Archives: Posts From April 2007
Civil Union Flip Flops
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 30 Apr 2007 at 1:36 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: In the wake of NYSunPolitics.com's reporting on the civil-union positions of Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, some discussion is arising as to whether either or both candidates — both of whom oppose civil unions now — has (have) flip flopped on the issue. ...
Free Speech in Seattle
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 30 Apr 2007 at 10:01 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: On Thursday, free speech won an important victory in Washington state, as the Supreme Court there overturned a judge's ruling that pure political speech (in this case, the speech of two conservative talk-radio hosts in favor of an anti-tax ballot ...
Political Video of the Day
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 30 Apr 2007 at 8:50 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Via Instapundit, from a Draft Fred Thompson rally in Cookeville, Tennessee, yesterday:
Some rather odd comments are made in this video by Rep. Zach Wamp, the Republican congressman from Tennessee heading up the Draft Fred Thompson movement.
First ...
Exclusive: John McCain Comes Out Against NH Civil Unions
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 27 Apr 2007 at 3:56 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: In my column this morning, I discussed Rudy Giuliani's coming out against the civil unions bill just passed in New Hampshire. All of the Democrats supported the bill (well, at least Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards), Mitt Romney opposed ...
Notes on the Dem Debate
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 27 Apr 2007 at 2:40 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Here, quickly, are a few preliminary notes on the first Democratic debate last night, down in South Carolina...
The most important question, and the one that drew the most telling answers, was the one about what the candidates would do were America ...
Washington State Radio Victory
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 26 Apr 2007 at 4:30 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Some of you might remember the Washington State radio case, in which proponents of a gas tax intimidated opponents of a gas tax by getting the anti-gas-tax speech of two radio-talk-show hosts classified as campaign contributions — which had to be ...
McCain Not Attacking Giuliani?
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 26 Apr 2007 at 3:05 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: I'd missed this denial from a "Senate staffer with ties to McCain," as regards the senator's lame attack on Rudy Giuliani over radio-frequency problems on 9/11:
this issue of communication between law enforcement, etc. on 9/11 is an OLD hobbyhorse of ...
McCain Lagging in Home State
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 26 Apr 2007 at 1:15 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: John McCain's still in the lead in Arizona, his home state (for those just tuning into American politics), but just barely.
In the latest Arizona State University/KAET TV poll, Mr. McCain leads Rudy Giuliani by only 32%-27%. Mitt Romney comes in at 11% ...
NYSunPolitics.com on the Air
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 26 Apr 2007 at 12:57 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: I'll be on the air today, on the Kevin McCullough show on WMCA 570AM, in the New York are. You can click here to tune in on the Internet.
A page about the show appears here. We taped the segment yesterday and talked about the McCain campaign relaunch, ...
Q-Poll: Rudy Increases Swing-State Lead
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 26 Apr 2007 at 11:22 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: This morning, Quinnipiac released its swing-state poll, where it runs match-ups of the major candidates in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The headline would have to be that Rudy Giuliani has grown his lead in the poll: He now beats out Hillary Clinton ...
Wisconsin Right to Speech
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 26 Apr 2007 at 1:09 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Man, is the Internet era great for nerds. Wednesday morning's oral arguments in the crucial Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC case (which deals with "as applied" challenges to McCain-Feingold's notorious politician-criticism — er, I mean, ...
Political Video of the Day
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 25 Apr 2007 at 10:12 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Is it any contest? ...
McCain Takes Shot at Giuliani (and Bush)
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 25 Apr 2007 at 6:13 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Here's a bit of a zinger from John McCain's announcement speech: We must also prepare, far better than we have, to respond quickly and effectively to another terrorist attack or natural calamity. When Americans confront a catastrophe, natural or ...
Rudy: 'Hamas or Abbas, it makes no difference'
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 25 Apr 2007 at 4:54 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: None of the top-tier Republicans is bad on Israel, per se, but it seems pretty clear that one candidate stands head-and-shoulders above the others when it comes to understanding the war against the Jews.
Via Andrew Sullivan, here's a story from the ...
McCain's Announcement Speech
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 25 Apr 2007 at 12:31 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: As prepared for delivery...
