Kat with a K

Yay!!!!!

Edwards endorses Obama!

Politics Links (5/9)

I mostly like this because it uses the phrase "mirabile dictu:" If Barack Obama is out of touch with America, is the media too? Actually, it's more interesting than it sounds. Generational stuff, mostly.

John and Elizabeth Edwards. Speaking out. Or something. In People, of all places.

CNN calls Hillary an alien. Well, sort of.

Pelosi has an interesting version of optimism.

Did Edwards slip and admit who he voted for?

Politics Links (5/7)

Here's a nice example of the difference between Obama and Clinton: "The bill for 15 slices . . . came to $26.95. . . . The Democratic presidential candidate handed out plates to patrons and several reporters after paying the bill with cash. He stuffed a $10 bill in the tip cup." He paid in cash, rather than having outstanding bills with small businesses for months! AND he tipped! Really well! Taking notes, Hillary?

My friend Jack tips us off to this nifty interactive electoral college map.

John Kerry wants an investigation of the Pentagon pundit problem.

How to Lose an Election 101

George McGovern switches his support to Obama and calls for Clinton to drop out. The start of a trend?

Huh. Apparently the pick-up basketball game Obama played at UNC broke all sorts of rules. But the NCAA is letting it go. Yay.

A wistful Joe Trippi on what he should have told Edwards back in January.

Did anyone hear about a potential Obama/Clinton debt deal?

One of the news stations I was watching last night - either CNN or MSNBC - was talking about rumors of a deal involving Obama paying off Clinton's debt in return for Clinton getting out of the race. Or something. Has anyone read about this? I'm having trouble figuring out how to search for it, because all the terms I'm coming up with are quite common and show up in tons of news stories.

Politics Links (5/6)

While we're waiting for results...

Tom Hanks endorses Obama

Clinton and the white racist vote

Sullivan contemplates an Obama-Clinton ticket.

Talk about a close margin...

Yesterday, Obama won Guam by SEVEN VOTES. Wow. I love how the Times still refers to them as "Mr. Obama, of Illinois" and "Mrs. Clinton, of New York" in pretty much every story. It's kind of cute.

Politics Links (5/2)

The Telegraph (UK) publishes a list of the 50 most influential US political pundits.

The Nation has an interesting point about the different sections of the race, both chronologically and the parallel electoral/superdelegate races.

Battling to Be the Next Secretary of State

Time has an interesting profile of Harold Ickes.

Politics Links (5/1)

This metaphor is really convoluted, but interesting: If a candidate's campaign plane symbolizes that candidate, and those planes are movies, and the movies are set in junior high cafeterias, who's in which clique?

Open letter to Michelle Obama: Can Barack please have a cigarette?

Joe Andrew (former DNC chairman) switches to Obama. And then his Wikipedia page is hijacked.

Can Obama resurrect real conservatism?

Apparently McCain circumvented campaign finance legislation he himself backed by using his wife's corporate jet.

South Dakota is trying to ban abortion. Again.

The campaign has made it to North Carolina, but Edwards probably still won't endorse.

Politics Links (4/29)

Obama denounces Wright. (I think the word "denounce" needs to go away for a while, don't you? I'm kind of sick of it.)

Everyone's favorite pretend president, Martin Sheen, endorses Obama.

Edwards supporters are switching to Obama. Will Edwards himself?

Andrew Sullivan on Clinton and her frenemies.

The "Billification" of Hillary's campaign. They say he's helping more than hurting, but given enough time, he'll surely say something completely self-destructive, right?

Politics Links (4/28)

Not that this is really a surprise, but Gail Collins reminds us that John McCain is not good for women. And Frank Rich reminds us that lots of Republicans really don't like McCain.

Elizabeth Edwards writes for the Times about how the media is messing up the race.

Politics Links (4/25)

Quote of the Day:
“How many debates did you have to have? None? That sounds good.”
Barack Obama discusses elections with a ten-year-old boy who had just become class president. NPR, April 19th, quoted in The Economist

Roger Simon: Don't stop believin', Hillary. Hysterical.

Huckabee has a new book coming out in November.

How will the candidates deal with Indiana's unusual blend of demographics?

Gail Collins on - well, I'm not sure how to summarize it, actually, but it was good.

High school class president and VP are suspended for cutting class to see Obama - even though Obama himself wrote them excuse notes. No, really.

We know Clinton won't quit. Should Obama drop out? I don't really think so, obviously, but it's an interesting theory.

An Obama-Clinton Decision Tree. Nifty.

Yet another reason to like him: Obama adds "gay and straight" to the groups he wants to bring together.

Obama's coming out with a major new voter registration initiative.

