News that Mitt Romney has joined John McCain on the campaign trail is fueling speculation that the Arizona Senator may tap his defeated rival for the Republican VP slot. Which would make perfect sense. Back by the Bush braintrust and conservative chattering classes, Romney claims to know something about the economy, a topic on which […]

As much as anything else, presidential campaigns are won and lost by the media narratives that rightly or wrongly come to define a candidate. In the case of Repubican nominee John McCain, the seemingly unshakable narrative of the political "maverick" could not be further off the mark. At almost every turn, McCain in his eternal […]

Politics, they say, produces strange bedfellows. After Hillary Clinton's visit with the Pittsburgh Tribune Review editorial board today, truer words were never spoken. That Senator Clinton chose that of all venues to weigh in on Barack Obama's pastor controversy would have been unthinkable in the years past. After all, the Tribune Review is owned by […]

In another unfortunate case of premature Iraq elation, the Wall Street Journal last week celebrated the decline and fall of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr. Echoing the "bring 'em on" taunt of their former boss, ex-Bush advisers Dan Senor and Roman Martinez triumphantly asked "Whatever Happened to Moqtada?" But as the renewed turmoil in Baghdad […]

A new study released last week revealed a Republican Party ever more out of touch with the mushrooming crisis of the American health care system. Predictably, 68% of Republicans believe the U.S. has the best health system in the world, compared to only three in 10 Democrats. Ironically, those findings come just as new studies […]

Over the past two days, the fawning American media has provided rave reviews of John McCain's visit to France. While the New York Times lauded "McCain's soothing tones," Time gushed about "McCain's Paris romance" and the transformation of Franco-American relations made possible by his warm embrace of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But lost in these […]

Just in time for Easter, the Houston Chronicle has a report on the resurrection on Tom Delay. While the disgraced, indicted former House Minority Leader is still awaiting trial on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, the Hammer is once ramping up his right-wing rage machine in an effort to propel himself […]

While all eyes this week focused on Barack Obama the repercussions of the Jeremiah Wright imbrolglio, conflicting stories about the two sides of Hillary Clinton seemed to get lost in the noise. On Saturday, the AP offered a positive assessment of Clinton's record of hard work in the Senate. But new revelations regarding her histories […]

In the wake of the near-meltdown of the American financial system this week, economists are finally pointing the finger of blame at Alan Greenspan. As the Washington Post details, the former Fed Chairman once lauded as the "Maestro" is now facing withering criticism for helpful fuel the twin crises of the housing market and the […]

What a difference a week makes, especially when it comes to the rollercoaster American economy. No where is the impact of looming recession and the near-meltdown on Wall Street clearer than on the White House web site. Just days ago, the site boasted about President Bush's glorious stewardship of the U.S. economy. Now, the White […]