"Today, I announce my candidacy for President of the United States. I do so grateful for the privileges this country has already given me; mindful that I must seek this responsibility for reasons greater than my ...
The Fight for Free Speech
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 25 Apr 2007 at 10:28 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Today, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Wisconsin Right to Life vs. FEC, an important campaign-finance case which may determine whether private groups will be allowed to air issue advertisements that mention the names of candidates for federal ...
McCain Returns to the Daily Show
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 24 Apr 2007 at 11:57 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: "The Daily Show" is a fairly reliable barometer of center-left political opinion. And, so, I've always taken John McCain's appearances on the show (tonight marked his ninth) as an excellent way to gauge his standing with an important part of the ...
McCain Announcement: Excerpts
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 24 Apr 2007 at 11:42 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Courtesy of the McCain campaign, here are some excerpts (below the fold) from the remarks the senator will deliver tomorrow in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as he begins a five-state presidential announcement tour that will go through South Carolina, Iowa, ...
Equal Pay: An Obama Play for Iowa?
By Josh Gerstein | Tue, 24 Apr 2007 at 7:34 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: One of our colleagues over at the Politico, Ben Smith, notes that Senator Obama of Illinois has embraced a robust equal pay law that would have the government determine the relative worth of various occupations and insist that the pay for those jobs be ...
Fred Thompson: Federalist, Blogger
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 24 Apr 2007 at 4:35 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Perhaps I'm being a bit wide-eyed and innocent here, but isn't there something pretty remarkable about a potential presidential candidate engaging in an in-depth debate about the meaning of federalism with a conservative pundit?
Yet, that's exactly what ...
The Techie Vote
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 24 Apr 2007 at 2:59 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: My old boss, when I was an intern at Wired News way back when, Declan McCullagh, has rounded up some neat figures on who's winning the hearts and minds of techies — or, really, who's winning their wallets.
Now, there are some idiosyncrasies — aren't ...
McCain Up in South Carolina (Sort of)
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 24 Apr 2007 at 1:23 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: The headline out of the latest Zogby poll of South Carolina Republican primary voters is that John McCain holds a small lead. Or, as the Zogby press release puts it: "Arizona Sen. John McCain has finally found a place where he holds a lead in the race ...
Our Friends at Blogs for Mitt
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 24 Apr 2007 at 12:25 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Blogs for Mitt, demonstrating the commitment to honesty that has made their favored candidate such a success, implies that I was the source of the rumor about a possible defection from Camp Mitt to Camp Fred that appeared on NHInsider.com.
Since they ...
CNN's Dobbs Floats Nazi Metaphor in Immigration Fight
By Josh Gerstein | Tue, 24 Apr 2007 at 12:51 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: CNN's Lou Dobbs has accused immigrant rights groups and perhaps Mayor Newsom of San Francisco of embracing propaganda tactics reminiscent of the Third Reich.
"They might as well work for Hermann Goering, I mean, they're running so much propaganda, ...
Political Video of the Day
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 23 Apr 2007 at 6:39 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: David Letterman, via video (yeah, he's a hermit), passes on a Top Ten list for the White House Correspondents' Dinner: ...
Romney Desertion Rumor: Some Cold Water
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 23 Apr 2007 at 5:11 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: NHInsider.com kindly cites your humble blogger in an item passing on the rumor that Barbara Comstock, a Mitt Romney advisor and former Justide Department spokeswoman, is getting set to jump ship the moment Fred Thompson's newer, hipper presidential ship ...
LAT: Giuliani No. 1, Thompson No. 2 with White Christians
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 23 Apr 2007 at 9:20 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: The Los Angeles Times has a very interesting analysis today of where the white, Christian, conservative vote currently stands in the Republican primary.
First off, they recognize — as I've been arguing for the last year — that Rudy Giuliani is an ...
Slate Thompson Takeout
By Ryan Sager | Sun, 22 Apr 2007 at 7:32 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Slate's John Dickerson has a piece up (on Slate, oddly enough) giving a pretty surface-level look at why conservatives might come to have second thoughts about Fred Thompson — or, at the very least, second thoughts about crowning him the second coming of ...
