2008 Elections

McCain's Massive Fail

Eric Schmeltzer | Posted 09.29.2008 | Politics

Read More: 2008 Elections, Leadership, Wall Street Bailout, John McCain, Wall Street Crisis, John McCain 2008, 2008 Election, John Mccain Bailout Talks, Bailout Fails, Politics News
Eric Schmeltzer

It was McCain's failure to even keep his finger on the pulse of his own party's caucus, showing himself to be utterly clueless as to where his House members stood, as late as Monday morning.

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In Defense Of Sarah Palin

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.29.2008 | Politics

Read More: Vice President, Debate, Gwen Ifill, Vp Debate, Joe Biden 2008, Mccain, Obama, Cbs, Campaign, Palin Biden Debate, Governor, President, Putin, Vice Presidential Debate, Katie Couric, Russia, 2008 Campaign, Couric, Alaska, John McCain, Biden Palin Debate, 2008 Elections, 08, 2008 Election, Biden, Barack Obama, Election, 08 Election, Elections, 08 Campaign, Palin, Barack, Sarah Palin, Rears His Head, 2008 Presidential Race, Airspace, Debates, Ifill, Politics News
Chris Weigant

I have to at least try to defend the point she was (so badly) trying to make. Alaska was on the front lines of the Cold War. It's a valid point, especially with a newly-resurgent and newly-belligerent Russia.

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A Hat Tip for Lehrer

Eric Schmeltzer | Posted 09.29.2008 | Media

Read More: 2008 Elections, Debate, Presidential Debates, Jim Lehrer, 2008 Election, John McCain, Barack Obama, Debate Moderating Jim Lehrer, Media News
Eric Schmeltzer

Let me take a moment to praise the absolutely wonderful job Jim Lehrer did moderating this debate.

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Obama, Biden Storm Into Battleground Virginia

Diane Tucker | Posted 09.28.2008 | Home

Read More: 2008 Elections, Wall Street Bailout, Senator Jim Webb, George W. Bush, Barack Obama Polls, Tammi Terrell, Presidential Debates, Barack Obama Race, Ed Houck, Offthebus, Military, Kool & the Gang, Adjustable-Rate Mortgages, Obama Voters, Health Care, Barack Obama Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Joe Biden Vp, Civil War, G.I. Bill, Hillary Clinton 2008, Joe Biden, 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Virginia, Barack Obama 2008, E.T., Wall Street Crisis, John McCain 2008, U2, Military Spending, Hillary Clinton, Canvassing, Marvin Gaye, Walter Reed, Home News
Diane Tucker

"Last week 300 volunteers knocked on 10,000 doors! Even volunteers from Maryland drove down to help us. It was awesome."

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Friday Talking Points [49] -- Before And After The First Debate

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.26.2008 | Politics

Read More: Debate, Barney Frank, Mccain, Red to Blue, Campaign, Dscc, Sarah Palin, Offshore Drilling, Bailout, 2008, Midotw, Nancy Pelosi, Craig Ferguson, Katie Couric, Drilling, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Pork, Reid, Great Depression, Presidential Debate, Budget, Congress, Letterman, Joe Biden, 08, Barack Obama, Biden, Election, Howie Klein, 08 Election, Elections, Mddotw, Leadership Challenge, Appropriations Bill, Harry Reid, Credit Card, Dodd, Debates, Adjournment, Senate, Bill of Rights, Obama, Chris Dodd, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Cbs, Omnibus, Presidential Debates, Bush, Pelosi, Continuing Resolution, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, 2008 Campaign, Financial Crisis, 700 Billion, Adjourn, John McCain, House, 2008 Elections, 2008 Election, Ferguson, 08 Campaign, Offshore Drilling Ban, Palin, Late Night, 2008 Presidential Race, David Letterman, Frank, Politics News
Chris Weigant

[UPDATED -- See part 2 in the Talking Points section.] This week's column will be presented in a sort of semi-liveblogging fashion. What you're getti...

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McCain is Giving the Economy the 'Terri Schiavo Treatment'

Tina Dupuy | Posted 09.25.2008 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama 2008, 2008 Elections, John McCain, Jesus Christ, 2008 Presidential Election, Politics News
Tina Dupuy

"History has shown that in times of real trial, elected officials rise to the occasion." President George Bush's address to the nation September 24, 2...

