The Papers
Why John McCain lost the White House
By Jeff Mason – Analysis PHOENIX (Reuters) – Republican John McCain lost Tuesday’s presidential election because he could not overcome a hostile economic environment, distance himself from an unpopular president or convince voters he could lead them out of the crisis. As the blame game began, analysts also said McCain’s choice of inexperienced Alaska Gov. […]
12Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | 1 comment | Continued
Obama’s “number 1 priority”
– Peter Barnes is an entrepreneur and writer whose books include Who Owns The Sky? and Climate Solutions: A Citizen’s Guide. The views expressed are his own. – By Peter Barnes A few days before the election, Barack Obama told Time’s Joe Klein: Finding the new driver of our economy is going to be critical. […]
11Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Obama’s “number 1 priority” | Continued
David Brooks Admits Defeat, For Now
By David Brooks As the election came to a close, I wrote a story about the dismal aftermath for the GOP: A leaderless party, a battered brand, an issue set that seems outmoded, an abandonment of bedrock principles, etc. The list goes on, and depending on which Republican you are talking to rather varied. On […]
11Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on David Brooks Admits Defeat, For Now | Continued
Sarah Palin: Obama articulated change
Posted November 11, 2008 9:45 AM by Mark Silva The view from Sarah Palin’s kitchen: She would have been happy to speak out for herself more during the presidential campaign. President-elect Barack Obama did “a great job” of speaking for himself, the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee said in an interview with Matt Lauer of […]
11Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Sarah Palin: Obama articulated change | Continued
Veterans Day, 2008
Posted November 11, 2008 11:34 AM Veterans aboard the former warship Olympia, now a museum, salute the United States flag during a Veterans Day ceremony in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008. The Olympia served in the Spanish-American War. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) by Frank James To all the veterans out there, thanks for your service and […]
11Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Veterans Day, 2008 | Continued
The Early Word: A Party Asks, ‘What Now?’
By Michael Falcone Updated It’s been a difficult week for the Republican Party, whose leaders have had to contend not only with defeat in the presidential election but also in key House and Senate races as they watch the public transfer of power to President-elect Barack Obama. Today The Times’s Adam Nagourney reports on the […]
11Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The Early Word: A Party Asks, ‘What Now?’ | Continued
Oh Deer! Concerns Raised About Venison
By Carla Baranauckas They’ll be harder to spot in a North Dakota blizzard than they were in a Maine meadow. (Pat Wellenbach/ Associated Press). Schools are closed in some districts in North Dakota today, but it’s not because a blizzard hit the state on Thursday, shutting down some of the main highways. In places like […]
10Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Oh Deer! Concerns Raised About Venison | Continued
Rahm Emanuel: Middle-class tax-cut near
by Mark Silva Rep. Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama’s designated chief of staff, asked how his reputation for rough, partisan political warfare will square with his role in the new president’s White House, promised that Obama will set a bipartisan “tone.” Obama also is intent on delivering tax relief for the middle-class, Emanuel said today, […]
9Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Rahm Emanuel: Middle-class tax-cut near | Continued
Palin Calls Her Critics ‘Jerks’
By Lisa Tozzi Gov. Sarah Palin, who returned to work at the governor’s office in Anchorage Friday, called her critics “jerks” and said it was “immature” and “cowardly” for McCain staff members to be making anonymous allegations about her. Ms. Palin spoke to reporters from several news organizations, including the Anchorage Daily News, defending herself […]
8Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Palin Calls Her Critics ‘Jerks’ | Continued
Obama’s aides: Race not their question
by Mark Silva President-elect Barack Obama’s closest campaign advisers suggest that one of their successes was not becoming obsessed with any question of race, CBS News’ 60 Minutes will report Sunday evening. “Not getting obsessed about Barack Obama’s race was one of the secrets” of a campaign that will deliver the first African American president […]
7Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Obama’s aides: Race not their question | Continued
First Press Conference
Well, if the presidential campaign didn’t convince you that Barack Obama is one disciplined fellow, his first public appearance as President-elect certainly should have. The press conference was notable for several things: –he did not stray from or change a single position that he took during the course of the campaign. He emphasized his previous […]
7Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on First Press Conference | Continued
First Dude
It turns out Todd Palin is a closet metrosexual: On top of the $150,000 first outlined in Federal Election Commission filings, Palin spent “tens of thousands of dollars” on additional clothing, makeup and jewelry for herself and her family, including $40,000 in luxury goods for her husband, Todd, our colleague Michael Shear reports. The campaign […]
7Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
Ten Facts You Need To Know About Rahm Emanuel
Barack Obama’s decision to name Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff ensures that myriad profiles of the man they call “Rahmbo” will be written in the days and weeks to come. Here at The Fix we aim to bring readers only the news they need to know, so — without further ado […]
7Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Ten Facts You Need To Know About Rahm Emanuel | Continued
McCain campaign fought the last war
by Frank James The autopsies of Sen. John McCain’s failed presidential bid continue to roll in. This morning, National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” aired an interview with John Weaver, a former McCain strategist who left the campaign last year when the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign first imploded during the primaries. Among the McCain campaign’s mistakes, […]
6Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on McCain campaign fought the last war | Continued
The Early Word: McCain-Palin Post-Mortem
By Michael Falcone As all eyes turn to President-elect Barack Obama, his transition to the White House and the changing political landscape in Washington and across the country, epilogues to the 2008 presidential race abound. Today The Times’s Elisabeth Bumiller goes inside the McCain campaign to find out what went wrong in the closing days […]
6Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The Early Word: McCain-Palin Post-Mortem | Continued
Catholics Turned to the Democrat
By Michael Luo Much was made in 2004 of the so-called “God gap” between Republicans and Democrats, becoming part of the conventional wisdom explaining President Bush’s victory over Senator John F. Kerry. As a result, the Democratic Party, including Senator Barack Obama, focused heavily on outreach to religious voters, including white evangelicals who voted overwhelmingly […]
5Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Catholics Turned to the Democrat | Continued
2008 Election: Winners and Losers
By Chris Cillizza Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States. John McCain will not, likely capping a long and well-decorated political career with a loss. Democrats will expand their majorities in the House and the Senate. Republicans will be relegated to minority status in both chambers, forced to re-calculate what their […]
5Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on 2008 Election: Winners and Losers | Continued
Mr. Ayers’s Neighborhood
Early this morning, the Obama family voted at the Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School, in Hyde Park. Long after they had gone, the lawn in front of the school was filled with reporters, mostly Europeans, filming voters. While I was talking to an eight-year-old kid dressed as George Washington, my colleague Peter Slevin, of the Washington […]
4Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Mr. Ayers’s Neighborhood | Continued
Redneck Gazette – Obama New President
Redneck Gazette Third Edition Punkin Center, Missouri, BR-777 Obama Wins Presidency! Obama Bring Hope A Time of Despair Obama done gone and won more votes to be the 44th President of the United States of America. And the electors in college like him best too. We was pretty sure that Obama was gonna win cause […]
4Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Redneck Gazette – Obama New President | Continued
To The Mountaintop
By Joe Klein Word comes that Barack Obama’s grandmother has died. The timing is ridiculous. But think, for a moment, if you will of Madelyn Dunham, a white woman from Kansas, strolling the aisle of a supermarket, or having lunch in a coffee shop, with her grandson–way back at the turn of the 1970s, when […]
3Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on To The Mountaintop | Continued
Internet market predictions
By David Leonhardt By now, many political junkies know the recent history of prediction markets. In 2004, the election-morning odds at Intrade, one of the best-known prediction markets, correctly forecast the presidential election in each of the 50 states. (In other words, President Bush won every state where traders gave him than 50 chance of […]
3Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Internet market predictions | Continued
The Final Fix Electoral Map
The Final Fix Electoral Map After two years of following every jot and tittle of a presidential race that has had more twists and turns than this political junkie could have even imagined, we’ve reached the end. Read Full Post Here
3Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The Final Fix Electoral Map | Continued
Washington Post Daily Tracking
Daily Tracking > If the 2008 presidential election were being held today, for whom would you vote? (Among likely voters) Highlights 56% of likely voters say they think Obama‘s views on most issues are about right. 42% of likely voters say they think McCain‘s views on most issues are about right. NOTE: Movable voters are […]
2Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Washington Post Daily Tracking | Continued
McCain on ‘Saturday Night Live’
By Michael Cooper Live from New York, it was Senator John McCain, saying that he was thinking of some radically different strategies for the last three days of the presidential race. “I thought I might try a strategy called the Reverse Maverick,’’ Mr. McCain told his interviewer. “That’s where I do whatever anybody tells me. […]
2Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on McCain on ‘Saturday Night Live’ | Continued
The McCain hijacking: A commentary
by Dick Batchelor One of the two major candidates for president has been kidnapped. The victim went along willingly, without a murmur of protest. He’ll remain a hostage on Election Day. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to find him, and it’s no mystery. The victim is in plain sight: It’s John McCain. The […]
1Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The McCain hijacking: A commentary | Continued
Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.–The McCain campaign makes signs for its crowds, usually simple messages painted in broad strokes with the sort of gritty red and blue paint they give to grade school kids. The messages are pretty standard: “We [Heart] McCain”; “Women 4 McCain”; “Keep Virginia Red”; and “McCain =The Hero America Needs.” The crowd’s own […]
1Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs | Continued
Biden: Election Will Be ‘a Lot Closer’ Than People Think
By Perry Bacon Jr. LIMA, Ohio — The surest sign of confidence from the Barack Obama campaign? Maybe allowing Sen. Joe Biden to take a dozen questions from reporters at a diner stop that turned into an impromptu press conference in which the senator from Delaware laid out his thoughts on the state of the […]
1Nov2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Biden: Election Will Be ‘a Lot Closer’ Than People Think | Continued
Eagleburger Says Palin Isn’t Ready Yet
By Julie Bosman BREEZEWOOD, Pa. — Has the list of former secretaries of state supporting the Republican ticket been whittled down to four? In an interview on National Public Radio on Thursday, Lawrence Eagleburger, who served during the second term of President George H.W. Bush, was asked if Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska is prepared […]
31Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Eagleburger Says Palin Isn’t Ready Yet | Continued
Partisan pollsters disagree on WH race
by Frank James There’s been a good back and forth this week between Democratic and Republican pollsters. Stan Greenberg of Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner, a Democratic pollster, sent out his own analysis of the presidential race this afternoon, to counter one distributed earlier in the week by Bill McInturff, official pollster for Sen. John McCain’s campaign. […]
30Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Partisan pollsters disagree on WH race | Continued
McCain in the Gutter
By Joe Klein There is so much desperate, crapulous spew from the McCain campaign right now that it’s hard to keep track of it all–but this ad, via Andrew Sullivan, marks some sort of low. Yet again–in a last, desperate attempt to scare the elderly Jews of Florida–McCain posits Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the “leader” of […]
30Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on McCain in the Gutter | Continued
Call Him John the Careless
Thursday, October 30, 2008; Page A23 From the invasion of Iraq to the selection of Sarah Palin, carelessness has characterized recent episodes of faux conservatism. Tuesday’s probable repudiation of the Republican Party will punish characteristics displayed in the campaign’s closing days. Some polls show that Palin has become an even heavier weight in John McCain’s […]
30Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Call Him John the Careless | Continued
Parsing the (Tracking) Poll: October Surprise
Although there are only two days left in October, there are still many people in the political world waiting for an “October Surprise” — some sort of game-changing event in the final moment before the general election that could fundamentally alter the race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Four years ago, that “surprise” was […]
30Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Parsing the (Tracking) Poll: October Surprise | Continued
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Together at Last
By Jeff Zeleny Bill Clinton and Barack ObamaPresident Bill Clinton and Senator Barack Obama campaigned together for the first time Wednesday night in Kissimmee, Fla. (Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times) KISSIMMEE, Fla. – On a chilly Florida night, former President Bill Clinton warmly embraced Senator Barack Obama as a fresh leader for a new […]
30Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Together at Last | Continued
McCain has a Plumber; Obama has an Army
Or, rather, an Air Force pilot: The convention in Denver was Mr. Finan’s introduction to big-time politics, and he quickly found himself doing broadcast interviews for the first time. Between events he and about 25 other Iraq and Afghanistan veterans became like a small platoon. They slept on supporters’ floors. They hung out. And they […]
29Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on McCain has a Plumber; Obama has an Army | Continued
Joe You-Know-Who Gets a Manager
By Larry Rohter If he gets his way, Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, also known as “Joe the Plumber,” plans to enjoy a lot more than just 15 minutes of fame. Two weeks after emerging as the Republican Party’s favorite proxy for the American working man, Mr. Wurzelbacher has signed a management deal meant to keep him […]
29Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Joe You-Know-Who Gets a Manager | Continued
Axelrod: Obama TV Show to Focus on ‘Where He Wants to Lead’
By Robert Barnes NORFOLK — Barack Obama’s 30-minute informercial airing Wednesday night will feature vignettes of people and families whom Obama has met during his nearly two-year campaign, and it will include a live component from a campaign rally in Florida, campaign sources said tonight. “Barack Obama: American Stories” is the name of the unusual […]
29Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Axelrod: Obama TV Show to Focus on ‘Where He Wants to Lead’ | Continued
New Obama Ad Hits McCain’s Choice of Palin
By Kate Phillips The Obama-Biden campaign has directly singled out Senator John McCain’s choice of a running mate — using footage of Gov. Sarah Palin as she winks — in a new commercial that questions the Republican ticket’s preparedness on economic issues. Called “His Choice,” the ad plays music as comments by Mr. McCain on […]
29Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | 1 comment | Continued
The Vindication of Howard Dean
Markos Moulitsas has a post today about the vindication of Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy. He’s right. When Dean launched the project, many thought it was foolhardy. As late as October 2006, top Dem strategists and elected officials were bemoaning the way Dean had spread the party’s money around instead of concentrating it on targets of […]
28Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The Vindication of Howard Dean | Continued
RNC Borrows $5 Million For Senate Races
