Serves Its Purpose
For the past month or so, John McCain has been struggling to get noticed by, well, pretty much anyone. He’s found a way to touch a nerve, though — the “celebrity” ad that his campaign put together and is running… Continue Reading
Domestic Politics
Bad Analogy
Plenty of spoilers here, in case you’ve not seen The Dark Knight. But on the other hand, if you read either entertainment or political columns on blogs, you’ve probably seen this stuff already. Here’s my take on it. Somehow, an… Continue Reading
Charles Grassley Denied Voting Privileges At RNC
A sitting United States Senator, the highest-ranking Republican elected official in the state of Iowa, would seem to be a natural choice to lead the Iowa state delegation at the Republican National Convention. But Charles Grassley will not even be… Continue Reading
Proposition 8 Slips Past The Margins
Looking at more polls, here’s today’s Field Poll release: Californians are preparing to reject Proposition 8 by a margin of 42-51. That’s a nine-point defeat for the Defense of Bigotry Amendment. The sample error on this poll is 3.9%. So… Continue Reading
Political Polling
Political Animal raises an interesting question for political poll watchers: are poll results skewed because pollsters do not call very many cell phones? This may not be a big issue because cell phones, while pervasive, are still seen by most… Continue Reading
Politics As Mythology
In a brief but provocative essay, George Mason University historian Rick Shenkman plugs his new book How Stupid Are We?: Facing The Truth About The American Voter with an exceedingly cynical and, in my opinion, piercingly accurate observation: Americans refer… Continue Reading
Smart Presidents
A friend is taking a class in psychology through the local college. It seems that while discussing the subject of IQ tests, the professor told her class (which included my friend) that Bill Clinton had an IQ of 187 and… Continue Reading
Obama’s Bounce Falls Into The Purple Muck
Senator Obama was expected to enjoy something of a bounce in the polls after locking up the nomination. At least according to Rasmussen, that’s gone now. Obama and McCain are tied at 46% each in a two-way preference matchup. If… Continue Reading
Fresh Nonsense For Your Contemplation
John Sidney McCain III, the presumptive Republican nominee for President in 2008, was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936, the son of two U.S. citizens. There is a way of interpreting case and statutory law to indicate that… Continue Reading
Got That One Right!
John McCain has made no bones about not being very knowledgeable about economic issues, particularly as compared to his oeuvre* in foreign policy and military matters. So when he takes on Social Security and says it’s a “disgrace,” he earns… Continue Reading