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McCain Comes To Destroy Compromise, Not To Save It

Eric Schmeltzer | Posted 09.25.2008 | Politics

Read More: 2008 Elections, John McCain, Wall Street Bailout, John McCain 2008, Wall Street Crisis, Bailout, Debates, 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Politics News
Eric Schmeltzer

And so it all comes into focus. Per Marc Ambinder, it seems that chatter on the Hill is that John McCain will come back to DC to destroy any compromi...

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Is Bush Profiting from this Mess? Thoughts on the Politics of the Economic Crisis

Leah McElrath Renna | Posted 09.25.2008 | Politics

Read More: George Bush, 2008 Elections, Merrill Lynch, John McCain, Wall Street Crisis, Lone Star Funds, Economy, George W. Bush, John Grayken, Politics News
Leah McElrath Renna

"Panic!!!! Panic!!!! Panic!!!! We have to act now!!! Now!!! Now!!! No time to think or try to understand!!!!! And, even if you did try to understand, ...

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McCain Would Undermind Development By Restricting Women's Access To Reproductive Health Programs

Jane Roberts | Posted 09.25.2008 | Home

Read More: Child Mortality, 2008 Elections, Women, John McCain, Reproductive Rights, United Nations, Maternal Health, Development Assistance, HIV/AIDS, Barack Obama, Women's Health, Millennium Development Goals, Health, Abstinence Education, Home News
Jane Roberts

John, when the world takes care of women, women take care of the world. The Bush Administration plays all kinds of games with women's access to reproductive health and family planning. You haven't shown me that you would be any better.

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Electoral Math Update -- Obama Bounces Back

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.24.2008 | Politics

Read More: Tossup, Polls, Vice President, Elector, State, Dead Cat Bounce, Poll, Mccain, Obama, Campaign, Charts, Electoral College, President, Sarah Palin, Electoral, 2008, 2008 Campaign, Election Analysis, Bounce, Chart, 2008 Electoral Graphics, John McCain, Electoral Vote, 2008 Elections, Joe Biden, 08, Abulsme.com, 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Biden, Election, Electoral Votes, 08 Election, Elections, 08 Campaign, Vote, Palin, Barack, 2008 Presidential Race, Samuel Minter, State by State, State Polls, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Today was a banner day for Obama in the national polls (especially the one that puts him up nine points, 52/43) -- but they are largely meaningless, since that is not how we elect our president.

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Better than Lipstick on a Pig

Timothy Karr | Posted 09.24.2008 | Media

Read More: 2008 Elections, Free Press, Debates, Citizen Journalism, Journalism, Big Media, Foreign Policy Presidential Debate, National Security Presidential Debate, Media Coverage of 2008 Election, Democratic Abc Debate, ABC Debate, Media News
Timothy Karr

We have built a tool that will allow thousands of debate watchers to "score" the performance of the media moderators during the final four presidential and vice presidential debates.

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TWiB Episode Six - New Poll States "Race" will Matter in Election!

Elon James White | Posted 09.23.2008 | Media

Read More: Associated Press, 2008 Elections, Yahoo!, Race, Barack Obama, Stating the Obvious, This Week in Blackness, Brooklyn Comedy Company, Media News
Elon James White

The Brooklyn Comedy Company is proud to debut its web series "This Week in Blackness" on the Huffington Post, with the sixth entry in the series.

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Suddenly Obama's Auto-Policies Matter: Michigan Is The New Florida

Diane Tucker | Posted 09.22.2008 | Home

Read More: Polls, 2008 Elections, Unemployment Rate, High Oil Prices, Fuel Efficiency, United Auto Workers, Obama Working Class Voters, 2008 Recession, Detroit News, CAFE Standards, Working Class, Offthebus, Unemployment, Obama Swing States, Oil Drilling, Bailout, Hybrid Cars, Recession Fears, Plug-in Hybrids, HuffPost OffTheBus, Swing Voters, Michigan, Fuel Economy Standards, Obama Working Class Whites, Job Losses, Fuel Economy, John McCain, Michigan Delegates, Auto Extremist, Detroit Free Press, Manufacturing, Voting Record, 2008 Election, Recession, Barack Obama, American Manufacturing, Pollsters, Barack Obama 2008, Swing States, Mccain Swing States, John McCain 2008, Cnn, 2008 Presidential Race, Oil, Fox News, Peter De Lorenzo, Auto Industry, Economy, Home News
Diane Tucker

Any sort of cash incentive to get manufacturers to build more efficient vehicles -- and to get people to buy more of them -- is an admirable thing. But let's not forget that if people just make smarter choices, this nation's energy usage will go down dramatically.