Politics Links (4/23)

Quote of the Day:
"I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything." - John McCain, on This Week

The Times, like the rest of us, is sick of the negative campaigning. I wonder if they're regretting their Clinton endorsement?

It seems Abercrombie and Fitch kids like Obama.

I just don't understand how people can believe things like this.

The Times has a profile of John King and his wonderful map.

Nixon's daughter (also a member of the Eisenhower family) supports Obama. I'm not sure if that helps or hurts, really...

The governor of Oklahoma backs Obama. So does Charlie Wilson.

Maureen Dowd: "Or is he simply scared of Hillary because she’s scary?" It's a good column.

Liveblogging the PA Results

10:02: Okay, nothing's really happening, so I'm headed for bed. I know the candidates will be speaking eventually, but I'm tired, and it's not like what they say won't be replayed a million times tomorrow.

9:25: Wolf is asking Casey why Obama couldn't win PA by outspending Clinton. Of course, he doesn't mention that Clinton started out way, way ahead. argh.

9:16: A little distraction: How will the candidates look in four years?

9:13: Can we please stop saying that Obama losing a given state/county/whatever to Clinton means that he would also lose it to McCain? That just does not make any sense.

9:04: Aaaaand now CNN has called it too. Bah!

8:59: I understand that everything related to the Democrats needs to be blue, but it seems like we could use some other color for situations like this instead of coloring everything light blue and dark blue. In other news, CNN seems to be less about people yelling at each other than MSNBC is, at least at the moment.

8:55: Have I mentioned how much I love John King and his bloopy map? CNN has it at 53-47 now, and is threatening to call it soon.

8:51: Switched to CNN. They haven't called it yet.

8:49: Bah! MSNBC just called it.

8:47: The MSNBC lady just said "Both Clinton and Obama have faced attacks on major qualities. For Clinton, it's that she's not honest or trustworthy. For Obama, it's that he's elitist." (That's not verbatim, but those were the "major qualities" she said.) I just don't understand how elitism could be seen as in any way as bad as dishonesty and untrustworthiness.

8:45: Why is it that all of the TV news people are so obnoxious?

8:34: Darn it! They just switched from "too close to call" to "too early to call," and Clinton has a 65-35 lead. Among the, you know, 2000 votes they have so far.

8:16: Considering how many states they've called right when the polls closed, and the margin Clinton was supposed to have, it has to be a good thing that they're saying it's too close to call, right?

Politics Links (4/21)

Thomas Frank gets at the real issues of "elitism".

Obama reminds Clinton that Gore won.

Andrew Sullivan on what Pennsylvania will say about tactics.

A profile of the 25 Dean appointees to the Credentials Committee.

Politics Links (4/18)

I have to admit that I didn't watch the debate the other night. I just couldn't take it. I opted for watching Miss Marple and knitting and drinking tea instead, and I think it was much more relaxing. But anyway, some good takes on the debate for those of us needed to catch up: Gail Collins, Andrew Sullivan, The Telegraph (UK). And here's Obama's own take.

Do latte drinkers and Prius drivers really prefer Obama?

Women in politics: getting more fashion options. (I don't like the line about librarians at the end, though.)

Another feature of long campaigns: More campaign romances.

A profile of Cindy McCain makes me like her a lot better than I like her husband.

It seems there's a Clinton aide devoted to managing and protecting Chelsea. I agree with the Jezebel people that it kind of sounds like he has a crush on her.

A small request

Can we stop calling everything that even vaguely resembles a political scandal "blahblah-gate" now, please?

Politics Links (4/16)

Rendell is a new sort of political host and promoter for Clinton in Pennsylvania.

Huckabee's big announcement? Not so exciting, IMHO.

Warren Harding: The real first black president?

How much does Clinton owe Penn?

Apparently McCain's site lifted their "family recipes" from the Food Network.

Roman Catholics for Obama. Just in time for the pope's visit.

Apparently pollsters have decided that what we eat correlates to our political choices. Hm.

Why isn't Obama "too pretty"?

I'm sure we all remember the ridiculous argument that John Edwards was "too pretty" to be President. Recently, I've been wondering why those same charges haven't been leveled against Obama. He's a strikingly handsome man, and younger than Edwards, to boot. (In some pictures from around his law school days, he practically looks like a model.) So why aren't we being told that Obama, like Edwards, is too pretty to be President? (What the heck that even means is another question.) A friend and I discussed this over dinner the other night (mmm, broccoli with spicy garlic sauce) and came up with a few possibilities:

1. Obama's detractors just haven't needed to mention his prettiness, since they're already accusing him of being a Muslim/racist/atheist/Marxist/socialist/whatever it is today. There are more easy (if false) targets with Obama than Edwards.
2. It's not just an issue of looks, but of seeming to care about said looks. So far as I know, there haven't been any big things about expensive haircuts with Obama as there were with Edwards.
3. I just have weird taste, and Obama isn't as good-looking as I think he is. (I'm sort of amused that this suggestion came from someone I used to date.)
4. The sorts of people who are likely to hold something like "too pretty" against a candidate in the first place just wouldn't think to use that term to describe a black man.

