Speaking to the coordination problem I referred to yesterday, let me point out as evidence the Internet rumors of voting improprieties robbing Kerry of the election. Nothing is so transparently self-delusional as inventing post-facto conspiracies in face of a four point loss. If we can’t get “our” act together to stop thinking/speaking small-scale ridiculousness as […]
I haven’t had the focus for a proper, well-composed treatise on the subject and, besides, there’s just too much soul-searching post-election analysis to digest. So here, in no particular order, are my thought on the culture gap, value gap, electoral gap, whatever you want to diagnose as the issue.
1. Turns out gay marriage may not […]
The ever valuable Matt Yglesias lists out some useful thoughts in approaching the election portmortem, including the reminder that elections are too complicated to be boiled down to one cause. But I particularly like his first three points:
1. Shouldn’t at least part of coping with the “moral values” problem involve some effort to do a […]
Over at Crooked Timber, John Quiggen writes,
If Kerry does win after all, it will be under the worst possible circumstances. A minority of the popular vote, a hostile Congress and the need to prevail in a vicious legal dogfight in Ohio. The Republicans will be out for impeachment from Inauguration Day, if not before that. […]
Chuck Tryon is collecting voting stories. Sadly, not much to tell here, everything went smoothly, and no one installs menacing watchers in states so out of play as Massachusetts. The biggest shock was actually seeing a line out the door of my polling station, which normally has tumbleweeds blowing through.
All told, I tend to […]
His international policies have been based on the hopelessly naïve belief that foreign peoples are eager to be liberated by American armies—a notion more grounded in Leon Trotsky’s concept of global revolution than any sort of conservative statecraft.
Harsh words from…. The American Conservative! Politics make strange bedfellows.
Hat tip: Laura Rozen
[Bush] has failed the challenge of these momentous times. John Kerry deserves a chance to do better.
That’s the conclusion of the New Republic’s powerful endorsement of John Kerry. Actually, it’s the endorsement the New York Times should have written but didn’t. Go read.
And with a couple of weeks before the election, it seemed fitting to […]
Daily Kos has up an incredible video clip of an address from President Bush. Unlike the folks at Kos, I’m actually not all that concerned about the cause of his inarticulateness and suspect that it’s simply that Bush is in over his head.
But wow, you can’t get more Face in the Crowd than this. […]
The Phoenix this week has an interview interview with Errol Morris, wherein he discusses the Republicans for Kerry ads he made for MoveOn.org. The ads are great, not so much for any deeper truth they hold (presumably one could find a bunch of Democrats who are voting Republican), but for their rhetorical force and visual […]
Looks like Kerry is passing the Dr. Phil test.
No, not mine. Everyone seems to have poured over the vice-Presidential debate with a fine-tooth comb. Dan Kennedy’s summary I think is the most on-the-mark.
Last night was potentially dangerous territory for the Kerry campaign. Four years ago, Joe Lieberman was thought to have a huge advantage over Cheney - and got his clock cleaned. By […]
Listening to Cheney and Edwards bicker over tax cuts, I think back and wonder what happened to the “ownership society” theme that Bush rolled out at the GOP convention. It seems like ages ago, it’s so far dropped off the radar. Oh, it may pop up again in the next presidential debate, when a newly […]
Is it just me or is the biggest impression we’re getting from this debate, even ten minutes into it, is that Dick Cheney’s running everything and that Bush is just a proxy?
As a side note, the GOP talking point this week has been that since elections worked in El Salvador, they will work in Afghanistan […]
My favorite line from last night, from Bush:
You can’t change the dynamics on the ground if you’ve criticized the brave leader of Iraq. One of his campaign people alleged that Prime Minister Allawi was like a puppet. That’s no way to treat somebody who’s courageous and brave, that is trying to lead his country forward.
The […]
Josh Marshall, like many of the TV pundits I’ve seen so far tonight, is being way too kind: “My point isn’t that Kerry clobbered the president or anything. But for 90 minutes, Kerry held the initiative…”
Kerry clobbered Bush tonight. I’m not just saying that because I’m a Democrat or a liberal or Bush-hater. Throughout the […]