At first, Senator McCain seemed to be resentfully respectful toward the probably presidential Obama; I think McCain must have heard from the same Republican operative who said to me that in this third debate, McCain had to come across as "presidential too" -- as Obama already did in the earlier...

The McCain campaign crossed the line today from negative character attacks to the kind of character assassination that plays to the basest impulses and incites the most dangerous reaction. We've seen the prelude this week in the McCain crowds and in Sarah Palin's well-rehearsed, carefully telepromptered and increasingly ugly diatribes....

The slide continues, but these days it's a mudslide of desperation and deceit -- so blatant that McCain strategists, if you can call them that, announced they were moving to nasty because they can't compete on the issues. The candidate himself chimed in, promising to take the gloves off...

Sarah Palin has experience being a runner-up -- which will come in handy in November. Tonight she barely kept up. In advance, the commenteriat almost unanimously agreed on a false measure of this debate. Judging by "expectation" meant that pundits could conceivably award a faux victory if she was half-coherent...

My friend Tim Russert, who didn't pull his words, famously said on the night of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries: "I think we now know who the Democratic nominee will be." Tonight I think we know who the next President will be.

The debate was a crossroads. For...

Barack Obama clearly wishes he hadn't said what he did about the feelings of small town Pennsylvanians -- at least the way he explained it at that fundraiser in San Francisco. (Note to the candidate: there is no such thing as a "closed" event; there's always someone with an electronic...

Michael Bloomberg's decision to leave the Republican Party, to which he never properly belonged and only used as a political rest stop, was a masterstroke of timing. The decision not only engaged the chattering class and commanded the cable outlets, but made the network news. If Bloomberg is serious about...

The leaked strategy memos of Giuliani, McCain and Romney stirred a tempest earlier in the campaign. We have obtained copies of the redacted material from those documents and excerpts from similar memos to other declared and potential Republican candidates. We cannot vouch for their authenticity. But they sound candid--and all...

The leaked strategy memos of Giuliani, McCain and Romney stirred a tempest earlier in the campaign. We have obtained copies of the redacted material from those documents and excerpts from similar memos to other declared and potential Republican candidates. We cannot vouch for their authenticity. But they sound candid--and all...

The leaked strategy memos of Giuliani, McCain and Romney stirred a tempest earlier in the campaign. We have now obtained copies of the redacted material from those documents and excerpts from similar memos to other declared and potential Republican candidates. We cannot vouch for their authenticity. But they sound candid--and...

The leaked strategy memos of Giuliani, McCain and Romney stirred a tempest earlier in the campaign. We have now obtained copies of the redacted material from those documents and excerpts from similar memos to other declared and potential Republican candidates. We cannot vouch for their authenticity. But they sound candid--and...