Dear Senator Obama: First, let me offer my congratulations. No, I'm not trying to jinx you. And yes, I remember New Hampshire. But let's be honest: You've arrived. The cat is in the bag. The check's in the mail. The fat lady has sung. And, as much as I respect Senator McCain, and as much as I'm still undecided for which of you I'll vote in November, my gut (in … [Read more...] about Dear Senator: When You’re President …
John McCain’s Achilles Heel
No, it's not all his lobbyist buddies or that woman who looks strikingly like his wife. It's President Bush, who in a new national poll has surpassed Richard Nixon as the modern president with the highest negative rating. Some 52 percent of those surveyed place Bush at the bottom end of the scale as either "below average" or a "failure", compared to 50 percent who said the … [Read more...] about John McCain’s Achilles Heel
Texas Democratic Presidential Primary: Clinton And Obama’s Dueling Political TV Ads (UPDATED)
The war is raging in Texas between Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the Democratic Presidential nomination primary (and caucuses) -- and a key battleground is the all-important TV airwaves. And here are two current warring ads. First, Clinton's "red telephone" ad: There have been a few comments to this being Hillary Clinton's nuclear cloud ad, … [Read more...] about Texas Democratic Presidential Primary: Clinton And Obama’s Dueling Political TV Ads (UPDATED)
Mudslinging American-Style
What do Europeans think of American election campaign tactics? Judging by this op-ed from Austria's Die Presse, they're nothing like those that take place on the Old Continent. Eva Male writes, 'Smear campaigns are time-honored traditions in U.S. election campaigns. The longer the campaign wares on and the more heated it becomes, the more mud candidates are going to throw at … [Read more...] about Mudslinging American-Style
Guest Voice From The Past: Theodore Roosevelt
The great President's actual voice. Does some of what he says speak to today? (Your view in comments..) … [Read more...] about Guest Voice From The Past: Theodore Roosevelt
Barack Obama Is Going After Votes Everywhere In Texas
And I do mean everywhere. … [Read more...] about Barack Obama Is Going After Votes Everywhere In Texas
Texas: End of the Road For Hillary Clinton
It is doggoned poetic that the last stand in Hillary Clinton's botched quest for the White House will almost certainly be next Tuesday in Texas, a state that in all its crazy quilt hugeness gave us three presidents who presided in times of war and economic distress, took away one other president in his prime and is about to set the stage for a man who could become America's … [Read more...] about Texas: End of the Road For Hillary Clinton
Guest Voice: McCain Cold-Shoulders Warm-Up Host
This is a Guest Voice column by Michael Reagan, Ronald Reagan's oldest son, who is also a popular radio talk show host. … [Read more...] about Guest Voice: McCain Cold-Shoulders Warm-Up Host
Guest Voice: Obama, NAFTA, Canada And The Blogosphere
Editor's note: A controversy raged yesterday in the blogosophere (but not as much in the mainstream news media) over a Canadian news report involving Democratic Senator Barack Obama, his position on NAFTA and what his camp might or might have not privately told the Canadian government. Weblogs in many cases took predictable partisan positions. In this Guest Post blogger … [Read more...] about Guest Voice: Obama, NAFTA, Canada And The Blogosphere
Obama Action Figure
Brian Fairrington, Cagle Cartoons … [Read more...] about Obama Action Figure
Note To Readers
Yes, our emailers have noticed. Since election year is heating up, we're offering you a lot of different perspectives in our cartoons, You Tubes, and Guest Voices...as well as in our posts by various TMV writers. Thanks for your recent comments and we intend to keep serving up lots of food for thought (and discussion). … [Read more...] about Note To Readers
The Mideast Money Drain
With the economy in a nosedive, the Democratic Congress is beginning to turn its anti-war focus on the dollars that are being drained by Bush's Mideast policies. "In a shift from last year’s failed legislative efforts to force a reduction of troops," the New York Times reports, "the Democrats’ new approach is...focusing on the financial cost of military operations and on the … [Read more...] about The Mideast Money Drain
Champion Of India’s Lepers & Outcasts Passes Away
One of the last Gandhians, Murlidhar Devidas (“Baba”) Amte, 93, passed away on February 9. Read the obituary here.... And his biography here... … [Read more...] about Champion Of India’s Lepers & Outcasts Passes Away
A ‘Surprising New America’
As WORLDMEETS.US regularly demonstrates, the U.S. election race is dazzling the rest of the planet. The U.S. correspondent for Portugal's Jornal de Negocios finds America's capacity to remake itself after the 'reactionary' George W. Bush to be 'remarkable.' Leonel Moura writes in part, 'Just as in the person of George Bush, America has given us one of the most reactionary … [Read more...] about A ‘Surprising New America’
Sabato’s Crystal Ball: VEEP! VEEP!
The McCain Possibilities Almost a year ago, the Crystal Ball took a first crack at listing the vice presidential possibilities in both parties (LINK). The list has held up surprisingly well. But the justifications for various candidacies have changed, and now that we know John McCain will make the choice, it's time for reconsideration. (We'll await the unofficial crowning of … [Read more...] about Sabato’s Crystal Ball: VEEP! VEEP!
Silent Recession
Once again Tim Ionono has some of the better economics-for-Joe-Average commentary going on anywhere, complete with lots of colorful charts. Today he talks about the today's GDP numbers. For those of you who are perhaps a little fuzzy on GDP -- Gross Domestic Product -- you can learn a bit about it here, and why it's important here. The Short version is that "it's a summary of … [Read more...] about Silent Recession
Obama: Crazy like a Fox?
Obama has been criticized as naive for proposing to meet with enemies with little or no advanced preparations or negotiations. The fear is that the visit would be used for propaganda by the bad actors. But what if Obama can leverage his greatest assets by proposing such introductory meetings in exchange for a broadcast to the entire population. What if the citizens of … [Read more...] about Obama: Crazy like a Fox?
Celestial Choir
RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch … [Read more...] about Celestial Choir
Buying Votes
The Sunlight Foundation profiles an example of how special interests trade cash for influence in Republicans Demand Campaign Cash for Votes 1) From the congressional Republican standpoint, it looks like they are getting stiffed in a tough election year by telecom companies even though they are voting to support the bottom line of those same companies. The Republicans expect … [Read more...] about Buying Votes
Book Review: ‘Joe Sixpack’s Philly Beer Guide’ & Why American Beer Is So Lousy
In the interests of full disclosure, I have been drinking beer since I was 14 and Don Russell, the author of Joe Sixpack’s Philly Beer Guide, is a former colleague and old friend. Oh, and I'm a terrible beer snob. My first taste of beer was not a secretive swig from a quart bottle of Miller High Life behind my junior high school but a Heinecken from a German uncle's amply … [Read more...] about Book Review: ‘Joe Sixpack’s Philly Beer Guide’ & Why American Beer Is So Lousy