MoveOn.org Cuts Ad for John McCain
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 20 Apr 2007 at 11:48 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: At least I presume that's what this is:
The more liberals attack him, the better he'll do in the primary. ...
Romney: Least Electable
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 20 Apr 2007 at 11:39 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: There's one other data point worth mentioning from that Washington Post/ABC News poll. Much is often made of the percentage of voters who say they would never vote for Hillary Clinton — and, I'd say, rightly so.
Well, get a load of the number of people ...
From Whom Does Thompson Pull?
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 20 Apr 2007 at 11:26 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Well, there's been some discussion on this blog as to just from whom Fred Thompson was pulling his support. In some of the early primary states, different answers presented themselves. Newt Gingrich fell hard when Mr. Thompson was added to some polls. ...
Yet More Proof of Life
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 20 Apr 2007 at 11:18 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Today we get more proof of life in the Giuliani campaign from the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll. In it, Rudy Giuliani is steady at 35%, roughly even with his last measurement in that poll in March (36%) and down only slightly from February (39%).
John ...
Bill Clinton Says Gore Could Enter '08 Race
By Josh Gerstein | Fri, 20 Apr 2007 at 1:18 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: President Clinton has declared that he still thinks Vice President Gore could try for the presidency again in 2008.
"You've got the prospect that Vice President Gore might run," Mr. Clinton said last night on CNN's "Larry King Live."
Now, talk that Mr. ...
A Thompson Campaign Event?
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 19 Apr 2007 at 6:33 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Maybe: The National Restaurant Association today announced that respected U.S. Senator (1994-2002) and actor
Fred Thompson
will be the featured speaker at the Association's 2007 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (R). Thompson's speech ("Traveling in Strange ...
The Cash Chase: Week-by-Week
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 19 Apr 2007 at 12:55 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: The Center for Responsive Politics has a neat little tool on its Web site that let's you look at the candidates' fundraising performance week-by-week. As in, who did well early? Who did well late? Who's kept up a consistent pace? Who's raised money in ...
Political Video of the Day
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 19 Apr 2007 at 11:16 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Welcome to the YouTube election. Here's John McCain's presidential announcement video: ...
Giuliani: Not Dead Yet
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 19 Apr 2007 at 12:33 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Yes, in writing that headline about the longstanding frontrunner, my tongue is planted firmly in cheek.
Still, much attention has been paid to Rudy Giuliani's dip in the polls recently. And, as can be seen in the latest NYSP Indices, that drop has been ...
Hillary Less Popular Than Ever
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 18 Apr 2007 at 3:32 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: According to Gallup, Hillary Clinton is now less popular than at any time since 1993.
Says the polling organization: "A majority of Americans have an unfavorable image of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic ...
Rudy vs. McCain on Partial-Birth
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 18 Apr 2007 at 12:24 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Here's a brief study in contrasts from the two presidential campaigns, regarding this morning's partial-birth-abortion decision from the Supreme Court:
John McCain: "Today's Supreme Court ruling is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life ...
Big Donors Rule Despite McCain-Feingold
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 18 Apr 2007 at 10:21 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: After all the hoopla from pro-campaign-finance-reform groups on the fifth anniversary of McCain-Feingold, it's refreshing to be reassured that small donors, though more numerous nowadays, still don't matter all that much.
According to a report just out ...
Rudy on 'Getting Beyond' Abortion
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 17 Apr 2007 at 2:17 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Over at National Review, they've been having a spirited debate over Rudy Giuliani's statement that the Republican Party needs to "get beyond" the issue of abortion.
First off, as the transcript the Giuliani campaign produced shows (reproduced after the ...
Dems: Who Can Win the West?
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 17 Apr 2007 at 9:44 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: One thing to watch as the Democratic primary heats up is the regional question. Any of the Democratic candidates can win the Northeast (though Rudy Giuliani could put, say, New Jersey and Rhode Island into play). None of the Democrats can win the South ...
Virginia Tech: Politics Touches Everything
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 17 Apr 2007 at 12:19 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Unseemly though it may seem, politics touches everything — or, rather, everything touches politics — and the presidential campaigns are all trying to figure out how to deal with the Virginia Tech massacre.
