening tour with key leaders who Obama said he expects to forge relationships with for years to come. But the extent of the stagecraft and planning makes it hard to ignore that the campaign, long…

Rasmussen: Presidential Race Tightens

By Marc Comtois | July 22, 2008 |

We haven’t done a lot of Presidential poll tracking around here, mostly because of the “meh” factor we feel for the two candidates, I suppose. But in case you’re wondering, it looks like Obama and McCain are neck and neck. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows Barack Obama attracting 43% of…

Misunderstanding Maliki

By Justin Katz | July 20, 2008 |

Via Instapundit comes re-reportage that reports of Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s support for Obama’s withdrawal plan were over-hyped. From CNN: But a spokesman for al-Maliki said his remarks “were misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately.” Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the possibility of troop withdrawal was based on the continuance of security improvements, echoing statements…

Is it Enough to Make Tom W Into At Least a Tepid John McCain Supporter?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | July 17, 2008 |

From John McCain’s remarks delivered yesterday to the 99th NAACP Convention in Cincinnati… If I am elected president, school choice for all who want it, an expansion of Opportunity Scholarships, and alternative certification for teachers will all be part of a serious agenda of education reform. Does this kind of statement make any McCain skeptics…

Bob Barr Already Giving Up on Pretending He’s a Libertarian

By Carroll Andrew Morse | July 16, 2008 |

This is from a Bob Barr-for-President media advisory I received via e-mail…Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr to attend former VP Al Gore’s *We* Campaign event… Bob Barr and former VP Gore have met privately to discuss the issue of global warming, and Barr was invited by Mr. Gore to attend the *We* Campaign event.…

Cleaning the Attic

By Marc Comtois | July 15, 2008 |

Time to clean out the “To do” link “attic” I keep handy. So, before they vanish into the ether, here are some that may be interesting to others. Part I: Politics and Economy Obama, Shaman by Michael Knox Beran: Obama-mania is bound in the end to disappoint. Not only does it teach us to despise…

Jesse Jackson Unintentionally Weighs In

By Monique Chartier | July 10, 2008 |

In his quest for the Presidency, has Senator Barack Obama been talking down to African Americans? [For my part, I have no idea; I haven’t been able to get past the price tag of some of his proposed initiatives.] If he has, was the reaction by Reverend Jesse Jackson appropriate and proportional? ADDENDUM Video available…