The Republican National Committee has taken out a $5 million line of credit to help fund last minute efforts to keep Senate Democrats from winning a filibuster-proof 60 seat majority, according to an official with the committee. Of the $5 million, $2 million is being directly transferred to the National Republican Senatorial Committee while $3 […]
28Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on RNC Borrows $5 Million For Senate Races | Continued
McCain Calls for Stevens to Resign
By Michael Falcone Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, called for the resignation of his longtime colleague, Senator Ted Stevens, who was convicted on Monday of seven felony counts related to violations of federal ethics laws. Despite the verdict, Mr. Stevens reiterated his innocence on Monday and vowed to not only keep his Senate […]
28Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on McCain Calls for Stevens to Resign | Continued
The Pollster WaPo-ABC Track: Early Birds for Obama
By Jon Cohen and Jennifer Agiesta More than twelve million voters have already cast ballots in the presidential contest, according to one estimate, and new data from the Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll shows these voters breaking Democratic by a wide margin. Among those who said they have already voted at an early voting location […]
28Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The Pollster WaPo-ABC Track: Early Birds for Obama | Continued
Updated Fix Electoral Map Picks: An Obama Landslide
<p><strong>><a href=’http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008/pick-your-president/’>2008 Election Contest: Pick Your President</a></strong> – Predict the winner of the 2008 presidential election.</p> Barack Obama stands on the cusp of an electoral vote blowout over John McCain with just eight days left in the 2008 general election. On our latest Fix electoral map, we have Obama at 349 electoral votes — his […]
27Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Updated Fix Electoral Map Picks: An Obama Landslide | Continued
Rethinking the Notion of Political Dominance
By John Harwood It would be remarkable, in any year, for a black Democratic candidate for president to be ahead in polls one week before Election Day. Even more remarkable is that it’s happening this year. In 2004, after President Bush won re-election with expanded Republican majorities in Congress, academics, journalists and party strategists wondered […]
26Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Rethinking the Notion of Political Dominance | Continued
McCain Cites ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ (He’d Be Truman)
By Larry Rohter Dewey Defeats Truman(Photo: Byron Rollis/Associated Press, 1948) MESILLA, N.M. — There have been moments in this hard-fought presidential campaign when Senator John McCain has seemed to find his much younger Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, rather presumptuous and cocksure. That was the impression he left at some of the debates, and on […]
26Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on McCain Cites ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ (He’d Be Truman) | Continued
Parsing the (Tracking) Poll: Feeling Voters’ Pain
One of the essential character traits in any successful politician is an ability — whether real or feigned — to connect with the hopes and fears of the average voter. Voters tend to like to vote for politicians that they believe are extraordinary (whether that means in terms of charisma, brain power of some other […]
25Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Parsing the (Tracking) Poll: Feeling Voters’ Pain | Continued
The Saturday Word: Back on the Trail
Today, both presidential candidates will spend time in New Mexico. With Senator Barack Obama returning to the mainland late last night from his visit with his gravely ill grandmother in Hawaii, his campaign has released a two-minute advertisement in which he speaks directly to voters. In it, he says: “At this defining moment in our […]
25Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The Saturday Word: Back on the Trail | Continued
The Early Word: A Way for McCain
By Michael Falcone Though pollsters and pundits may forecast dwindling options for the Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, with 11 days to go The Times’s Adam Nagourney throws some cold water on the notion that the presidential race is over: “The McCain campaign is roughly in the position where Vice President Gore was running […]
24Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The Early Word: A Way for McCain | Continued
Mr. Greenspan Goes to Washington, Shock and Disbelief
Alan Greenspan goes to Washington. And this time he sounds more like Jimmy Stewart as the naive Boy Scout leader who is appointed to the Senate in the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” The Jimmy Stewart character is a Boy Scout, full of innocence, always hopeful, and believing in the honesty of others. He […]
23Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Mr. Greenspan Goes to Washington, Shock and Disbelief | Continued
McCain’s Camp Shaves Its Ad Targets
Democrats who monitor advertising spending now put at five the number of states where Senator John McCain is reducing his advertising – New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Colorado, Maine and Minnesota. In essence, Mr. McCain’s campaign has decided to spread the advertising time he bought for the upcoming week in those states over the next two final […]
21Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on McCain’s Camp Shaves Its Ad Targets | Continued
The Prophecy of Barack Obama
Two years ago Barack Obama decided to run for President of the United States. There were others. Seasoned politicians. Politicians who have been representing people in an official capacity for years. Each of the candidates spoke to the people. Each presented their case. Obama said, “This is about change.” We the people cheered. Think of […]
21Oct2008 | Ohg Rea Tone | 6 comments | Continued