The Other McCain

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

Mixed Signals from Sarah Palin Produce Pure Frustration for the Political Press

Sarah Palin poses for a photo with supporters at the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 12. This morning Smitty taunted me via Twitter with a link to Ed Morrissey’s post Monday about the will-she-or-won’t-she question: What’s up with this Sept. 3 Tea Party rally in Indianola, Iowa? Ed makes a good point: Politicians don’t win the […]

Paul Ryan Nixes 2012 White House Bid

The Weekly Standard has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for this idea, and now breaks the news to the readers it has been hyping up: Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan has decided for a final time that he will not run for president in 2012, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned. Ryan, who began seriously considering […]

T-Paw and ‘Robust Internationalism’

What to make of this article by Jamie M. Fly in Foreign Policy? The departure of Gov. Tim Pawlenty from the race for the Republican nomination for president deprives national security conservatives of one of the field’s leading champions of a robust internationalism. Despite the ludicrous rants of Rep. Ron Paul and efforts by some Tea […]

DNC Quotes Governor Asterisk

During my Iowa trip, I began referring to Jon Huntsman as “Governor Asterisk,” because his support in the GOP primaries is somewhere between “too small to be measured” and utterly non-existent. He is an irrelevant footnote to the campaign, a spokesman for no meaningful Republican constituency, who clutters up the stage at debates and gets vastly more […]

Herman Cain: ‘Still in It to Win It’

Herman Cain speaks Aug. 13 at the Ames Straw Poll Herman Cain is “still in it to win it,” his Republican presidential campaign told supporters in a fundraising e-mail highlighting the Atlanta businessman’s speech last week at the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames. Describing Cain as “a real leader” with “proven results,” the e-mail sent Saturday (see […]

GOP Presidential Primary Apocalypse

Tim Pawlenty’s former campaign staff is reportedly hoping to join the campaign of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. This is amusing: Who wants to start their campaign with a team of losers? It’s also pathetic: Unemployed campaign staffers pinning their future hopes on a guy who has repeatedly said he is not running for president. […]

If Sarah Palin Isn’t Running for President, Why Is She Releasing This Iowa Video?

New from SarahPAC: And everyone who had previously concluded that Palin is not running in 2012 — I among them — must now ask themselves: Why is she making a such a big deal about her Iowa trip? And, while we’re asking that question, why is she giving a speech at a Sept. 3 Tea […]

Fear and Loathing in the Airport Lounge: The Final Wisdom of My Iowa Journey

The National Affairs Desk, Atlanta Airport, 8:30 p.m. HARTSFIELD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Atlanta My flight home starts boarding in about an hour, so this will have to be quick. There is no deadline quite so final as the call for final boarding, so I’ll have to jam this together without thinking about it too much. Michelle […]

« go back — keep looking »