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Financial Bailout = Patriot Act Redux: Under Cover of Crisis, the Republic is Lost

Pete Cenedella | Posted 09.22.2008 | Business

Read More: Chuck Schumer, 2008 Elections, No Blank Check, Depression, Usa Patriot Act, Paulson, The New York Times, Economic Crisis, Obama, Chris Dodd, Democratic Party, Democrats, 2008 Election, Recession, Barack Obama, Charles Schumer, Henry Paulson Plan, Mainstream Media, Patriot Act, Bailout, FInancial Markets, Bernanke, Henry Paulson, Financial Crisis, New York Times, Ben Bernanke, John Ashcroft, Bear Stearns Bailout, Treasury Secretary, Wall Street Crisis, Wall Street, Business News
Pete Cenedella

Forgive me if I smell a similar attempt by the Republicans to ram a lopsided, ready-made and offensive prescription down the throats of the American people under the cover of crisis.

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Friday Talking Points [48] -- Throwing Out The Rulebook

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: Gaffe, Bugliosi, Markets, Don Siegleman, Bail Out, Feinstein, Mark Pryor, Steve Bradbury, Fisa, Mccain, Campaign, Mary Landrieu, Difi, Sarah Palin, Offshore Drilling, Nation of Whiners, Bailout, 2008, National Security, Constitutional Rights, Midotw, Paris Hilton Energy Plan, Drilling, Gang of 10, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Kent Conrad, Torture Memo, Rove, Energy, Gang of Ten, Executive, Democrat, Basketball, Feingold, Joe Biden, 08, Justice Department, Barack Obama, Biden, Election, 08 Election, Elections, Blue Ribbon Commission, Mddotw, Wiretapping, Charles Manson, Crisis, Financial, Dnc, Spain, Warrantless, Russ Feingold, Gramm, Ben Nelson, Gang of 20, Vincent Bugliosi, Economy, Meltdown, John Yoo, Middle Class, Vermont, Regulation, Democratic, Obama, Dianne Feinstein, Media, Fourth Amendment, Republican, Bush, Savings and Loan, Siegelman, Office of Legal Counsel, Playbook, Phil Gramm, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, 2008 Campaign, Progressive Party, Yoo, Ken Salazar, Fat Cats, Gang of Twenty, Mental Recession, Keating Five, John McCain, Karl Rove, Rules, Msm, Attorney General, Count the Lies, 2008 Elections, Contempt, 2008 Election, Tom Carper, Oil Companies, Senior Moment, Murder, Charlotte Dennett, Blanche Lincoln, Tim Johnson, Progressive, 08 Campaign, Wall Street, Rulebook, Palin, 2008 Presidential Race, Oil, Deregulation, Torture, Prosecute, Manson, Dennett, Olc, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Back in Volume 36 of this Friday Talking Points column, I pointed out what seemed to me to be an obvious observation -- that the media was going a lot...

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McCain's Economic Freakout vs. Obama's Measured Reponse

Eric Schmeltzer | Posted 09.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama 2008, 2008 Elections, John McCain, John McCain 2008, Wall Street, Economic Crisis, Sec, 2008 Election, Recession, Barack Obama, Politics News
Eric Schmeltzer

In the middle of the biggest financial crisis we've had in decades, McCain would dump the SEC Chair. Yeah, because that wouldn't freak the entire market the F out.

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Conyers Demands "Immediate Halt to Republican Vote Suppression Efforts"

Brad Friedman | Posted 09.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: 2008 Elections, Gop, John Conyers, Olympics, Economy, Michigan, Michael Mukasey, Vote Caging, Justice Department, Voter Suppression, Civil Rights, Politics News
Brad Friedman

The chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers', is calling on the John McCain campaign to "immediately halt Republican vote suppression efforts."

