The Other McCain

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

Herman Cain: ‘The Real Deal’

Herman Cain answers reporters’ questions Tuesday night in the ‘spin room’ at the Sands Expo and Convention Center (Photo: Robert Stacy McCain) LAS VEGAS, Nevada This morning, I remember the first time I ever heard Herman Cain’s name: My brother Kirby called me from Georgia and said, “Have you heard about this guy? . . […]

VEGAS DEBATE: LET THE SPIN BEGIN

LAS VEGAS, Nevada We’re here at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, where the CNN Republican debate in Las Vegas just ended. Now the action shifts to the “spin room,” where candidates and their proxies try to convince reporters that their candidate scored a crushing victory in the debate. UPDATE: I actually got started early […]

Greetings From Lost Wages

LAS VEGAS, Nevada Whose lucky number will be up in tonight’s debate on CNN? That’s the subject of my American Spectator column today: Even before landing, passengers in the window seats can see the neon lights of the casinos on the strip. As soon as you exit your plane and step into McCarran International Airport, […]

Savage Weirdness at Final Boarding: Did Team Perry Put the Blame on Rubio?

The National Affairs Desk, in the smoking lounge at Dulles International Airport, 1:10 p.m., Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Less than hour until final boarding for my flight to LAX en route to Vegas, and no time to waste on trivia now. While I was checking in the one-way rental car ($164), I […]

Fear and Loathing (and, Yes, Sweet Vengeance) On the Road to Feb. 1, 2012

 Today’s the day I fly off to Las Vegas to cover Tuesday’s crucial Republican presidential debate. It’s a long flight from Dulles to LAX, then a four-hour layover before I catch the plane to Vegas. I’ll be crashing in Barbara Espinosa‘s suite at the Sands, while Smitty and Wombat — both of them got their […]

‘Howdy. Thank You, Erick.’

Those were the first four words of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s announcement speech at the Red State Gathering in Charleston, S.C., on Aug. 13. At the time, I was the only one who saw Perry’s diss of Iowa Republicans — his deliberate attempt to upstage the Ames Straw Poll held the same day — as an […]

Althouse on the Cain Train?

“I thought David Gregory really lost his cool early on, as he was questioning Cain about 9-9-9. If you watch the video, you can see he’s agitated and grimacing in a way that really lacks the usual polished journalist quality.” — Ann Althouse, “Herman Cain Nailed Meet the Press” This is an unexpected but really […]

462 Days Until Jan. 20, 2013

Inauguration Day, when four long years of endless misery known as the Obama presidency come to an end. And I’m counting the days. It’s 79 days until Jan. 3: The Iowa GOP caucuses. And it’s 107 days until the Jan. 31 Florida primary. To give you a sense of proportion, it’s been 72 days since […]

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