Here’s a sign that not everybody ignored John Edwards’ 2nd place finish in Iowa. The media really did seem to focus on the Hillary/Obama battle, but she finished third, behind Edwards. Trying to “create” the news, perhaps? At any rate, there’s word out of Iowa today that Edwards got a pretty good money-bounce coming out of the Hawkeye state.
Edwards rakes in the dough online
Over the weekend I posted over at Bleeding Heartland noting an Edwards campaign press release that talked about a big increase in their online fundraising. There weren’t too many specifics in the release, and some folks were curious as to amounts. When I emailed the campaign, they were pretty mum on details and [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, John Edwards
Categories: 2008 Election · Edwards
Much of the focus of the “downfall of Hillary” has been on Mark Penn, her campaign strategist/pollster. He’s had a couple of disastrous television interviews and seems to be the driving force behind the way she’s handled the campaign. But…there’s more to the story..
Penn Don’t Tell’er
There’s been a lot of talk about whether Mark Penn will be thrown under the bus to help right Hillary’s campaign or whether, win or lose, her troubles will spell the end of stranglehold of ridiculousness over large sections of [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Hillary Clinton, Mark Penn
Categories: 2008 Election · Clinton
Really!?!?!
White House Spokesman: No One Is ‘Predicting A Recession’
Today aboard Air Force One, a reporter asked presidential spokesman Tony Fratto if the Bush administration was at all worried about a recession, given that on Friday, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) said she “think[s] the economy is slipping toward recession.” Fratto brushed aside such concerns: QUESTION: Senator Clinton said on Saturday that the U.S. [...]
Tags: Bush Administration, Economy
Categories: Bush Administration · Economy
No arguments here. The system’s broken. We need to change it.
There’s Gotta Be a Better Way to Pick a Nominee
And so it was that the candidates departed the cornfields of Iowa for the Granite State, where they would again go into small cafes and blueberry festivals. They’ll go to the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee and the convenience stores of Nashua, and then they will stand for election in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary, if one doesn’t count the Iowa or Wyoming caucuses. And when the votes are tallied, one thing will be absolutely clear: this is no way to pick a president. There is nothing wrong with [...]
Tags: 2008 Election
Categories: 2008 Election
I’m betting somebody’s gonna quash this, before it ever has a chance to be imported. Land of the free? I’m thinking: “Not”. It’s a car than runs on compressed air. That’s right. AIR. This is absolutely amazing, especially when you realize it isn’t pokey and doesn’t cost a forture.
How Cool Is This?
Tags: Compressed Air Car
Categories: Consumer · Environment
All the drama ain’t erupting from New Hampshire this week. The Consumer Electronics Show out in Vegas has more than it’s share, thank you very much! Drama? At the CES? What, pray tell, could have sparked that? Think DVD. High Definition DVD…
Walloped Toshiba Whimpers About Saving HD DVD
Still reeling from Warner Bros.’s decision to abandon its its HD DVD format for Sony’s Blu-ray, Toshiba did its best to put on a brave face at a CES press conference today. But it’s a hard sell. Reuters: “The room was quiet, but electric, like watching a boxer trying to lift himself off the canvas after being knocked down. Toshiba digital AV Vice President of marketing [...]
Tags: CES, DVD format
Categories: Entertainment
Young, first-time, voters. Certainly good to see them turn out, but my how they can skew things. Do they really know what Obama stands for? Or, are they just liking the way he says it?
Learning from Iowa’s Exit Polls
Bowers and I must be wearing different shades of glasses. He keeps suggesting that Obama’s victory in Iowa was not based on getting out the independent vote. He’s totally wrong. First, let’s look at the data. A well-reported five-point bump in turnout among younger voters helped propel Barack Obama to victory in Iowa, and a look behind the numbers shows just how different this new generation of caucusgoers is from the historically more “reliable” group of over-65 voters. Last Thursday evening, 22 percent of Democratic caucusgoers were under 30 years [... ]
Tags: 2008 Election, Barack Obama
Categories: 2008 Election · Obama
A rare moment for Candidate Clinton. If they could bottle this, she might be easier to sell to some voters.
