The Reality-Based Community

Gerald Seib points out it's not so much the response to the 3am phone call -- it's the policies that may help avoid the crisis and make it more or less manageable that distinguish the candidates.

Posted by Quincy Adams at 06:24 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

Jim Fallows has a useful take on McCain's relatively smooth (can you say stump speech?) performance at Saddleback.

Posted by Quincy Adams at 03:31 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

A Megan McArdle commenter on McCain's shenanigans: "His performance didn't look so good when I suspected the performer was a cheating liar."

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 02:18 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Rich on McCain, Robinson on Corsi, Broder on the Obama organization.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 01:07 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

Did you know that McCain's Senate record of support for Bush had risen every year since 2005, and that the figure for 2008 is 100%?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 06:38 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Let's use the Corsi controversy to publicize the books that tell the truth about John McCain.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 12:18 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

Why not?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 06:57 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Joe Klein calls out John McCain and the new Swiftboaters.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 06:16 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

A Steven Colbert speech at the Convention? Why not?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 09:54 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

That would be the funeral in Minneapolis, where the guest of honor will get out of his coffin long enough to make an acceptance speech.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 03:09 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

... doesn't seem to be one of the "family values" John McCain wants to uphold.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 02:45 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Russian Imperialism has been enabled by Bush/Cheney policy disasters.

Posted by Quincy Adams at 08:24 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Chris Wallace *nails* Rick Davis.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 05:31 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Should the Obama campaign put out tire gauges with the Obama logo? Why not?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 11:24 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

Why does the Paris Hilton energy video contain more substantive energy policy than the McCain video it responds to?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 10:46 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

The American people have taken the oil-price problem into their own hands: they're driving less, and more efficiently. John McCain and the oil companies don't like it.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 07:17 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Yes, in fact John McCain's campaign made an attack video mocking the idea of Obama's picture on the $100 bill. But of course when he said that his opponents would make a fuss about the fact that he didn't look like all the other guys on the money, that was just Obama's paranoia and race-baiting.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 06:27 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

That's the latest from the AP-Ipsos Poll, conducted over five days from 7/31-8/4. Obama's bouncing back a little as well on the Gallup tracker, now at Obama +4. Relax. And keep doing more of this. And this. UPDATE: The AP poll may have oversampled Democrats. As always, however, Alan Abramowitz is around to give some more reality to things. Bottom...

Posted by Jonathan Zasloff at 01:37 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Britney Spears is a fading celebrity. John McCain is a fading celebrity. Barack Obama is a rising star.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 06:42 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Who was it who claimed to be "the American president Americans have been waiting for"?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 10:05 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

"A few months ago, I wrote that John McCain was an honorable man and he would run an honorable campaign. I was wrong."

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 11:58 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

The LA Times' egregious Peter Nicholas--who as you may recall helped to write the worst 2008 campaign story so far--is at it again, covering up for McCain's lying ads. This is tiresome but necessary. First, notice that the entire piece--all of it--is about McCain's campaign ads. There is literally nothing of substance in the piece. Second, the article says: In...

Posted by Jonathan Zasloff at 10:33 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Obama stays vague on chlorinated chickens.

Posted by James Wimberley at 02:46 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

Obama's spokesman says that John McCain's latest ad is a dishomorable act by an honorable man. Only half of that statement is true.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 08:44 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Explosive, if true. And you have to love the headline: "Obama for Commander-in-Chief."

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 12:04 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

When you talked about the border between Iraq and Afghanistan, that was a mistake. When you talked about Barack Obama's announcement that he would attack Pakistan, that was a lie.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 07:14 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Mark is right that the press is giving McCain a free pass on the Gas Tax Holiday, compared to how they treated Sen. Clinton. But though they both deserved criticism, Sen. McCain's proposal is dumber than Senator Clinton's was, because she at least protected the fisc and didn't hand additional dollars to OPEC.

Posted by Quincy Adams at 09:17 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

It's a bogus idea. Why not report it that way?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 06:10 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

McCain's cognitive capacities don't seem to be as strong as one would like in a President. It's not age discrimination to say so.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 03:36 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

... is gambling that the press won't say that he's adopted Barack Obama's strategy: withdraw troops from Iraq in order to increase force levels in Afghanistan.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 03:11 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Calls him on his economic b.s. Other reporters, please copy.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 11:34 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Expect to hear more about Lilly Ledbetter's claim for equal pay, how the Supreme Court shot it down, and how John McCain voted against a legislative fix.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 08:28 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

The New Yorker satirical cartoon showing the terrorist fist bump in the Oval office would have been fine inside the magazine, but is a mistake on the cover, because it will unconsciously reinforce baseless (and base) stereotypes in many casual viewers. Most of those who will take the time to decode the cover and appreciate the satire will already be sophisticated observers and will not be moved by the satire.

