Category: 2004 Election

The headlines over on the drudgereport (again — can’t stand to give him a link, though I suppose — blech — I am giving him “press” by even commenting on this) currently reads “Slaughters Animals. Burns Down Tiny Village.” Who does such things? Why, according to Drudge, John Kerry. (These are those charges from the…

Jeff Jarvis notes that Vietnam is no longer a dirty word for Democrats. Vietnam split and weakened the party and divided the whole country. We’ve been living with that cultural cold war ever since. This reminds me of my suggested campaign theme (or meme) for Kerry: Kerry the Redeemer: Kerry has stood on both sides…

Tonight, at least, Pat Buchanan is a Kerry booster. (What is up with that, by the way? For the last several weeks I’ve noticed him shifting into a Bill Kristol-style-almost-neutral-observer-who-happens-to-be-a-hard-righter mode. Is it a carrer move? Or, as someone over at dailykos.com speculated, is it a by-product of his longstanding dislike for the Bush family?)…

Interesting Edwards thread over at Talk Left (TalkLeft: Edwards Shines). Lots of bluster about how Bush’s base will support him and Kerry’s are undecided, or something. Then some corrective posts looking at where an incumbent should be by now and how the electoral college is stacking up, which just made me want to reply Shhh….…

Back before the ’96 election, Bob Dole gave the GOP response to a Clinton State of the Union. And it was just shattering in its glowering negativity. In fact, his response was such a nasty, nutty, powerfully awful speech, it struck many as the very moment Dole’s campaign was plaster-wrapped and buried at sea. The…

You have to wonder: at what point will the GOP attacks on Kerry’s wife backfire? When will it start to seem petty and crude to the independent voter? Could it be, perhaps, when they start making a big deal out of inter-personal “I don’t like Ted Kennedy” type comments she made back in 1976? (I…

Tom Schaller posts an interesting scoop over at the Gadflyer, recounting a “tipsy” conversation with Republican pollster and message crafter Frank Luntz (thank goodness for blogger ethics): “What do you think?” I ask him, in a tone that indicates that I’m not talking about last night’s Sox-Yankees brawl. “Kerry will win,” he says. I feel…

Hyperbole aside, Thomas Oliphant’s balanced paean to Kerry in the American Prospect Online makes a solid case for the Democratic nominee-presumptive. In other news, Kucinich has endorsed Kerry.

CNN.com – Pelosi predicts Democrats will take back House – Jul 15, 2004: At a news conference with Rep. Bob Matsui, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Pelosi cited strong showings in various polls and victories in the last two special elections to bolster her assertion. “We’re putting our credibility on the line,” she…

…for really showing us the way

George W. Bush is NOT a chimp

I think the people who say Fareihnheit won’t reach many of the undecided have forgotten about the kids. For one thing, millions of kids have going to the movies built into their weekend schedules. They don’t have to be pried loose from their homes by special interest in a parcticular film. And given that you…

It seems to me that it’s easy enough to dismiss or reject Michael Moore’s worldview and interpretation of facts and documentary evidence (hint to pundits: “documentary” means “based on documents”), but isn’t the nation entitled to at least have a counterstory to consider? Or is it unpatriotic to propose such a different storyline? Since ’96…

We have just come back from the grand Grand Lake Theater after seeing Farenheit 911, the Michael Moore paen to America. Yes, it is. And perhaps also to mothers who weep when their children die in wars that are unnecessary. The people are flocking to see this movie because everyone is talking about it, not…

Fahrenheit 9/11 is a very big deal by any standard. “Steven Spielberg has said the film could reap $100 million.” (article) But the specific electoral impact is going to be enormously magnified, because it is soo perfectly aligned with the sweet-spot of Bush’s popular support. The Alignment This scene is already famous: NYT, 6/20/04 “[T]he…

“Recalling Anguish in 2000, Kerry Is Mum on His No. 2” reads the NYTimes piece (Sat. June 19) by David M. Halbfinger. “I don’t think John went through life fantasizing about being on the ticket as vice president,” an associate comments. Why not? Because being vice president, according to one former incumbent of the job,…

If only we could get some of Rove and Norquist’s sweet sweet money into our grubby little proletarian hands: Political Wire: Dirty Political Blog Tricks kos sez: Man, if we are working for Rove, I don’t think the guy is getting his money’s worth.

link nipped from Mark A. R. Kleiman: The Zen of Bushism: The Zen of Bushism Evan Eisenberg explicates Bushido: The Way of the Armchair Warrior. Knowledge is not important. The armchair warrior strives to attain a state beyond knowledge, a state of deep, non-knowing connection to the universe: in particular, to that portion of the…

Kos linked over to this extraordinary chart that shows the ups and downs of presidential popularity for Bush I and II, Reagan, Carter, and Clinton. I’ve been hoping to find something like this for weeks, to draw my own side by side comparisons without, er, benefit of media interpretation. In that same spirit, I’ll let…