2008 Election

If he becomes president Senator McCain has promised he will:

* Further weaken the military by continuing the Iraq war indefinitely against the advice members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of the Army and Marine Corps who are stating our military is overstretched to breaking point

Could the recent firing (or, more accurately, recent demotion) of Mark Penn, architect of Hillary Clinton's campaign, save the party's chances in the general election? Has he, in other words, been designated at the official scapegoat for the campaign's viciousness? And will he serve this position well, becoming the lightning...

Early on in the presidential primaries, it seemed that Barack Obama had managed to do the improbable, if not the impossible -- transcend the thorny question of race in American politics. I had hoped this situation would continue.

It was not, alas, to be. The whole issue of Reverend...

Wharton professor Gregory P. Nini (who worked with me on Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party ) and I just released a new study that undermines Hillary Clinton's efforts to claim popular legitimacy from a possible win in the popular vote. The problem: in 2008 the popular...

Eighty-one percent of Americans now agree that "things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track," the most since this question has been asked and a remarkable preponderance of pessimism by any comparison.

And this recession is only beginning; real home prices have dropped only about 13 percent, (since...

Campaigning in Philadelphia last week, Hillary Clinton threw a bucket of cold water on the growing chorus calling for her to concede the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama. Evoking the image of Philadelphia's fictional fighting hero, Rocky Balboa, Hillary said: "Let me tell you something. When it comes to finishing...

Right now America has been held a prisoner of war longer than John McCain was held as a POW by the Viet Cong in Viet Nam. I do not wish to diminish or degrade the torture and the humiliation that McCain faced during his horrible ordeal but none of that...

The battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was the turning point of the American Civil War. On the third day, July 3, 1863, the Confederate Army's failed assault on the Union forces massed on Cemetery Ridge -- Pickett's Charge -- marked the end of the struggle. Many observers believe the April 22nd...

Hillary Clinton is possessed by the spirit of Joan Crawford. Like that notorious über-bitch immortalized by Faye Dunaway in the camp classic Mommie Dearest, Hillary bulldozed into a Democratic primary dominated by men and brazenly declared, as any self-respecting diva would: Don't fuck with me fellas! This ain't my...

The pro-Clinton blogs are flogging yet another "How about THIS!!!???" idea designed to present yet another laughable justification for Sen. Clinton to be awarded the nomination she is losing. You may remember it by its more formal name from when you were a small child: Let's pretend.
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The nation commemorated the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's death last week. Here's a quote from him that didn't get much play in the testimonials: "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." Two recent studies highlights the lack of...