The Giuliani campaign has suspended activities ...
Thompson (the other one) on Those Money-Making Jews
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 16 Apr 2007 at 4:59 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Most of Thommy Thompson's poll votes probably come from people who are confused. Nonetheless, it's still worth noting a jaw-droppingly anti-Semitic statement from a Republican presidential candidate when one is made. (HT: Jonathan Martin at the Politico ...
The Latest NYSP Indices
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 16 Apr 2007 at 12:55 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: We've updated our GOP and Dem primary indices for April, to take account of the major, national, public polls taken so far. You can click here to take a look at the indices and the data behind them, OR you can always click the tab on our menu bar, or ...
Romney's Utah Cash
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 16 Apr 2007 at 10:44 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Normally, if you heard that a candidate's second-biggest state for campaign donations was Utah, you'd have to assume that this was not one of your bigger-dollar candidates.
Of course, 2008 is no normal campaign. And the candidate in question is Mitt ...
Rudy to Regent
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 16 Apr 2007 at 9:29 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: John McCain took his turn at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. Now Rudy Giuliani is making his way down to Pat Robertson's Regent University.
Mr. Robertson, of course, has a record of intolerant, racist, and just-plain-nuts statements rivaled only by ...
McCain's War Chest
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 16 Apr 2007 at 1:06 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: John McCain is really setting himself up for a "Comeback Kid" storyline, it seems. How else to explain the fact that after raising less cash than any of his serious rivals for the GOP nomination, he has also managed to burn though a far greater portion ...
Obama Bests Clinton By A Stunning $5.7 Million
By Josh Gerstein | Sun, 15 Apr 2007 at 7:36 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Campaign finance reports filed today show Senator Obama of Illinois far outpaced Senator Clinton in fund-raising for their presidential primary campaigns. Mr. Obama raised $24.8 million, while Mrs. Clinton brought in $19.1 million, in primary money for ...
Democrats and the West
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 13 Apr 2007 at 1:29 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: The importance of the Denver convention story, of course, is that the Denver convention stands for a lot more than just a random venue chosen on a whim. The interior West is a major swing region in this upcoming election, as I've spent some considerable ...
Peace in Denver?
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 13 Apr 2007 at 1:21 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: I don't want to temp the Great Law of Headline Question Marks, but there does seem to be some progress being made in pacifying labor unrest in Denver ahead of the Democrats' convention there. The Rocky Mountain News reports this:
Labor officials were ...
Political Video of the Day
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 13 Apr 2007 at 12:50 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Rudy Giuliani's speech to the Club for Growth (in two parts):
Mr. Giuliani addressed the Club at its winter meeting, on March 31. The speech was preceded by Steve Forbes's announcement that he was supporting Mr. Giuliani for the Republican nomination. ...
McCain Falls to Third in LAT Poll
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 12 Apr 2007 at 6:47 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Here's a lead paragraph that's no good for the McCain camp:
Sen. John McCain, once considered the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has fallen to third place in a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, and is running behind Fred ...
Anecdotal Evidence: Hillary Will Lose
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 12 Apr 2007 at 10:54 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: As a political journalist, my second-favorite activity (after drawing sweeping conclusions from early primary polls) is drawing sweeping conclusions from anecdotes. So, here's one such conclusion: Hillary Clinton will not be the Democratic nominee — at ...
Hoffa: Unions Will 'Blow Up' Denver
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 12 Apr 2007 at 8:50 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Howard Dean made the right choice to put the Democratic National Convention next year in Denver, Colorado. Given the Democratic Party's surging strength in the interior West, he would have been a fool to pass up the opportunity.
But that doesn't mean ...
Rough Month for Rudy, Still On Top
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 12 Apr 2007 at 12:29 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: March was undoubtedly a rough month for Rudy Giuliani (and April's not shaping up so great, either). But, the fact is he's still doing extremely well in the polls.
Much was made of Mr. Giuliani's drop to 31% in the Gallup poll at the end of March, from ...
Candidates and the Blogs
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 11 Apr 2007 at 3:17 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: John McCain isn't the only one speaking to the blogosphere today. Fred Thompson, having announced his lymphoma today, has taken to RedState.com to address his health.