Are we on the right track? Any other ideas?

EDIT: Consensus (at least among people named C/Kate...) seems to be that I'm just nuts. Although - hmm. I think my thinking was not necessarily that he's ridiculously handsome or anything, but that I don't see how Edwards is more "conventionally good-looking" than Obama. Because I think (just off the top of my head) that Obama has more regular features, and Edwards is sort of squinty, and his hair is floppy. Hm.

Politics Links (4/14)

Mike Huckabee has... something... coming soon.

Does Obama's international popularity hurt him?

Nora Ephron on Hillary Clinton

The Clintons? Proud of themselves, and each other.

A Non-Executive Decision

Are people really backing Obama because their kids say so? Hm.

Politico has picked the 50 greatest political moments of the past 50 years.

McCain and faith. It seems like an interesting shift that the Republican candidate is talking about religion a lot less than either Democrat this year.

Politics Links (4/8)

Mark Penn resigns under pressure.

Clinton calls for a boycott of the Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

The evolution of torture in the Bush administration.

Is there anyone who actually could convince Clinton to drop out? Is there any chance she will?

Guide to Undecided Superdelegates

Politics Links (4/5)

The Clintons finally release their tax returns. Summary: They got really really rich.

The World According to John McCain Foreign policy, temper, emotion, and Joe Lieberman... an interesting mix. Plus, did you know Gary Hart was an usher at McCain's wedding?

Does Pennsylvania have a particular problem with electing women and minorities? If they did, would so many people be registering as new Democratic voters? Hmmmm.

A look at what Samantha Power is doing now. Hint: She's still really busy.

McCain: Really bad at giving speeches.

Politics Links (4/4)

Get your Whedon for President bumper sticker! And while we're at it, here's Adama for President.

Politico has a guide to the undecided superdelegates.

Caucusing elephants. No, really.

Elizabeth Edwards has taken a visiting fellowship at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Obama wants Gore to work in his administration.

Carter hints at supporting Obama.

Edwards rules out another VP run. Which we pretty much all figured. But at the end of that article, there's what some of us would like to read as a teeny tiny hint that he supports Obama. (Or that gender biases are very entrenched in political language. Whatever.)

Okay, this article about a supplier of arms for Afghanistan is just... bizarre. And, like all good political stories these days, involves prostitutes.

Interesting profile of McCain, set during the NH primary and Super Tuesday. Wow, he really hates Romney.

Politics Links (4/3)

All the fun is going on in the campaign, and no one likes Bush anyway, so White House reporters are bored.

Pennsylvania voters feel neglected.

So much for universal health care - Clinton didn't bother paying the bills for her employees' health insurance. No coverage was interrupted, but still...

Obama event at Penn? Nope, it's an April Fool's joke.

Some unconventional (and amusing!) ideas for wooing superdelegates.

NPR's Political Junkie has the first in a series on McCain's VP options.

Politics Links (4/2)

Richardson responds to Carville's attacks. A must-read.

There's a lot of talk recently about Catholics becoming "the new Evangelicals" in a political sense, whatever that's supposed to mean. Most of it is centered on the Democratic race, but here's one about McCain pandering to courting Catholic voters.

Bosnia's former president discusses Hillary Clinton's visit. He agrees with now-conventional wisdom on the basics - no sniper fire - but does support Clinton's assertion that there were worries of danger.

Dean is going to meet with Florida people tomorrow. Should be interesting... And here's a joint statement from Florida and the DNC.

Politics Links (4/1)

Articles like this one are really driving me crazy. Yes, I think Clinton should get out of the race! But no, it's not because she's a woman! It's because she's losing! And because she keeps lying! Gah.

Clinton adopts Rocky theme song. Didn't anyone tell her that Colbert totally claimed that as his theme song for PA?

An historical look at the U.S. and torture.

The Campaign Season of Taking Offense I think it's a good point that one of the reasons for all of the exaggerated offenses and apologies is the fact that Clinton and Obama are so close, as far as policy goes, that there's not a whole lot else to say. And I think this this month of nothing before Pennsylvania has something to do with it too. Everyone's on edge, and that can't help.

Politics Links (3/31)

Cash-strapped Clinton fails to pay bills.

