Suspension of Disbelief
John McCain says that he is suspending his campaign to help negotiate a bailout of American financial institutions.
McCain is not on the Senate Banking Committee, the members of which one might expect would be doing the heavy lifting in the Senate.
Moreover, in September 1944, when Nazi troops were desperately attacking Allied positions in the Battle of the Bulge, Franklin Roosevelt managed not to suspend his campaign, even though his administration was fighting the biggest threat ever to democratic forms of government.
Good luck with convincing anyone that the suspension is somehow necessary, Senator.
Labels: 1944 election, 2008 election, John McCain, presidential campaign, suspension
Great Moments in Journalism
The Boston Globe recently devoted a slew of column-inches not to the presidential campaign but to the meta-campaign. In other words, why waste time analyzing campaign positions when one can analyze campaign signs.
Republicans who have not already declared that "I'm with Fred" might be enticed to "ask Mitt anything" at a town hall meeting or to explore a webpage devoted to answering the question, "Why Rudy?"
Democrats have the opportunity to join Team Hillary, perhaps as Hillblazer youth activists or, if they have deep pockets, as HillRaisers. High school students are signing up to be Barack Stars.
Never have so many presidential campaigns so aggressively branded their candidates with their first names, and none more so than Hillary Clinton's. Even in her detailed 15-page healthcare reform plan, it is difficult to find her last name. Staffers, advisers, and friends generally speak of her as Hillary, not senator or Mrs. Clinton.
Republicans Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney also lean heavily on first names for signs, websites, and slogans, while Democrat Barack Obama's campaign uses his first name more selectively.
This would be a more interesting article if the reporter had realized that the Romney campaign was insisting on using Willard Mitt Romney's middle name.
Labels: Boston Globe, presidential campaign, Stupid reporting tricks