In a blog post titled, "What You Need To Know" (stunning resemblance to the Stephen ...
McCain: Pentagon Too Slow on Surge
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 11 Apr 2007 at 2:05 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: In the wake of his Iraq speech down in Virginia today, John McCain just held a blogger conference call — his second such conference call, if memory serves, so far in the primary.
During the call, he accused the Pentagon of not having moved quickly ...
McCain Reloaded?
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 11 Apr 2007 at 12:54 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Well, the preview we had yesterday of the McCain speech on Iraq today was dead on. And I stand by my initial assessment. While it was a well-written speech, there was nothing earth-shattering in there that could really "reboot" the McCain campaign.
Iraq ...
Exclusive: Giuliani NY/NJ Finance Team
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 11 Apr 2007 at 12:22 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: According to a Giuliani aide, the campaign will announce the following members of its finance teams for New York and New Jersey later today:
Ambassador Anthony Gioia, West New York State Finance Co-Chair In 1995, Ambassador Gioia was appointed to the ...
Fred Thompson Recovering From Lymphoma
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 11 Apr 2007 at 10:24 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: The former senator from Tennessee, Fred Thompson, is recovering from lymphoma, he has told Fox News. According to Mr. Thompson: "I have had no illness from it, or even any symptoms. My life expectancy should not be affected. I am in remission, and it is ...
MoveOn.Org Withdraw-al-palooza
By Josh Gerstein | Wed, 11 Apr 2007 at 1:25 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Listeners to MoveOn.org's virtual town hall meeting with Democratic presidential candidates last night were treated to an exercise in differentiating among politicians with very similar positions. The subject, of course, was the Iraq War.
I dislike ...
More on Giuliani and Schiavo
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 11 Apr 2007 at 12:33 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: In my story today, I take a look at Mayor Giuliani's recent comments on the Terri Schiavo controversy, where he states that he supported the congressional intervention — but also makes clear that he was completely unprepared to handle the question, ...
McCain's Iraq Speech Tomorrow
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 10 Apr 2007 at 6:45 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Tomorrow, John McCain will give what is being billed as a his "first major policy speech on his commitment to winning the war in Iraq" at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington. It will be followed up later in the month by speeches on ...
Political Video of the Day II
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 10 Apr 2007 at 2:57 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: The voter Mitt Romney told he was a "a hunter pretty much all my life" strikes back:
Ouch. ...
Political Video of the Day
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 10 Apr 2007 at 12:34 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Obama on Letterman (on Hillary as VP): ...
Reversal: Rudy and Romney on Terri
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 10 Apr 2007 at 9:40 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Here's a bit of a surprising story from LifeNews.com. Apparently, on a campaign swing through Florida, Rudy Giuliani said he supported the efforts of the Florida legislature and governor (that would be one Jeb Bush) to keep Terri Schiavo on life support. ...
NY Makes It Official: Feb. 5, 2008, Will Be Super Duper
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 9 Apr 2007 at 5:53 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: With Governor Spitzer's signature, New York has made it official: The Empire State will join California, New Jersey, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Utah in moving its primary to February 5, 2008.
That puts this Super Duper ...
Why the McCain Meltdown?
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 9 Apr 2007 at 12:49 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: "Henry Clay, the great 19th-century senator, once said, 'I'd rather be right than be president.' Sadly for McCain, the odds are growing that he'll be neither." — Jonathan Alter, Newsweek, April 16, 2007, issue
That's the conclusion of the big Newsweek, ...
WSJ: Thompson's Delay Is Costly
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 9 Apr 2007 at 6:36 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: The Wall Street Journal's not really breaking any news here, but it's certainly right: Every day Fred Thompson delays is a day he's not raising money, not signing up endorsements from local pols in early primary states, and not signing up experienced ...
Rudy Corleone
By Ryan Sager | Sun, 8 Apr 2007 at 6:06 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Newsday wants to make a big deal out of the fact that Rudy Giuliani makes references to the mob, and particularly to the mob as it exists in popular culture, in his campaign. The concern, of course, is that a candidate looking to become the first ...