Obama supports eliminating the penny.

I honestly don't remember whether I posted this before, but if not: it's a very interesting history/analysis of Obama's views on education.

Gore launches $300 million campaign for climate protection.

Politics Links (3/28)

Leahy says Clinton should withdraw!

Bob Casey endorses Obama

Obama's law school title is officially clarified (in Obama's favor).

Slate has launched the Hillary Deathwatch.

The Obama campaign hilariously annotates a Clinton campaign e-mail.

A teacher spreads the Obama-Muslim rumors.

Clinton donors threaten Pelosi about whether superdelegates should overturn the pledged delegate decision.

My dad points us to a must-read by Peggy Noonan on "getting" Hillary Clinton. (Thanks Dad!)

On the Bus with McCain.

McCain: The first postmodernist candidate?

Word counting on Clinton's schedules.

Politics Links (3/27)

I know we're probably all sick of the Bosnia lying discussion, but I'm just amused by the pilot saying "there wasn't a bumblebee" in the air when the plane was landing, nevermind a bullet.

Clinton again hints that she'll try to poach pledged delegates.

Gravel is running again - as a Libertarian.

Noam Scheiber says the Democrats are Slouching Toward Denver.

George Packer wants everyone to just calm down already. Kristof sort of does too.

A Gore-led ticket? I doubt it, unless somehow both candidates are obviously irreparably smeared.

Maureen Dowd: Hillary or nobody?

The political costs of primping.

I'm not sure why this sort of thing always seems so shocking to people: Yes, lots of people are related to lots of other people, and odds are some of them are famous..

The history of the "smoke-filled room". And of controversial religious figures who have affected American politics.

Politics Links (3/24)

The Feminist Case for Obama

Is Pelosi really neutral? How about Edwards?

Idaho politician changes his name to Pro-Life. Literally.

After the Richardson endorsement, Carville equates Richardson with Judas. Really. And then he proudly stands by his words when given the chance to be, you know, civil.

The Times looks at McCain's supposed flirtations with the Democrats.

Clinton admits that she "misspoke" about what happened in Bosnia.

Yglesias on the case for partisanship.

Politics Links (3/21)

State Dept. employees fired for snooping in Obama's passport files.

Hee: Onward to Guam!

Finally released: First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's Daily Schedules

Interesting alliance: Huckabee defends Obama/Wright.

The ultimate smear e-mail: Obama as Antichrist. Sigh.

The Times has a profile of Obama's mother.

What Obama's bracket might (but probably doesn't) mean.

What's going on with the Clinton myth?

Richardson Endorses Obama

Former candidate Gov. Richardson endorses Obama. I'm not sure how much difference it will make at this point, but hey, can't hurt. If nothing else, that's one more superdelegate...

I guess I like rules.

My feelings on two of the big political stories from the past few weeks keep coming back to one thing: I seem to feel that people should follow rules, or at least be willing to accept the consequences if they knowingly break rules. This seems very clear-cut to me, so I sort of don't understand some of the big controversies going on.

Eliot Spitzer: Regardless of anyone's personal feelings about whether prostitution should be legal, it is completely incontrovertible that hiring a prostitute is, in fact, illegal, and that Spitzer knew this, and did it anyway. Some are arguing that it's a "victimless crime;" some say the victims are Spitzer's family, the people of New York, etc. - but I don't see why that matters. Spitzer knowingly broke laws and should be held accountable. On the other hand, I also don't think he should be punished more than others might be, just because he has made a career of battling crime and corruption. It makes it a better story, sure, but it doesn't actually matter.

Michigan and Florida: Why all the angst? There were rules. The Democratic state parties Michigan and Florida agreed to these rules. Then they broke them. Now they don't want the consequences. So? Sure, they thought the DNC wouldn't actually impose the punishments they said they would impose. But isn't that their problem?

Politics Links (3/18)

Florida out of options on revote.

DMX can't believe anybody would have a name as ridiculous as 'Barack.' (Thanks Liz!)

Obama goes Irish for St. Patrick's Day.

Obama's speech

Here's the text of Obama's race speech. Impressive.

Politics Links (3/17)

Seriously, Rendell? "But, Tim, you run against uncommitted, that's the toughest election to win. I'd rather run against an opponent anytime than against uncommitted, and Hillary Clinton got 55 percent of the vote against uncommitted."

Would the GOP rather face Clinton or Obama?

A fascinating Times profile of one of Washington's blog houses.

Mutual Contempt: The history of the McCain/Obama feud.

Obama and education.

A sad sign...

