Debate Musings
[ Posted Thursday, September 27th, 2012 – 17:23 UTC ]
Next up on the presidential campaign schedule: debate season!
Archive of Articles in the "News" Category
America's Increasing Optimism May Help Obama
[ Posted Monday, September 24th, 2012 – 16:40 UTC ]
The American public, over the past few weeks, seems to have gotten more optimistic about the future. These recent gains have been somewhat modest and still far below a majority of the public being optimistic, but if this trend continues for the next month or so it will likely help President Obama's chances of being re-elected.
Friday Talking Points [227] -- Smile, Mitt, You're On Candid Camera!
[ Posted Friday, September 21st, 2012 – 15:25 UTC ]
Wouldn't it be amusingly ironic if Mitt Romney only managed to get 47 percent of the national popular vote for president? It would renew my faith that the universe has a sense of humor, that's for sure.
The Non-Story Of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal's Anniversary
[ Posted Thursday, September 20th, 2012 – 17:03 UTC ]
The most poignant comment of all is that it is simply a non-story. For all of the fulminating and dire predictions from conservatives and military folks, gay people are now openly serving -- and the U.S. military has not fallen apart as a result! Whoa -- who'd a-thunk it? Western Civilization still stands and America has not been conquered by her enemies. Brave men and women still selflessly serve, and the military is stronger than ever.
Friday Talking Points [226] -- Convention Talking Points
[ Posted Friday, September 14th, 2012 – 15:22 UTC ]
The second item of note is that today marks the fifth "birthday" of this column series. September 14, 2007 saw the very first Friday Talking Points column ever (although the name and the column format wouldn't solidify for a few months). Since then, almost every Friday, we've been attempting to provide Democratic talking points for politicians to use to get their point across in a snappy and memorable fashion. How much success we've had doing so is open to interpretation, but we're still here doing it, which tends to indicate that Democrats still have a ways to go to match the Republican ability to keep "on script" during interviews. To put this another way, it's the old Democratic "herding cats" problem.
Conventional Thinking
[ Posted Wednesday, September 12th, 2012 – 15:50 UTC ]
Part of this thinking ("conventional thinking" one might call it, if one were looking for a cheap laugh) most likely stems from the fact that professional pundits (those on expense accounts, in other words) were visibly worn out in Charlotte. The Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention appeared on each others' heels this year, with absolutely no break between the two. This wasn't a problem for the partisans on either side, but it was indeed exhausting for the professional journalists covering both events. I spoke to very conservative and very liberal "A-list" media folks who all said almost exactly the same thing: "The last two weeks have been such a blur, it's hard to keep it all straight in my mind." Which leads to wondering if the media won't eventually pull back on their own coverage -- further than they already have, that is.
Romney's New Health Care Plan
[ Posted Monday, September 10th, 2012 – 17:02 UTC ]
Well, I'm not getting rid of all of health care reform. Of course there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm going to put in place. One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage. Two is to assure that the marketplace allows for individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like.
Friday Talking Points [225] -- Talking Back
[ Posted Friday, August 31st, 2012 – 16:38 UTC ]
We have reached the eye of the hurricane. Half the storm is over. The Republican Party held their national nominating convention all week, and the Democrats are getting ready to hold theirs next week. So we enter these few days of calm between the howling winds, and to mark the occasion we're going with a unique format here today.
GOP's Big Night
[ Posted Thursday, August 30th, 2012 – 21:30 UTC ]
OK, let's get right to my immediate impressions of the final night of the Republican National Convention. I'm going to quickly describe the opening acts, and then get into the big speeches of the night.
GOP-fest, Day Two
[ Posted Wednesday, August 29th, 2012 – 21:37 UTC ]
Welcome once again to my musings and snap judgments which I jot down right after watching the Republican National Convention speeches, and before I read what the rest of the online universe has to say. This way, my opinions might be wildly out of sync with everyone else, but at least you'll know they're not influenced by others. My Day One impressions were fairly close to what others are saying, so make of that whatever you will.