Left, right and center blogs are abuzz with the John Edwards Affair, continued/decreased (choose which one you believe) tensions between Barack Obama and the Clintons, and John McCain’s increasingly-effective campaign. Here are links to websites of varying viewpoints:
John Edwards’ False Assertion On TV has been caught by the HP’s Sam Stein, who first reported on the relationship between John Edwards and Rielle Hunter. This scandal has “legs” (in more ways than one…).
And Some Folks Have More Questions: John Hawkins has 6 big questions about the affair (not yet answered)…and a theory as to why Edwards came forward.
So Is Edwards’ Political Career Over? I’ve said YES…and others have the same view.
It’s Rightfully-Noted That The Mainstream Press has embarrassed itself in the Edwards story reporting. The bottom line: this story has been developed by the tabloids (the National Enquirer, which in the 80s deep-sixed Gary Hart’s Presidential dreams) and “new” media (the Huffington Post). With the mainstream media — which is apparently preoccupied with selling off newspapers, slashing jobs, reducing content with blatantly spin press releases about how readers say a paper may offer too much — playing catch-up. Steve Clemons sees ramifications for the old and new media. [Earlier link on this item was wrong. We regret the error.]
And At Times The Mainstream Media’s Reporting On The Scandal has not even been accurate.
But What About New Media? Should it be taken to task because of how weblogs and weighed the Edwards story versus the story about Russia attacking Georgia? Read this.
A Pox On Both Your Foreign Policy Advisers: In a must read Guest Voice on Political Wire, Dan Conley, a former speechwriter for Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, is unimpressed with how both campaign responded to the Georgia Crisis:
While most of America is distracted with the Olympics and the Edwards scandal, the world is inching closer to a massive, destructive war between Russia and Georgia, one that could possibly draw in Ukraine as well. So far, the domestic political implications of this conflict have been minimal, but the actions of both campaigns raise troubling questions about how either Senator would perform as Commander in Chief.
Read it all.
Should Voters Care About Sex Scandals or not?
Barack Obama Gets Some Advice On Picking A Veep from John McCain’s “informal adviser” Karl Rove. (And we just know he has Obama’s best political interests at heart…) Meanwhile, The Politico offers 7 worrisome signs for Barack Obama. On the other hand, Obama is appealing to some libertarians which may be worth factoring in..
John McCain Gets Warm Words from Russ Feingold and some are upset. As an independent voter who has been in both parties, I find both Obama and McCain appealing candidates. Part of the dilemma voters must face is in deciding who the “real” Obama and the “real” McCain is – and doing so themselves without falling into or buying into demonization AND self-definition spin put out by both sides.
McCain And The College Campus Vote: Will affirmative action help McCain?
Are Hillary Clinton Supporters Getting A Bum Rap? Despite what you might think from reading some press and blog reports, not every Hillary Clinton supporter is a PUMA.
Is John McCain Copying From Hillary Clinton Playbooks In Attacking Obama? It sure sounds that way.
And Who Started The Most Vicious Attacks On Obama? Ed Morrissey looks at new documents indicating it started in the Democratic party with strategists working for someone with the initials H.C. The same documents answer a question: going with Hillary Clinton’s controversial but effective 3 a.m. ad was her idea. Right? WRONG.
President Bush Was Faced With Temptation And Turned The Other Cheek or, rather, someone else did (and Reuters had to run a correction…)
There’s A New Group Forming To Hold Politicians Accountable and it says it wants to include all parties. Details on Accountability Now here and here.
What Kind Of Election Will This Be? Some think it’ll be decided late in the game…
The Vote Of Evangelicals Will Matter and this is how the campaigns doing so far.
How Would You Grade Obama’s Energy Plan? Here’s one grade…
Obama Is Hiring: The campaign has hired one of the blogosophere’s best military-related bloggers.
THIS IS REAL RETAIL POLITICS: Minnesota Democratic Presidential candidate Al Franken calls for a summit to discuss veterans issue and the turnout isn’t exactly huge (but Franken stays)..
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.