Stellar Speech Won't Boost Barack By Dick Morris
Her words were emphatic: "Barack Obama is my candidate and he must be our next president." Hillary Clinton's endorsement was unambiguous and she held nothing back.
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August 27, 2008
August 27, 2008
The Senator By Susan Estrich
All last week there were rumors that he would not make it to Denver at all. Then on Monday there were rumors that he was in a Denver hospital receiving oxygen, and that at best he would be in a box at Pepsi Center, watching the tribute and waving to the crowd. He'll never make it to the podium, more than one person told me.
August 27, 2008
The Middle Convention and the Under Convention By Debra J. Saunders
DENVER -- There are two Democratic National Conventions here in Denver. The first one is the official convention, which has a sole purpose: to sell Barack Obama, not as a different kind of Democrat, but as a red-white-and blue everyman. Mr. Middle America.
August 26, 2008
Now Playing: The Four Deficits By Debra J. Saunders
Monday morning, before the Democratic National Committee launched its convention at Denver's Pepsi Center, the documentary "I.O.U.S.A." -- think: "one nation, under stress, in debt" -- played to a small but committed audience at the nearby Starz Film Center.
August 26, 2008
Parties Afraid to Face Population Explosion By Froma Harrop
There's a burning concern in the American West -- almost an obsession -- that Democrats will not touch in their convention here. Nor will Republicans in St. Paul. It is the U.S. population explosion.
August 26, 2008
Obama, Clinton, Biden and McCain By Debra J. Saunders
DENVER -- The goodie bag given to attendees of the Democratic National Convention includes maps, magnets and Dale Carnegie's Golden Book. The first principle for Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is: "Don't criticize, condemn or complain." No. 2: "Give honest, sincere appreciation."
August 24, 2008
'Safe' Pick for Ticket Leaves Women Scorned by Dick Morris
It doesn't take a political genius to realize that Barack Obama needed to nominate a woman for vice president.
August 24, 2008
Renewing America's Promise Means Lots of Goodies By Debra Saunders
Democrats used to love to bash President Bush for sending America to war without asking Americans to sacrifice. Now that it is an election year, you won't hear the s-word coming out of their lips.
August 23, 2008
The Chosen Obama Narrative By Michael Barone
Once upon a time, the two parties' national conventions chose presidential nominees. Now, they are television shows that try to establish a narrative -- one that links the long-since-determined nominee's life story with the ongoing history of the nation, one that shows how this one man is perfectly positioned to lead America to a better future. The hope is that the nominee will get a bounce in the polls.
August 22, 2008
Courage By Susan Estrich
Political courage is not about standing up for what's easy and popular with the people who elect you. It's about standing up for what you believe in.
August 21, 2008
Back-to-Back Conventions: The Great Unknown By Dick Morris
For the first time in memory, the two parties are holding their conventions right after one another. Within 72 hours of Obama's acceptance speech on the night of Aug. 28, in front of 75,000 adoring fans outdoors at Invesco Field, the Republican convention's opening gavel will come crashing down.
August 21, 2008
Woe Is Me, Said the Democrat by Debra J. Saunders
In politics, everyone wants to be seen as a mudslinging virgin -- who, like King Lear, is "more sinned against than sinning." Toward that end, Democrats have crafted the conceit that Republicans are attack dogs, while Democratic candidates are not sufficiently ruthless. After years of calling President Bush every name in the book, the left nonetheless manages to see itself as the victim in the smear game.
August 20, 2008
How the Convention Ball Bounces By Larry Sabato
Forget the Olympics. Political junkies are in the convention pre-season. As we approach the Democratic National Convention on August 25 to 28 and the Republican National Convention on September 1 to 4, analysts just want to know one thing: How big are the bounces?
August 19, 2008
It's No Longer Just About Hillary By Froma Harrop
After hearing her name placed in nomination at the Democrats' convention next week, Hillary Clinton will no doubt urge her followers to support Barack Obama. What good that gesture will do for the Obama candidacy remains to be seen.
August 16, 2008
Echoes of Berlin By Michael Barone
Last week, the two erstwhile communist superpowers were in the spotlight. Starting on Aug. 8, China staged the Olympics -- an event on the schedule for years. Also on Aug. 8, Russia invaded the independent republic of Georgia -- which apparently caught our government flatfooted.
August 15, 2008
The Clinton Convention by Dick Morris
Hillary and Bill have hijacked the Denver convention, making it into a carbon copy of what it would have looked like had she won until the last possible moment. By the time Obama gets up to speak and put his stamp on the convention, Hillary will have had one prime time night all to herself. Bill will have pre-empted a second night. Hillary will have had all the nominating and seconding speeches she wants. And the roll call of the states would record, in graphic detail, how the voters of state after state rejected Obama’s candidacy in the primaries.
August 14, 2008
A Cut-and-Paste Foreign Policy By Joe Conason
The discovery that John McCain's remarks on Georgia were derived from Wikipedia, to put it politely, is disturbing and even depressing -- but not surprising.
August 14, 2008
Mark Penn and Hillary: Monkey See, Monkey Do By Dick Morris
On March 19, 2007, Mark Penn wrote a memo to Hillary Clinton saying: "Every speech should contain a line [saying that] you were born in the middle of America to a middle class family in the middle of the last century."
August 14, 2008
The Democratic Ground Game: Can New Voters Make the Difference? By Justin M. Sizemore
From the time Barack Obama declared his candidacy for president, his campaign realized it would benefit from what came to be called the enthusiasm gap. "In most campaigns, it's a challenge to drag people out," Western States Field Director Buffy Wicks told a group of volunteer organizers gathered in San Francisco last summer.
August 14, 2008
Dry Eyes Follow Edwards' Downfall By Froma Harrop
It's hard to recall a political burial as fast and cold as that of John Edwards. After all, the former North Carolina senator had been a serious contender for president until a few months ago and possibly for VP until last week. Had his cheesy affair not surfaced, he would have commanded a choice speaking slot at the Democrats' convention.