Several months ago, when he was still a viable candidate, I put a John Edwards bumper sticker on my car. I hadn't bothered to take it off, but a few days ago it started peeling pretty badly. Now, here's the problem - it was covering another sticker, one that I really don't want on my car anymore but that just won't come off. (No, nothing political - it just identified me as part of an online group to which I no longer belong.) So I've been waiting to take the Edwards sticker completely off until I found something else to put over the yucky sticker. Except I still didn't have anything, and I was going to be driving all over this weekend and shuttling around lots of friends and such, so it was driving me crazy. So I did the only other thing I could think of - yes, the Edwards sticker is now held to my car by Scotch tape. A sad commentary on the current state of affairs. (And yes, I know it's out of date and silly to have it on there, but since I still like Edwards, I'd rather have that than have the yucky sticker exposed.)

Politics Links (3/8)

Obama Takes Wyoming!

Campaign Strategy Madlibs

Obama and the Creative Class

The Dean Legacy

Politics Links (3/6)

What's next for the candidates.

Historical evidence that it's too early to talk about Hillary's withdrawal.

A long New Yorker profile of Michelle Obama.

Rolling Stone endorses Obama

Politics Links (3/4)

Looks like it'll be a nailbiter tonight. Here are a few things to read in the meantime...

Judy Blume's endorsement: "I haven't been as excited about a candidate as I am about Barack Obama since I was voting in my first presidential election for John Kennedy. . . . There are some women who think if you're a feminist you should only be supporting Hillary. I think being a feminist means we've evolved to the point where we get to choose who we think will be the best candidate and make the best president, regardless of gender, race, or anything else." Well said.

Clinton tries to claim the endorsement of Ann Richards. (Who died in 2006.)

The story behind the TImes's Clinton endorsement.

Achenbach fears the permanent campaign.

LOLcats for Obama

Politics Links (3/1)

Oh, so now Texas doesn't count either. Are we surprised? Sigh.

Pushing back against the smears: Jews for Obama

Bill Clinton sounds like he's talking about himself, sometimes.

Ann Friedman: Identity politics are nothing new.

Interesting analysis of Obama as a brand.

Obama's Ohio Grassroots Advantage

American Adam: Obama and the Cult of the New

What the assassination "fad" in the 1960s means for today.

Why don't campaign reporters care about foreign policy?

Politics Links (2/28)

An interesting map of the Democrats Abroad vote.

Is it a problem that McCain was born overseas?

Lewis is officially switching his support to Obama. (At least we think it's official this time.)

Bloomberg: I'm not running for president, but...

Politics Links (2/27)

Some good takes on last night's debate:
Salon: ". . . even when she's right she sounds wrong."
Andrew Sullivan's live-blogging
John Dickerson: "Watching her fight through 90 minutes trying to make some kind of dent against the vastly improved Obama made you want to offer her a pillow."

Dodd endorses Obama.

A non-paranoid's guide to superdelegates

Ralph Nader, the tugboat candidate

A hilarious faux-Mark Penn memo

Katha Pollitt on why we shouldn't underestimate McCain.

What McCain Should Have Said

What does Hillary Clinton eat?

The Evolution of Chelsea Clinton

The complexities of "We are the ones we've been waiting for."

And here's a set from a few days ago that I apparently never actually posted:
Conservationists Give McCain a Big Fat Zero
Oh, Nader, not again. . .
Hillary Clinton = Tasha Yar?
Obama: Popular in Obama, Japan
Is Huckabee running for 2012?
Will McCain give up his Senate seat to focus on his campaign?
Officer Traveling with Clinton Killed in Crash
Castro comments on what the candidates said about his resignation.

Politics Links (2/21)

How Obama won Wisconsin

Why Demographics Aren't Always Destiny in the Clinton-Obama Race (Thanks for the link, Liz!)

Obama the cowboy

Maybe Obama and Clinton should just duel.

Politics Links (2/19)

The English language, Obamafied.

Dahlia Lithwick breaks up with Obama.

The "competence" argument works better if there is actual competence involved.

The Onion has a nice election term glossary.

How Hillary can still win

Politics Links (2/18)

I've been collecting these for a week now, so sorry if a few of them are out of date...

The Clintons' Terror Pardons

Huckabee's press van runs out of gas. No, literally. Haven't there been several Huckabee-related press transportation issues? Huh.

Memo to Obama Fans: Clinton's presidency was not a failure.

Hertzberg on the campaign and drugs

Debunking the "Obama cult"

Should journalists vote?

50 Politicos to Watch

Presidential love letters

Politics Links (2/11)

Clinton Replaces Campaign Manager

A slide-show of Hillary's worst outfits ever.

American Apparel endorses Obama with a rather dreamy picture.

