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McCain Tweaks Friedman Over Gas-Tax Column

May 1, 2008 6:43 PM CDT

McCain Tweaks Friedman Over Gas-Tax Column

He jokes that columnist probably gets chauffeured around

(Newser) - John McCain pushed back today against a New York Times op-ed that deemed a gas-tax holiday “shameful pandering,” painting Thomas Friedman as elitist: “I understand in New York City that you don't really drive a long way," he said. "And then maybe you're chauffeured.”...

Wright's Reappearance Is Good News for Obama

OPINION

Apr 28, 2008 7:27 PM CDT

Wright's Reappearance Is Good News for Obama

Controversial pastor distancing himself from beleaguered candidate

(Newser) - Jeremiah Wright’s return to the limelight looks bad for Barack Obama at first blush, but in fact it may be helping the hopeful:

Wright is distancing himself from Obama (and mocking his role as a “spiritual advisor”) as he redirects attention to the black church, Christopher Beam

...

McCain Claims Obama Is
Hamas Choice

Apr 26, 2008 8:00 AM CDT

McCain Claims Obama Is Hamas Choice

Alleged endorsement is fair game, his campaign insists

(Newser) - John McCain's campaign plans to make an issue out of an alleged "endorsement" of Barack Obama by Hamas, TPM reports. In a conference call with bloggers yesterday, McCain defended a fundraising email that claimed Obama was the militant group's choice for president. "I think it's very clear who...

Clinton Strategist Blasts 'Unfair' Obama Camp

OPINION

Apr 25, 2008 2:26 PM CDT

Clinton Strategist Blasts 'Unfair' Obama Camp

Penn's replacement rails against 'personal attacks'

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton's campaign isn't the rough one, top aide Geoff Garin writes in the Washington Post, railing against what he calls "the direct, personal character attacks that the Obama campaign has leveled against Clinton from the beginning of this race." In addition, he charges, the candidate "has...

More GOP Ads Take
Direct Aim at Obama

Apr 25, 2008 11:43 AM CDT

More GOP Ads Take Direct Aim at Obama

Republicans trying to take advantage of his recent troubles

(Newser) - More Republicans are taking advantage of Barack Obama's newfound vulnerability by giving him a starring role in their political ads, the Los Angeles Times reports. One New Mexico spot says Obama disrespects “the American way of life,” and another in Louisiana that mentions his “radical” healthcare plan...

Clinton's Victory Demeans Uplifting Politics

OPINION

Apr 24, 2008 3:33 PM CDT

Clinton's Victory Demeans Uplifting Politics

NY Times columnists is sickened by Democrat's pandering

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton prevailed in Pennsylvania by dragging Barack Obama's bipartisan, hopeful vision through the muck, proving politics is “frequently mean and irrational,” Gail Collins writes in the New York Times. Clinton showed that the playing field is dirty, and that even the junior senator from Illinois would go...

McCain Wants GOP to Pull Wright-Referencing Ad in NC

Apr 23, 2008 4:15 PM CDT

McCain Wants GOP to Pull Wright-Referencing Ad in NC

State party trying to tarnish down-ticket Democratic candidates

(Newser) - John McCain has demanded North Carolina Republicans drop an ad attacking two Democratic candidates for governor—by tarnishing them with connections to Barack Obama and his controversial pastor. Wrote McCain, “In the strongest terms, I implore you to not run this advertisement.” The spot airs Wright’s “...

Times Scolds Clinton for 'Demeaning' the Campaign

OPINION

Apr 23, 2008 10:53 AM CDT

Times Scolds Clinton for 'Demeaning' the Campaign

Editors scold their favored candidate

(Newser) - The New York Times today runs a scathing takedown of the candidate they endorsed for the Democratic nomination, asserting that Hillary Clinton’s attack mentality “undercuts the rationale for her candidacy that led this page ... to support her.” The paper's editorial board said the Pennsylvania primary race was...

Obama Faces
Counterpunch
Dilemma

ANALYSIS

Apr 23, 2008 3:43 AM CDT

Obama Faces Counterpunch Dilemma

Jabbing back at Clinton could be a gift to the GOP

(Newser) - Without a knockout blow in Pennsylvania, Barack Obama is going to have to keep jabbing back at Hillary Clinton. But those counterpunches could hurt his campaign, warns Jonathan Weisman in the Washington Post. The Obama camp's swing to the negative in the closing days of the Pennsylvania campaign shows he...

Willie Horton Mastermind Takes Aim at Obama

Apr 22, 2008 3:42 PM CDT

Willie Horton Mastermind Takes Aim at Obama

Notorious right-wing ad man will portray Democrat as soft on crime, terror

(Newser) - The right-wing activist who derailed Michael Dukakis' presidential bid with the infamous 1988 Willie Horton ad has set his sights on Barack Obama. Floyd Brown’s first anti-Obama spot highlights the senator’s opposition to expanding death penalty use against gang criminals—in a year when inner-city violence raged in...

