Joe Scott 3: The Body Politic

A Rout

27 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Obama crushed Clinton in the racially charged South Carolina Saturday, getting 57% compared to her 27%, and scoring his first win since the kickoff Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Look for the landslide to jump start his poll numbers… read full story

Hillary and John

26 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Just when Hillary suggested that Bill had gone perhaps a bit far in savaging Barack in South Carolina, mischief maker Bubba has come up with a new story line.

“She and John McCain are very close,” Clinton said, according… read full story

Campaign Threads

25 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Bill Clinton is now over the top in terms of insuring Hillary Clinton’s reach for the White House as Barack Obama still threatens the dream of a Clinton Restoration.

Eugene Robinson wrote in the Washington Post that the former… read full story

Another Restoration Presidency?

23 January 2008 |permalink | email article

The State, South Carolina’s most influential newspaper, has endorsed Obama as the most likely Democrat to unify America and that “in a time of great partisanship, he is careful to talk about winning over independents and even Republicans.”

Aside… read full story

Weep Again for Journalism

22 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Chilling is the only word to describe the ouster of another top Los Angeles Times editor. It is the fourth time in less than three years that the highest-ranking editor or publisher at the paper has left for resisting… read full story

Losers

21 January 2008 |permalink | email article

An unusually somber John Edwards, a distant third in the Nevada caucuses, admitted Sunday that “I got my butt kicked.”

Even more surprising, he said South Carolina was “important,” but just one “part of the long process ... We… read full story

Obama, Reagan Furor

20 January 2008 |permalink | email article

The Clintons, John Edwards and some liberals have denounced Obama for praising Reagan as a transformational candidate.

But on Meet the Press today Tim Russert and panelists Tom Brokaw, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Michele Norris, Peggy Noonan and Jon… read full story

Mitt, Hillary, John

20 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Saturday’s results in Nevada and South Carolina put the presidential campaign in sharper focus heading for primaries in South Carolina (D) and Florida (D,R) next Saturday ahead of Tsunami Tuesday on Feb. 5.

Romney easily won the Nevada GOP… read full story

Bush and Iraq

18 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Given the stock market plunge, bipartisan agreement that an economic stimulus is urgent and politics in Nevada and South Carolina tomorrow the timing of an American withdrawal from Iraq is off the radar. But there are consequences.

Iraqi defense… read full story

Bush’s ‘Brain’

17 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Karl Rove, who demonized Obama after the New Hampshire primary, is at it again. He’s returned to his soap box as an equal opportunity trasher by including Clinton.

Addressing the Republican National Committee yesterday, Karl Rove spent a lot… read full story

Two Parties, Far Apart

16 January 2008 |permalink | email article

In presidential politics it was a day of stark contrasts.

Republicans are without a frontrunner after Michigan and in further disarray heading for South Carolina next week. The Democratic debate in Las Vegas produced acts of contrition and… read full story

Michigan and Nevada

15 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Today’s Michigan primary has major consequences. It’s down to Romney and McCain with polls all over the place.

With two silver medals, to use Romney’s Olympics metaphor, the gold is a must this time. Some liberal blogs are… read full story

Red States: Ripe for Obama?

14 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama in the number of January endorsements but none yet in the Senate. But already, besides John Kerry, Obama has picked up significant backing from three Democrats who represent conservative red states.

Tim Johnson of… read full story

Race, Class And Polls

13 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Andrew Kohut, the eminence grise of pollsters and president of the Pew Research Center, addresses the failure of New Hampshire pre-election surveys to mirror the outcome of the Democratic presidential race, a classic fiasco in modern polling history.

In… read full story

Endorsment Games

12 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Liberal bloggers stew on the Web about how important the backing of failed 2004 nominee John Kerry is for Barack Obama. On balance, it’s a big plus besides access to Kerry’s 3-million donor list.

Far more important than Kerry… read full story

Rove Demonizes Obama

12 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Bush’s chief architect, before resigning from the White House last August, launched a fiery campaign to undermine Hillary Clinton’s candidacy which became instant Republican dogma. But the target of his trash talk has abruptly changed.

Thursday, in a… read full story

What They Said

10 January 2008 |permalink | email article

“One of the useful things about yesterday was it reminds us that change isn’t easy. Change is always met with resistance by the status quo.” Obama speaking to 3,500 at a Jersey City rally yesterday.

“That was quick. The… read full story

Seismic Shock

09 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Clinton, propelled by women, registered Democrats and voters over 40, upset all calculations and scored a narrow win over Obama – a post Iowa rebound making her the “Comeback Girl,” a replay of Bill Clinton’s “Comeback Kid” finish there… read full story

Scenarios

07 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Each requires a must win in the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential primary Tuesday:

** Obama upsets Clinton again, the media goes nuts and it’s a huge boost to the once unthinkable notion that an insurgent could win the… read full story

Quo Vadis, America?

04 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Blowout wins by insurgents Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee in Iowa suggest the close of the Reagan and Bush eras and the beginning of the most wide-open race in American politics since 1980 with change and a new direction… read full story

Iowa: Down to Four?

02 January 2008 |permalink | email article

Final Des Moines Register and CNN polls before the Iowa caucuses on Thursday suggest the finalists may be Obama and Clinton among Democrats, and Huckabee and Romney among Republicans.

The Register poll, more in depth, suggests Obama has opened… read full story

New Year

01 January 2008 |permalink | email article

For many years I have sent this New Year’s greeting to friends. In 2008 it speaks both to the present moment and my hope for a future full of grace:

As Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, “And now let us… read full story