Obama’s Team of Idolizers Has Drunk the Kool-Aid
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 28th, 2012 11:08 pm by HL
Obama’s Team of Idolizers Has Drunk the Kool-Aid
Roger Cohen, NYT
NEW YORK — When Barack Obama was on the presidential campaign trail the first time, he used the title of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Lincoln biography, “Team of Rivals,” to describe the entourage he would seek at the White House, a combative group from across the political spectrum who would challenge his every idea. (He also compared himself to Abraham Lincoln in announcing his candidacy at the Illinois State capitol: “The life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible.”)Well, four years…
Romney Cribs From Willie Horton Playbook
Timothy Noah, New Republic
The ugliest presidential campaign I ever hope to see was the one George H.W. Bush waged against Michael Dukakis in 1988. Poppy Bush governed like a (relative) moderate, but in 1988 he campaigned like a hard-right bigot, relentlessly attacking Dukakis over an assault-rape committed by the convicted murderer Willie Horton, a very scary-looking African American, during a prison furlough (under a program created by Dukakis's Republican predecessor as Massachusetts governor). Say what you will about 41's son and eventual successor, George W. Bush"”as a campaigner,…
Can Sandoval Pull Latinos to the GOP?
Caitlin Huey-Burns, RCP
TAMPA — Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval will be the first of a handful of prominent Hispanic Republicans to address the GOP convention when he takes the stage in prime time Tuesday night.The popular first-term governor is a rising star in a party with a growing list of up-and-comers to watch — a roster that includes other Latinos, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez. But Sandoval stands out in his own right. In fact, he might stand more toward the middle in a party steadily shifting rightward. He favors abortion rights, and recently worked with state Democrats…
Afghanistan Strategy Is Rapidly Unravelling
Simon Tisdall, Guardian
The latest killings in Afghanistan are a stark reminder to western leaders of the folly of ignoring the situation in the countryThe killing of 17 people by Taliban insurgents in Musa Qala, the deaths of 10 Afghan army personnel in a separate, large-scale assault in Helmand, and the killing of two US soldiers by an Afghan national army recruit could be dismissed as just another bloody day in Afghanistan.Alternatively these gruesome events, taken together, might sensibly be seen as another urgent warning to neglectful western politicians that their policy of gradual, go-slow withdrawal is…
1976’s History-Making GOP Convention
Craig Shirley, Washington Times
Things were going bumpily according to plan for the men in charge of the President Ford Committee at the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Mo., in August 1976. With so many moving parts, however, most campaigns are at best “garbage moving in the right direction,” as GOP operative Eddie Mahe once quipped.The Ford campaign was no exception.The battered GOP gathered in a glass, steel and concrete edifice called Kemper Arena amid heat, humidity, tension, polyester, cigarette smoke, bouffant hairdos and visceral contempt between supporters of Gerald R. Ford and…