Requiem for a right-wing dream.

Obama wins a Grammy

He's got Obamaphilia.

Politics Links (2/7)

Salon on Who Won Super Tuesday?

Clinton Senior Staff Goes Without Pay. That along with her loaning herself $5 million... hmm....

Clinton the Anti-Feminist

Did Catholics Save McCain?

Just a reminder: Barack Obama is Not Jesus

Huckabee's Press Plane Makes Emergency Landing

And then there were two.

Romney's dropping out.

Politics Links (2/6)

Well, that was an exciting night. Whew. I'm very proud of my home state, Connecticut. Here's a nice summary of last night's events.

Oprah and Obama chocolates

How Republicans misremember Reagan.

Karl Rove to Fox News

Obama v. Clinton: Who's Greener?

Road Ahead Tough for Clinton

Voters show up a week early in Virginia.

How Clinton & McCain May Have Won California

What Does the Muddle Mean?

Dems Head for Messy Nomination Process

Our Time Has Come

Happy Super Tuesday!

If you live in one of the many Super Tuesday states, don't forget to vote!

Yes We Can

Politics Links (2/1)

Oops. Apparently I didn't manage to post this on Friday...

Obama endorsements:
MoveOn.org
Craig of Craigslist
Wil Wheaton

Arlo Guthrie endorses Ron Paul

What do candidates' chosen fonts say about them?

Politics Links (1/31)

Sisters in Congress are split between Obama and Clinton

Oh please, not again.

If birds could vote...

Liz Cheney endorses Romney

The New York Post backs Obama

Schwarzenegger to endorse McCain

The Washington Post discovers that Chelsea Clinton can talk.

What will Edwards do now?

Hulk Hogan backs Obama. Yeah, really.

Um, huh? Obama's the most liberal senator?

And Giuliani, too.

At least it looks good for McCain.

Edwards to drop out

He'll make the announcement today, it seems. It had to happen, but it still makes me sad.

Politics Links (1/29)

Awww. Obama helped Richardson in a debate.

The fascinating marriage of Mike and Janet Huckabee.

Edwards and the five stages of grief

A little girl asks Bill Clinton about marriage.

Reporters locked out of an Obama rally

Politics Links (1/28)

Ted and Patrick Kennedy endorse Obama

A dance-off? Sigh.

The boys are off the bus, and Matt Bai thinks that's a good thing.

Toni Morrison endorses Obama

The Economist on the Republican crack-up.

Interesting profile of Obama's speechwriter.

And from the Onion: Bill Clinton: 'Screw it, I'm running.'

Politics Links (1/27)

Yay, Obama!
The Take-Away from South Carolina

Some of these are a bit old, but still interesting/amusing/relevant, I think:
Judith Warner on Clinton, Obama, and identity. I particularly liked this paragraph:

I liked Hillary the mistress of minutiae, the private person with a mysterious emotional life, the media foe who met questions she didn’t like with a go-to-hell glare. If I were looking for some kind of existential nurturing in a female candidate — as, I think, most people are, when they talk about a Hillary’s not seeming “human” — I’d find it more in someone who could explain to me in detail how she’d take on the insurance companies that hold families like mine hostage, than one who’d seek to “bond” with me over a shared fantasy of the feminine condition.

Hilarious: Questions for the Candidates

Caroline Kennedy endorses Obama

Martin Luther King III endorses Edwards

Still alive, really.

Sorry for vanishing this week. Work has been insane and I'm exhausted. I should be back to my usual self by next week.

In the meantime, here are the GOP candidates as Buffy villains!

Politics Links (1/15)

A long but interesting analysis of Clinton's and Obama's foreign policy advisors.

Caucusing (or not) on the Sabbath.

Susan Faludi on the correct Hillary Clinton stereotype.

Candidate Implicit Association Test

Politics Links (1/14)

The Candidates on Chairs Sort of like a light bulb joke.

The Electoral Compass It's basically another "Which candidate matches your views?" quiz, but the graphical layout of the results is interesting.

Emotion without Thought in New Hampshire

Politics Links (1/11)

Interactive map of where the candidates focused in NH

Voters Face Confusion in Michigan Dem Race

Directory of Congressional Endorsements

Once Again, It's the Economy

Politics Links (1/10)

Why Obama and Clinton got the same number of NH delegates

NY Times on Getting It Wrong

Slate thinks CNN's slogan is stupid

How black America can revive Obama's campaign.

What if we banned polling?

Bomb Scare Derails Giuliani Event

The Supreme Court looks at Indiana's voter ID law.

