The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Perry Campaign’s Amateur Hour

The secret to an effective “oppo dump” is to leave no fingerprints. The campaign trying to push negative information about its rival into the media strives to obscure the origin of the attack. If the Rick Perry campaign thinks that delivering its opposition research files to Erick Erickson is an effective messaging technique — well, […]

‘Quite a Difference!’

AMES, Iowa Here at Buffalo Wild Wings near the campus of Iowa State University, the place is packed with media covering the Rick Santorum campaign. I’ll have photos in a few minutes, but first, let me explain that title quote. On Aug. 11, after the debate before the Ames Straw Poll, I came to this […]

Guess Who’s Gonna Be Watching Hawkeye Football Tonight With Rick Santorum?

Well, me, obviously, but also all my friends in Iowa are invited tonight to the Des Moines suburb of Johnston for the party tonight as the Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Oklahoma Sooners:  8:45pm CT: Senator Santorum will host an Insight Bowl Watch Party in Johnston, IA. Location: Okoboji Grille 8481 Birchwood Court Johnston, IA So if any of my […]

New Polls Confirm Santorum Surge in Iowa; Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry Fading

One poll is getting the big headlines this morning: NBC poll: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul neck-and-neck in Iowa; Newt Gingrich in 5th The numbers from that poll, conducted Tuesday and Wednesday: Romney 23% Paul 21% Santorum 15% Perry 14% Gingrich 13% Bachmann 6% Similar numbers from a Rasmussen poll conducted Wednesday: Romney 23% Paul 22% […]

Rick Santorum to Ann Coulter: ‘I Mean, Ann, Should I Have Voted for Amnesty?’

During his speech Thursday night in Davenport, Iowa, Rick Santorum talked about his record in the Senate and mentioned that Ann Coulter had criticized him in her column for voting against “E-Verify”: But if Santorum wins, we lose on the second most important issue — illegal immigration — and he’ll be the last Republican ever to win […]

IOWA NOTEBOOK: Occupy Caucuses?

Rick Perry speaks at Smokey Row coffee shop Pella, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011 DAVENPORT, Iowa After days of chasing after campaigns, I find myself in the unusual position of waiting for the campaign to come to me. Rick Santorum will be here in Davenport this evening for a 7 p.m. event, and so I’m […]

‘Everyone Sells Out in Iowa’

DAVENPORT, Iowa According to Michele Bachmann, that’s what her former campaign chairman state Sen. Kent Sorenson told her before he switched allegiances to Ron Paul. Ed Morrissey is shocked — shocked! — to discover that Republicans can be bought, but it happens every day. Remember when Tim Pawlenty was supposed to be the “conservative alternative […]

Rick Santorum Gets ‘The Kind of Optics a Cash-Strapped Candidate Can’t Buy’

DAVENPORT, Iowa That’s how Alexander Burns of Politico sums up the elements that compose the last-minute “Santorum Surge” here in Iowa. The question is how high that surge will go, and the situation here in Iowa is so turbulent now that it is impossible for anyone to say. I spent hours driving to Pella yesterday […]

« go back — keep looking »