No Country for
Old McCain:
Murtha

Apr 16, 2008 3:18 PM CDT

No Country for Old McCain: Murtha

Presidency too tall an order for 71-year-old GOP candidate, says rep, 75

(Newser) - John Murtha says John McCain, at 71, might be too old to be commander-in-chief. “This one guy running is about as old as me,” the 75-year-old Democratic congressman said in introducing Hillary Clinton. “Let me tell you something, it’s no old man’s job.” Of...

BET Founder: 'Ferraro Said It Right' on Obama

Apr 15, 2008 3:18 PM CDT

BET Founder: 'Ferraro Said It Right' on Obama

Bob Johnson agrees race is factor in Dem frontrunner's success

(Newser) - BET founder and Hillary Clinton supporter Bob Johnson repeated Geraldine Ferraro’s claim that Barack Obama wouldn’t be a top White House contender if he weren’t black. "Geraldine Ferraro said it right," the billionaire told the Charlotte Observer yesterday. "The problem is, Geraldine Ferraro is...

Penn's Still a Player in Clinton Endgame

OPINION

Apr 14, 2008 1:03 PM CDT

Penn's Still a Player in Clinton Endgame

Will he 'fly a kamikaze mission' to defeat Obama at all costs?

(Newser) - Despite Hillary Clinton’s replacement of contentious Mark Penn with the more “ethical” Geoff Garin as chief strategist, the ousted adviser is still very much involved with the campaign, Robert Novak writes in the Chicago Sun-Times—or so he tells his friends. Those who interpreted the switch as a...

Dems Still Stuck at Starting Gate

OPINION

Mar 31, 2008 8:55 PM CDT

Dems Still Stuck at Starting Gate

Hopefuls must end race 'as soon as possible,' TNR says

(Newser) - It's time for Democrats to panic, the editors at New Republic say. Americans are ready for a lefty, yet Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are locked in an ugly battle over racism, sexism, and the minutiae of health care policy. When one of them emerges—probably in June—that candidate...

Al Gore, Dems' Back-Up Plan

OPINION

Mar 28, 2008 1:55 PM CDT

Al Gore, Dems' Back-Up Plan

In spring's silly season, inconvenient nominee doesn't look impossible: Klein

(Newser) - If the Democratic nomination isn’t wrapped up before August's convention, the party might have a third choice: the one they crowned in 2000. If Barack Obama is too bloodied and Hillary Clinton too divisive, Joe Klein writes in Time, a superdelegate coup could yield an Al Gore-Obama ticket on...

Obama Has
70% Chance of Topping Ticket

OPINION

Mar 10, 2008 4:35 PM CDT

Obama Has 70% Chance of Topping Ticket

Master strategist opens up, offers advice, predictions

(Newser) - Barack Obama is far more likely to be the Democratic nominee than Hillary Clinton is, says Joe Trippi, the veteran strategist who advised Howard Dean and John Edwards. In an IM interview with New York, he puts Obama’s odds at 70%, predicts a race that lasts until the convention,...

Would-Be First Spouse Thrives Out of Spotlight

Mar 7, 2008 3:10 PM CST

Would-Be First Spouse Thrives Out of Spotlight

Attack dog no more, Bubba courts donors, rural men

(Newser) - Six weeks after Bill Clinton’s aggressive role in his wife’s campaign jeopardized her African-American support and helped drive Ted Kennedy to endorse Barack Obama, the potential First Gentleman is taking a more subdued tack, working far from the media eye to shore up rural voters, bring in the...

Mudslinging Obama Adviser Steps Down

UPDATED

Mar 7, 2008 11:45 AM CST

Mudslinging Obama Adviser Steps Down

Harvard foreign-policy expert referred to Clinton as a 'monster'

(Newser) - One of Barack Obama's top advisers resigned today, hours after the publication of an interview in which she called Hillary Clinton a "monster." Samantha Power apologized to both candidates, but her remark contrasted sharply with the campaign's take-the-high-road strategy, Reuters reports. "She is a monster, too—that...

Clinton Aide: Obama Is Like Ken Starr

Mar 6, 2008 3:06 PM CST

Clinton Aide: Obama Is Like Ken Starr

And as they plot next move, Hillary's staffers fight each other

(Newser) - The Democratic campaign took a turn for the nasty today, with a top adviser to Hillary Clinton alleging Barack Obama is “imitating Ken Starr”—an apparent reference to Obama’s recent Whitewater-tinted shots at his rival. Exclaims Greg Sargent at Talking Points, “Talk about throwing down the...

How Hard Will He Hit Back?

OPINION

Mar 5, 2008 9:53 AM CST

How Hard Will He Hit Back?

Clinton's attack plan worked; Obama must respond

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton scored her dramatic comeback in last night's primaries by getting tough—even nasty—with her opponent, Josh Marshall writes on TPM, and the question is now whether Barack Obama has it in him to fight that kind of fight. "Can he take this back to Hillary Clinton,...