'One of the lads heard weapons being cocked. He freaked out and dropped to the floor. He was screaming.'
By Ryan Sager | Sat, 7 Apr 2007 at 4:13 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Maybe it's because I just got finished reading John McCain's POW memoir, "Faith of My Fathers," but what an embarrassment to Britain, and the West more generally, these British sailors are.
One of the sailors, Lt. Carman, recalls this: "One of the lads ...
Bloomberg: Democrats' Best Friend
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 6 Apr 2007 at 3:21 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Here at the Sun, we sometimes like to spend time thinking about fanciful 2008 presidential candidates. One who might make for quite an interesting third-party candidate is, of course, New York City's own Michael Bloomberg.
However, while conventional ...
Thompson Seriousness Watch
By Ryan Sager | Fri, 6 Apr 2007 at 8:21 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Coming on the heels of Bob Novak's "Thompson Is for Real" column, we've got the Politico's Mike Allen writing that the former senator from Tennessee, Fred Thompson, is gearing up for a run for president.
How so? Well, apparently he's "assembling the ...
Political Video of the Day II
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 5 Apr 2007 at 5:32 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Ouch (given the recent story about Romney the hunter): ...
CBS Journo: McCain's Iraq Claims "Disgraceful"
By Josh Gerstein | Thu, 5 Apr 2007 at 2:24 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Sounds like Senator McCain wouldn't get CBS News foreign correspondent Allen Pizzey's vote, if Mr. Pizzey had one to cast. In an interview on a CBS blog, he blasts Mr. McCain's
recent claim that his well-guarded visit to a Baghdad market Sunday is an ...
Zogby: Romney Sees Big Jump in New Hampshire
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 5 Apr 2007 at 11:41 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Expect to see some celebration from the Romney camp over this Zogby poll. It shows Mr. Romney having almost doubled his numbers from January to tie John McCain for first place in New Hampshire, at 25% each. Rudy Giuliani comes in third at 19%. The poll ...
Political Video of the Day
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 5 Apr 2007 at 11:32 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: General Petraeus on John McCain's recent (controversial) trip to a Baghdad market: ...
Q-Poll: Hillary Beats All Comers
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 5 Apr 2007 at 10:53 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: In the latest Quinnipiac University Poll, released this morning, Hillary Clinton beats all comers — both in the Democratic primary and in the general election. Rudy Giuliani comes closest among Republicans to keeping pace with New York's junior senator, ...
It's Official: Obama Bests Clinton
By Ryan Sager | Thu, 5 Apr 2007 at 12:14 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: That is, in the primary, first-quarter fundraising game. ABC News reports that the Clinton campaign has raised roughly $20 million for the primary. That means the Obama campaign's $23.5 million puts it over the top.
Now, the Clinton campaign started ...
Edwards Lead Grows in Iowa
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 4 Apr 2007 at 6:06 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: That is, according to the latest numbers from Strategic Vision, which released Democratic and Republican caucus numbers today.
On the Democratic side, John Edwards leads with 27% of likely Democratic caucus goers. Barack Obama comes in second with 20%. ...
Political Video of the Day II
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 4 Apr 2007 at 5:14 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: This is a YouTube version of that ABC surge story everyone's been talking about all day:
Republicans are very excited about this, but I'm not really sure why.ABC's Terry McCarthy reports in the segment that Baghdad is safer after the surge. But ...
A Few Bits of Giuliani News
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 4 Apr 2007 at 4:39 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: A CNN/WMUR poll has Rudy Giuliani tied with John McCain for the first time in New Hampshire, 29%-29%. Mitt Romney's in third with 17%. Counter to the national picture, Mr. McCain had been enjoying a small lead in New Hampshire, where he's always been ...
Obama Stunner: $25 Million in the First Quarter
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 4 Apr 2007 at 11:28 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: The senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, has posted some stunningly positive fundraising figures for the first quarter: $25 million overall, with at least $23.5 million available for the primary. This money, according to the campaign, comes from more ...
Political Video of the Day
By Ryan Sager | Wed, 4 Apr 2007 at 9:44 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Mitt Romney's new campaign commercial:
The footage seems to be from his CPAC speech in early March. ...