Clinton chokes up with emotion, as her eyes mist up
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – One does not see Hillary Clinton’s eyes get misty in public very often, so there was an instant buzz in the room when she got choked up today in a café here. The moment, which certainly appeared unscripted, happened near [...]
If that doesn’t work, Carl has some further suggestions. Folks, here’s today’s “Must Read” from the trenches.
Open Letter To Hillary
Dear Senator, Look, I’m just a shlub with a blog, but I’ve been watching elections in America for almost fifty years and have been a Democratic as long. My first stint as a campaign volunteer was in fifth grade during the Humphrey-Nixon election of 1968, standing on a street corner with a lemonade stand, not easy to do when you’re in New York City. I would like very much for you to win. I don’t believe in change for change’s sake, although that seems to be trendy right now. If you’re going to change the direction of the country, you really ought to know where you’re taking us. Neither of your main rivals have voiced anything but [...]
By the way, over on the right, they’re not buyin’ the tears..
Crocodile Tears
Calculated. Scripted. Emotional blackmail. How else can you explain this drivel? ABC News’ Kate Snow Reports: “Campaigning in New Hampshire one day before the first-in-the-nation primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton got emotional had tears in her eyes as she spoke with [...]
However, Matt Stoller is more with me:
Clinton’s Sincerity Moment
Echidne is right. Several people have passed me this video of Clinton getting emotional about politics, with sneering comments. The headline on the ABC News piece is ‘Can Clinton’s Emotions Get the Best of Her?’ When Edwards almost gets choked up and talks about how personal XYZ person is on the trail, he’s just passionate. When Clinton does it, she suddenly becomes a hysterical weak woman. I thought her appearance was one of the sweetest, toughest, and most forthright expressions of [...]
But, the debate continues:
Media Torn Over Whether To Cast Clinton As ‘Weak’ Or ‘Calculating’ For ‘Emotional’ Display
Today at a campaign event in New Hampshire, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) “eyes welled up with tears” as she spoke about why she was running for president. “It’s not easy, and I couldn’t do it if I didn’t passionately believe it was the right thing to do,” she said. In a piece entitled, “Can Clinton’s [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Hillary Clinton
Categories: 2008 Election · Clinton
From all sides.
Bill: “This Campaign Is Playing Out Exactly As I Thought It Would”
Although the presidential ambitions of Sen. Hillary Clinton have been bruised in recent days, former President Bill Clinton isn’t surprised. “This campaign is playing out exactly as I thought it would,” Clinton told [...]
A word of advice for Senator Clinton
Skip South Carolina. After tomorrow, announce that you’re taking a moment to retool the campaign. Fire Mark Penn. I know he’s like family, but this is about your career, and what you believe to be best for the nation. Let the word leak that you’re tired of being handled, and that it’s time to let Hillary be Hillary. And be Hillary. The lies, [...]
Tags: 2008 Elections, Hillary Clinton
Categories: 2008 Election · Clinton
The Clinton campaign has problems. Multiple problems. Not all are directly her fault, but the impact is becoming obvious. Tuesday’s not shaping up to be a good one, unless things change.
Shake Up Coming for Clinton Campaign?
Robert Shrum, writing in the New York Daily News: “If (although I strongly suspect the right word is “when”) Hillary Clinton loses tomorrow’s New Hampshire primary, there will be a few proto-obituaries for her campaign and many more stories about how it will be ’shaken up’ or ‘relaunched.’ Scapegoats will be found and exiled: [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Hillary Clinton
Categories: 2008 Election · Clinton
The U.S. isn’t buying what Pakistan is trying to sell about the Bhutto death.