Posted by Quincy Adams at 07:53 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

A fantasy letter from Barack Obama to his supporters.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 03:18 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

When Obama is asked whether what he sees in Iraq changed his mind about what to do there, he should remind the questioners that an open-ended commitment in Iraq has costs here at home and around the world, and that a President is supposed to have a wider field of view than a theater commander.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 09:56 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

He thinks it fine that the telcos and the cable companies "control the pipe."

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 04:23 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Getting electronic surveillance under clearl statutory control within the Constitution is mroe important than any of the details in the curent legislation.

Posted by Quincy Adams at 12:47 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Mort Halperin backs Obama on the FISA bill.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 12:36 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

... because it quotes him accurately as calling Social Security "a disgrace."

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 04:43 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Why was Hillary Clinton asked to provide expert support for the "gas tax holiday" while John McCain is allowed to keep pushing it without being challenged?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 11:10 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

If your employer cheats your widow out of $426,000 she should have been able to collect on your life insurance, the courts won't do a thing about it.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 09:33 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

How Barack Obama should navigate the politics of Iraq, allowing him to become president and then execute a superior policy to that of either John McCain or George W. Bush, that actually might succeed in getting troops out of Iraq,

Posted by Quincy Adams at 07:06 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

There's less here than meets the eye. Obama still opposes telco immunity: though he will vote for the package containing it if that's what's on the table, he will also vote to strip that provision from the bill. The point of immunity from the BushCo perspective is to prevent the unveiling of its lawlessness in the discovery process; but President Obama could simply order an internal investigation.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 09:45 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

As the McCain-Clark dustup continues into its fourth day (mostly courtesy of McCain), it seems to me that there is one interesting way in which it reveals assumptions about Presidential qualifications. One could make a fairly plausible point about how being a POW would prepare someone for the Presidency: in a word, courage. It was courageous for McCain to fly...

Posted by Jonathan Zasloff at 08:43 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

PUMA PAC was founded by a woman whose sole prior political contribution had been to John McCain.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 07:32 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Obama button with the slogan: "Bin Laden is still free. Are you?"

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 02:23 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

She's asking for money to pay the vendors, but she's walking away from the $12 million of her own money the campaign borrowed from her.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 07:33 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Asked to name an author who inspired him, John McCain chose "prosperity gospel" preacher Joel Osteen.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 06:00 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

McCain says he's going to pull the election out "in the last 48 hours." What's supposed to happen then?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 05:43 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

LAT/Bloomberg has Obama +12; adding Barr and Nader to the mix brings it to +15.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 06:48 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

John McCain's campaign headquarters occupies what used to be the thirteenth floor of an office building. He insisted on making it "The M Floor."

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 02:28 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

That's what Charlie Black, John McCain's campaign guru, said about a terrorist attack on the U.S.: "him" being McCain.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 02:00 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Clinton's maxed-out donors can't help pay her campaign debt. Obama's can.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 12:06 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

The Obama campaign is going after Indiana.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 11:38 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Don't believe the Newsweek poll showing Obama with a fifteen-point lead. But don't believe the race is tied, either.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 05:17 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Marc Ambinder wonders whether John McCain's flip-flop on offshore drilling might be a reaction to new circumstances, rather than mere political cynicism. Ambinder lists our growing knowledge about climate change as one of those new circumstances. Huh?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 02:04 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

"Unelectable"? I don't think so.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 02:27 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

It turns out that on national security the McCain campaign's notion of discussing issues is Rovian name calling. Update: Readers pitch in with additional substance.

Posted by Quincy Adams at 08:23 AM | TrackBack (0) | |

That's gotta hurt.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 06:06 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

A key Hillaryite-for-McCain turns out to be an open racist.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 02:24 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

Rudy Giuliani will do fundraisers for Republican candidates: for a piece of the action.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 10:39 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

The question is, who DIDN'T find it offensive to refer to Michelle Obama as if she were the mother of Barack Obama's children as a result of a casual liaison rather than a marriage?

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 11:22 PM | TrackBack (0) | |

McCain's tax plans are good for the prosperous, the wealthy, and the filthy rich. Obama's tax plans are good for the other 80%.

Posted by Mark Kleiman at 01:59 PM | TrackBack (0) | |