Edwards in (Kind of) Second Place in New Hampshire
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 3 Apr 2007 at 6:39 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: It's only by a point in a poll with a 5.5% margin of error, but John Edwards is now in second place in New Hampshire, according to the latest CNN/WMUR New Hampshire primary poll. That's Hillary Clinton at 27%, Edwards at 21%, and Barack Obama at 20%. Mrs ...
Voters on Thompson: 'Who?,' 'The guy from Law & Order?,' 'I like him'
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 3 Apr 2007 at 5:38 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: So, the former senator from Tennessee has been enjoying quite the boomlet in recent weeks, shooting up to third place in the Republican primary polls based on expressing mild interest in considering thinking about running possibly.
Now, Gallup tries to ...
Romney in Iowa: Don't Believe the Hype
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 3 Apr 2007 at 4:23 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Romneyites are pushing a poll today showing their boy breaking double digits (how exciting for them!) in Iowa. It's from the University of Iowa and shows McCain at 21%, Giuliani at 20%, and Romney at 17% among likely Republican caucus goers.
There are a ...
Poll: Hillary Hot in California
By Josh Gerstein | Tue, 3 Apr 2007 at 3:25 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Interesting numbers from California today in the first thorough public poll of the Democratic presidential race in the state in quite a while. The Field Poll (PDF) shows Senator Clinton with a healthy lead over Senator Obama, 41% to 28%, among likely ...
John Kerry: McCain's 'people ... approached me' in 2004
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 3 Apr 2007 at 12:55 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: In an interview with Jonathan Singer of the liberal blog MyDD.com, Senator Kerry of Massachusetts says that Senator McCain of Arizona, or at least his staff, approached him about becoming his running mate in 2004.
This would be (seemingly) the reverse ...
Rasmussen: Giuliani, 26%; McCain, 16%; Thompson, 14%
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 3 Apr 2007 at 9:36 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Another day, another too-early poll. But, it's still an interesting one.
The latest Rasmussen poll — with 590 Likely Republican Primary Voters conducted March 26-29, 2007 — shows Rudy Giuliani down 9 percentage points from last week, and below 30% for ...
Political Video of the Day
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 3 Apr 2007 at 9:14 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: If you wanted a quick primer on Fred Thompson's career, up through 1998, here it is:
The video is from when the Florida Republican Party named Mr. Thompson the Statesman of the Year. (HT: John Fund) ...
Rescinding on Romney?
By Ryan Sager | Tue, 3 Apr 2007 at 12:31 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: Here, I'm tempting the Great Rule of Headline Question Marks with a question the answer to which is: not yet.
I've pondered in recent days whether I've been too harsh on Mitt Romney's faltering campaign for the presidency. But now we have a man ...
The Cash Chase: McCain
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 2 Apr 2007 at 6:08 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Well, John McCain's campaign has been hyping his disappointing first-quarter fundraising figures for so long that one might be forgiven for having grown suspicious it was all leading up to a surprise second-place finish. (OK, so maybe that was just my ...
The Cash Chase: Romney & Rudy
By Ryan Sager | Mon, 2 Apr 2007 at 11:08 AM | Permalink
Excerpt: So, we have some of the first-quarter fundraising totals in from the Republican side. Mitt Romney, as expected, is leading the pack. His camp reports $23 million raised this quarter. That total includes a $2.35 million dollar loan from the former ...
Edwards Raised $14M for Pres. Race in Q1
By Josh Gerstein | Sun, 1 Apr 2007 at 5:06 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: A former senator from North Carolina, John Edwards, raised more than $14 million for his presidential campaign in the first quarter of 2007, according to campaign staffers speaking on a conference call this afternoon.
That's nearly double the $7.4 ...
Hillary Tallies $26M for '08 Bid in Q1
By Josh Gerstein | Sun, 1 Apr 2007 at 2:08 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Senator Clinton raised $26 million in the first quarter, her presidential campaign announced in a conference call this afternoon. A sum of $10 million transferred over from her '06 Senate bid will get her to $36 million in income.
Clinton aides pointed ...
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