WSJ: U.S. Officials Say Bullets Killed Bhutto
Apparently the Pakistani government is having trouble selling their sun roof assassination theory to American officials. From The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. intelligence officials and diplomats increasingly believe former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto died from a gunshot wound, placing Washington at odds [...]
Or, perhaps, this?
Bhutto Killed by Laser Weapon, Pak Paper Says
Anybody can come up with a conspiracy theory, but what gives a conspiracy theory real legs is when it intertwines dramatic political events with science fiction technology. And that’s what we have with bizarre reports of laser weapons being used [...]
Tags: Bhutto
Categories: Bush Administration · Pakistan
I posted some thoughts earlier this evening on why Obama is seeing such a huge “bounce” coming out of Iowa. Here’s some more detailed analysis, looking at HOW the candidates speak, not WHAT they say…
Leading By Declaring
The conventional wisdom is that Barack Obama’s dramatic surge in the New Hampshire polls is attributable to the “bounce” one might expect from his convincing victory in Iowa, but an interesting theory by Jesse Wendel at The Group News Blog suggests it might also result from the way in which Obama, Edwards and Clinton speak even more than the content of what each is saying.[...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Democrats
Categories: 2008 Election · Democrats
Back away from all the partisan bickering going on in New Hampshire. How’s the national picture shaping up, politically?
Rasmussen Reports Surprise John Edwards Up 9% (to 23%) Nationally Since 12/29
According to the latest Rasmussen Reports numbers, the anticipated Obama national bounce seems, instead, to be pointing John Edwards’s way. The latest Rasmussen Daily Democratic Presidential tracking polls show that as of 1/6/2008, John Edwards has increased his percentage [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Democrats
Categories: 2008 Election · Democrats
There was a frightening incident off the coast of Iran this weekend, a Saturday incident that didn’t come to light until today. The entire “we should negotiate with Iran” issue almost became moot.
Iran Pushes It’s Luck
Iranian Revolutionary Guard fast-attack boats came with 200 yards of American Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz Saturday, almost provoking American forces to open fire: Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats harassed and provoked three U.S. Navy ships in the [...]
UPDATE: Iran, by the way, says “no big deal”…
Iran plays down Gulf incident with US
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that a confrontation between Iranian boats and U.S. Navy ships in Gulf over the weekend was “something normal” and was [...]
Tags: Iran
Categories: Iran
The incident happened Sunday, but really didn’t see the light of day until Morning Joe on MSNBC Monday morning. It’s a great clip and the on-air folks treated it absolutely perfectly. There’s video included. You really must take a look!
Hillary Clinton Battles Chris Matthews In Heated Exchange Over Troop Withdrawal
During her visit to Nashua North High School here in New Hampshire earlier this afternoon, Hillary Clinton did her second presser in three days and got into a testy exchange with Chris Matthews. He asked her to distinguish her platform on returning troops from Iraq versus Barack Obama. Mrs. Clinton said a few words, [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Hillary Clinton, Iraq
Categories: 2008 Election · Clinton · Iraq War
Something bothersome is happening with the campaign coverage in the media. It feels to me that, more than usual, candidates’ images and votes are being driven by media coverage, thanks to somewhat of a “pack” mentality. Obama wins in Iowa, thanks to a huge turnout of young voters. Should that translate directly into a ten point lead for him in New Hampshire? It doesn’t seem likely that it should, although newspaper headlines and television video clips have managed to put forth an image that has suddenly divided the Democratic battle into one between Clinton and Obama, with the former being portrayed as “yesterday” and the latter being positioned as a “rock star”. Where’s John Edwards, the candidate who actually finished second in Iowa, ahead of Hillary Clinton?
Steve Benen at Crooks and Liars has some thoughts and links to some fascinating observations:
Why campaign reporters travel in packs
Stewart describes it, there’s a weird clump of legs, all moving in the same direction. Suddenly the kids see a ball rolling, and the weird clump converges on it in an awkward, graceless, and rather [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards
Categories: Clinton · Obama