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Imprisoned Voters Take Aim at the Presidential Election

Anthony Papa | Posted 09.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: 2008 Elections, Gop, John McCain, Barack Obama, 2008 Presidential Race, Voting, Politics News
Anthony Papa

A coalition of concerned citizens in Alabama is shaking up the GOP with their goal of registering voters in the most unlikely of places -- state prisons.

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VP Selections Draws New "Change" Candidate to the Race

Bruno Giussani | Posted 09.18.2008 | Politics

Read More: 2008 Elections, Vice President, Obama, Candidates, Mccain, President, 2008 Presidential Race, Fun, Politics News
Bruno Giussani

Stephanie Bowman has been circulating the following text per e-mail among friends. I asked her permission to post it here -- thus taking her bid to the national stage.

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Electoral Math Checkup -- Obama's Low Point?

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.17.2008 | Politics

Read More: Tossup, Polls, Vice President, Elector, State, Poll, Mccain, Obama, Campaign, Charts, Electoral College, President, Sarah Palin, Electoral, 2008, 2008 Campaign, Election Analysis, Chart, 2008 Electoral Graphics, John McCain, Electoral Vote, 2008 Elections, Joe Biden, 08, Abulsme.com, 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Biden, Election, Electoral Votes, 08 Election, Elections, 08 Campaign, Vote, Palin, Barack, 2008 Presidential Race, Samuel Minter, State by State, State Polls, Politics News
Chris Weigant

The national trend for Obama may have turned around in his favor in just the last couple of days. So even though things look grim here, Obama is already starting to bounce back.

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McCain Doesn't Know What His Own Committee Does (VIDEO)

Think Progress | Posted 09.17.2008 | Politics

Read More: 2008 Elections, John McCain, Mccain Commerce Committee, Politics News

With Wall Street's financial institutions in turmoil, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) argued in a series of interviews today that his experience on the Senate...

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Democrats Go On Offense

Financial Times | Andrew Ward | Posted 09.16.2008 | Politics

Read More: John McCain Democrats, Democrats Republican Wall St Crisis, Economic Crisis, Joe Biden, 2008 Elections, Wall Street Crisis, Barack Obama, Republicans, Politics News

Barack Obama fought to regain the initiative in the presidential race on Tuesday as the Wall Street financial crisis threatened to stall the recent bu...

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It's Wrong to Count People Who Don't Vote

Michael Markarian | Posted 09.16.2008 | Politics

Read More: 2008 Elections, Elections, Ballot Initiatives, Proposition 105, Clean Elections, Voting Rights, Democracy, Fair Elections, Election 2008, Arizona, Animals, 2008 Election, Election, 08 Election, Voting, Yahoo!, Politics News
Michael Markarian

People who have died or moved and are still on the voter rolls.

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War and Politics at the Age Four and 11/12ths

Pete Cenedella | Posted 09.16.2008 | Politics

Read More: 2008 Elections, Politics, Children, Kids, Hillary, Iraq War, Obama, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, 2008 Presidential Election, Politics News
Pete Cenedella

Today, I want to look fondly back at a moment before the bruising ugliness of this general election; indeed, a moment before even the tensions between...

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More Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Please

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.15.2008 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, Vice President, Lies, Experience, Jane Swift, Face the Nation, Joe Biden 2008, Drugs, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Mccain, Obama, Campaign, President, Sarah Palin, Bush, Bush Doctrine, Lilly Ledbetter, Domestic Policy, 2008 Campaign, Equal Pay for Women, Ireland, Bob Schieffer, Cliffs Notes, Napolitano, Surrogate, Trial Lawyers, Women, Alaska, John McCain, Wasserman Schultz, Campaign Ad, Transcript, Bridge to Nowhere, Equal Pay, 2008 Elections, 08, Lie, 2008 Election, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Barack Obama, Biden, Election, Foreign Policy, Double Standard, 08 Election, Lobbyist, Iraq Kuwait, Elections, Oil Sex Scandal, 08 Campaign, Janet Napolitano, Sex, Palin, Barack, Honor, 2008 Presidential Race, Oil, Hillary Clinton, Truth, Bridge to Sell You, Schultz, Ledbetter, Schieffer, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Her performance was so strong and so well focused that it would be foolish not to immediately send her out on the campaign trail and/or to as many television interviews as she can squeeze into her schedule.

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