At the CPAC conference today, Mitt Romney mercifully brought his campaign of gymnastic flip-flops to an end. Yielding to the inevitability of John McCain's nomination, Romney shuffled off into the Republican sunset. But before exiting the stage (no doubt to return in 2012), Romney regurgitated the bromides, mean-spirited attacks and downright ignorance that characterized his […]

In Washington today, President Bush launched Operation Stay Relevant II. Following up on his October strategy to wield the veto pen to "ensure that I am relevant," the wildly unpopular lame duck is holding 84 of his executive nominees hostage until he gets Senate blessing for the recess appointment of torture advocate Steven Bradbury. This […]

One of the more fascinating story lines in the wake of the Super Tuesday primaries involves rumors that GOP frontrunner John McCain is considering Mike Huckabee as his VP choice. The two didn't merely combine in Tuesday's nationwide vote to send Mitt Romney to the Republican equivalent of the glue factory. Throughout the primaries, McCain […]

Last night, I delivered a presentation at the Ignite Portland event titled "That's Entertainment: Politics as Theater in Campaign '08." Ignite is an eclectic event where a series of presenters each get five minutes and 20 slides (advancing automatically every 15 seconds) to discuss virtually any topic they want. The event organizers captured each of […]

Desperate men say desperate things. In Mitt Romney's case, that often mean reversing positions he held for as long as a lifetime or as little as fifteen minutes. But in attacking Bob Dole on Monday, the former Massachusetts Governor showed he's not only desperate, he's not too bright, either. Yesterday, the former Kansas Senator and […]

With the make-or-break Super Tuesday primaries just 24 hours away, two breaking stories suggest that candidacies may be made or broken by media interpretation of the trivial. In Connecticut, Hillary Clinton once again teared up at a campaign event. And over the weekend, a questioner at a St. Louis Clinton rally reprised an earlier McCain […]

On Monday, President Bush will unveil a fiscal 2009 budget proposal that breaks yet another promise he made to the American people. The nation's first ever $3 trillion dollar budget will produce a $400 billion mountain of red ink. And with it, Bush's bogus 2004 promise to halve to the federal budget deficit by 2009 […]

On Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow, the Fox Network will add its unique brand of right-wing propaganda to the mix of football and ads millions of Americans tune in to see. Before its pre-game show and Super Bowl XLII coverage, Fox stations will first air three hours of Fox News Super Tuesday political "analysis." Since the […]

That cheering sound you may have heard this morning was conservatives' applauding the news that New York Times reporter James Risen has been subpoenaed in an effort to force him to reveal his confidential sources. But while Republican rage may be temporarily muted over the inquiry into Risen's 2006 book, many on the right won't […]

Thursday's CNN Democratic debate in California revealed two fundamentals truths. First, Democrats as a whole were very well served by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, two candidates who each delivered sterling, civil performances. Their thoughtful exchange stood in sharp contrast to the second inescapable conclusion, the banality of the moderator, CNN's Wolf Blitzer. On a […]