Gail Collins on Hillary's Free Pass

Kerry's Endorsement of Obama: Assessing the Impact

Politics Links (1/9)

Maureen Dowd on Hillary's tears

McGovern wants to impeach Bush

And apparently I never managed to post those yesterday. Oops. All the excitement seems to have caught up with me - I'm exhausted and I woke up this morning with an awful sore throat. Hopefully I'll be able to recover this weekend...

And another.

This article on Edwards includes a quote from me. They got my job title a bit wrong, but it's still exciting!

Update: The same reporter writes for McClatchy, so it's going to be in a bunch of places, I think.
Charlotte Observer
AZ Central

The morning after

Well, that was a somewhat depressing evening. Oh well. At least it was close between the top two. CNN didn't call me back, but they did post a bunch of my pictures with quotes from me. Go here, and then click on New Hampshirites Cast Their Votes (down under the picture). I'm pictures 16 through 20.

Geesh.

AP has called it for Clinton. CNN is refusing to call it yet.

And me, well, I'm waiting for CNN.com to call me. Yeah. I sent them a picture I took today, and they called me several hours ago and asked various questions, and then around ten they called and asked if I would talk to an anchor. I said sure. So now I'm waiting...

Primary Night Reading

This is really stressful, at least on the Democratic side. I'll keep updating with interesting reads to keep us occupied while we're biting our nails...

What the claims that a black man is unelectable say about us.

How to recover from a big loss in the early primaries.

C-SPAN's surreal and wonderful campaign coverage.

Exit Poll Primer

Very interesting.

First votes in!

Dixville Notch has traditionally been the first New Hampshire town to vote - their 17 or so registered voters gather at midnight and the results are in within about five minutes. This year, Obama and McCain were the big winners there; notably, Clinton got zero votes. Here's the rundown:

Obama: 7
Edwards: 2
Richardson: 1

McCain: 4
Romney: 2
Giuliani: 1

It's also worth noting that 10 votes went for Democrats and 7 for Republicans. Most voters there are registered Undeclared, which means they can choose which primary to vote in. Traditionally, the town is extremely conservative. So it's very interesting to see that Obama got as many votes as all of the Republicans combined.

Oh, and here are the results for Hart's Landing, another small town that votes shortly after midnight:

Obama: 9
Clinton: 3
Edwards: 1

McCain: 6
Huckabee: 5
Paul: 4
Romney: 1

Happy Primary Day! I'm going to vote and then volunteer for a few hours, but I should be home by late afternoon and I'll keep you updated if anything exciting happens.

Primary Eve Links

Search the public record of donations to candidates. Search for your zip code, employer, family members... endless fun.

Sullivan on Obama as a liberal Reagan

Clinton: A Candidate Spurned

"Two candidates, one room, two days and two worlds apart." Indeed. I was at both events, and the difference was shocking. I'll post more about it later when I upload my pictures from the Clinton event. And here's a great video about it.

In this race, is it better to be black?

Can one 5-month-old be photographed with every candidate?

On TV with Obama!

I'm in this video from Reuters. Toward the end (around the one minute mark), when it's showing Obama in the crowd, I'm one of the people he shakes hands with. I have brown hair and am wearing a dark pink jacket... it might be hard to pick out for those of you who haven't met me in person, but I'm there!

Happy Primary Eve!

Wheee, it's Primary Eve! I've seen six candidates since Friday, with another planned this afternoon. (I'll post about them later in the day, when I can upload photos.) I've felt like it was 3am since about 8:30 last night, which is a really, really weird feeling. I think I'm going to take tomorrow off to go hold signs at my polling place, catch up on some sleep, and watch the news.

It's so exciting around here. I've been trying to convince my coworkers to vote. The polls are looking interesting. I'll post anything interesting I see/read during the day.

Another on the O'Reilly incident

I can't believe I missed all this. Wow.

And, incidentally, that confirms that Dickerson was there... my friend and I considered going to the edge of the press area and yelling "John Dickerson!" just to see if we could meet him, but we weren't brave enough. Ah well.

Politics Links (1/5)

Be wary of late New Hampshire polls

O'Reilly in shoving match at Obama event (The one I was at, in fact, although I didn't notice this going on.)

NH GOP backs out of tomorrow's Fox debate

And in CNN's picture here of the Obama event, you can practically see me... see the sign right in front of Obama's legs? And then the one to the left of that? I think that might be me. Whee!!

First thoughts on tonight's debates

Republicans:
1. For me, the defining moment was when Romney, Huckabee, Paul, and Giuliani were having their "You started it" bickering, McCain was looking amused and above all this, and Thompson seemed to be asleep.
2. McCain really does seem like the grown-up here.
3. The Obama question was sort of odd.

Overall winners: McCain and Huckabee

Democrats:
1. Clinton totally has an "Oh, look at the little boys misbehaving" look on her face. Sigh.
2. Have they forgotten Richardson is in the room? Poor guy. I really like him.
3. Obama and Edwards are both pretty impressive. Edwards is remarkably calm.
4. I really miss Joe Biden.
5. Wow, Obama is smart.
6. Hillary seems to be on the verge of a meltdown. "People like me!" Yeah. Okay.
7. Obama and Edwards are being remarkably chummy.

Overall winners: Obama and Edwards

Obama Rally in Nashua

The new camera and I went to a huge Obama rally this morning. You can see my pictures here. It was... amazing. The line to get in was ridiculous, to start with:

If you can't tell, that line goes all the way across the frame. And that was only a very little bit of the line, the part I could see from where I was farther back. We thought we weren't going to get in, but we ended up standing only about seven feet or so from the podium. We were in the second row. If you were watching the event on C-SPAN, you saw us. Crazy.

Here's the very excited crowd as Obama entered:

It was like a rock concert or something. People were mostly fairly attentive as he was speaking, but a few times, the screams were so loud that we couldn't hear Obama. He was extremely charismatic and engaging; I felt as though I made eye contact with him two or three times, and in a crowd that size, that's impressive.

His music was very good - lots of Motown. As he ended his speech, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" blared, and you could feel it - the crowd was his.

Again, more pictures here. The camera will be going to see other candidates in the next few days... stay tuned.

In the wake of Iowa...

Wow. What a night. Some interesting reads today:

Vanity Fair's profile of Michelle Obama

Eleanor Clift on Obama's universal appeal

Andrea Mitchell's strange attack against Clinton I noticed it too - it was weird. But I'm not sure it was as bad as Salon is making it sound.

And on the lighter side, a bet is a bet.

Edwards as Seabiscuit?

Clinton and Obama as Teacher and Apprentice

Happy Caucus Day!

Yay, it's Caucus Day! I'll update this as I find fun caucus-related links throughout the day.

8 Questions Iowa Could Answer

Caucus! The Musical

The Primary OFfice Pool

The Political Geography of Iowa

Politics Links (12/19)

An interesting take on Meghan McCain and her blog.

Andrew Sullivan endorses Ron Paul for the Republican nomination. (On the other side, he made clear his preference for Obama a while ago.)

Iowa entrance polls and why they might or might not be helpful. (But would certainly be interesting, I'd think.)

The candidates' favorite electronic gadgets

Politics Links (12/4)

This is from a few days ago... I was having posting issues yesterday.

Tracy gets Obama to hold a sock. I am in awe.

Giuliani made cops walk his mistress's dog. Why is this guy still the "frontrunner," again?

A look at what some of the Republican candidates are reading.

Romney, Mormons, and the Bible

And Romney will talk about his religion (a la Kennedy?) on Thursday, at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, no less.

The Union-Leader endorses McCain. (That's one of the main newspapers here in NH, and it's known to be conservative.)

Chris Dodd just needs to stop it with the fake e-mail already. Yes, I got this one as well.

Politics Links (11/30)

Slate criticizes CNNPolitics.com's description of Politico. (Got that? Heh.)

Hillary supporters try to pay for positive blog comments...

Politics Links (11/29)

Salon's War Room has an interesting summary of the debate last night, and some thoughts on how debates should be run.

The CBS 12/10 debate is officially canceled.

Virginia tries to force Republican primary voters to vote Republican in the general election.

Slate digs deeper on candidates' TV preferences.

Slate's Trailhead blog thinks maybe Duncan Hunter should just go home.

Historians for Obama

Politics Links (11/28)

A nice bit about life on the road with the Romneys, with an extremely cute passage about grandson Parker.

And more Romney news: he doesn't think there needs to be a Muslim in his cabinet. Which was, um, not the question at all that was asked. What he was asked was whether he would consider a qualified Muslim candidate for an already-existing position. And he didn't really answer that.

The writers' strike(s) may effectively cancel the next Democratic debate.

The Massachusetts primary joins practically everyone else on February 5.

Barbra Streisand endorses Clinton. (Does anyone care what Barbra Streisand thinks about politics, really? Huh.)

Giuliani, Romney, and the Know-Nothings.

New Edwards site: America Belongs to Us

Politics Links (11/20)

Some interesting background on the dumb diamonds and pearls question

What effect does the writers' strike have on the campaign?

A possible Clinton/Clark ticket?

Interesting when "Clinton answers a non-planted question!" becomes a headline...

Politics Links (11/16)

Hee! Plants for Hillary. Done by the Edwards campaign.

Why don't I get