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Another very special Tuesday installment of Political Weekly with Bwog’s White House Bureau Chief Jim Downie.
It’s spring, which means that Columbia can remove those unsightly tarps from the lawns just in time for prospective students to think that Columbia always looks this happy. Of course, spring is also the time of year when the thoughts of young men and women turn to love (and when writers look for new and witty ways to use that cliche). On the campaign trail, though, love is not exactly in the air, as the Democratic race grows more and more tense while the next round of primaries move closer.
“Bitter”-gate: The big story this past weekend was Senator Barack Obama’s words at a San Francisco fundraiser, where he said of Pennsylvania voters “So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain both jumped on the comment, letting America know that Pennsylvanians are actually incapable of feeling bitter. Clinton also spent the weekend honing her new “I love guns” image, trying to paint Obama as too “elitist” for the general election. Almost immediately, Obama hit back, and yesterday he got even tougher, referring to Clinton as “Annie Oakley,” and even shouting “shame on her!”
ALRIGHT POLICY PROPOSALS! WOOOOO!: Clinton throws back a shot in Indiana.
The CBS Fridays at 10: As always, numbers from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana, and national polling are available here, here, and/or here.
C-SPANable: Last week, General David Petraeus testified on Iraq to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he was questioned by all three candidates. SNL‘s take on it here.
Don’t Forget About Me: New York magazine has a fascinating profile about John McCain.
Something to do in your non-existent free time: The New York Times profiles the citizen journalist who broke the Obama “bitter” remark. A great read for anyone interested in the future of media.
But Kentucky food is good: Various Kentucky Republican big shots audition for late-night slots at a district dinner, with jokes ranging from off-color to somewhat racist.
Good writing is hard to find: And that’s why you should read Hendrik Hertzberg on the campaign and “misspeaking.”
Just stop it: Obama is certainly flush with cash, but it looks like his overwhelming spending on advertising may actually have a backlash. A new poll finds that his excessive advertising is pushing a full 23% of primary votes towards Clinton.
From the Dept. of “Whoops”: AP board chair Dean Singleton, when asking Obama about terrorism at a luncheon in DC today, referred to Al-Qaeda’s chief as “Obama Bin Laden.”
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@just to make it clear, the ‘bitter’ argument might be the only one hillary can trot out (everyone saw how silly she looked w/a beer and a shot–and hillary trying to make an anti elitist arugment is rich considering she could swim in money a la scrooge mcduck) and consequently is the one getting play right now, but its the elitist, arrogant, hateful one that McCain will focus on in the general election against obama
Obama essentially parroted Thomas Frank in a more offensive way, suggesting vast chunks of middle america don’t actually care about certain moral issues and use them as a crutch. His later response where he hoped to quell that anger where he said ‘he recognizes people do care about those issues’ is also a gaffe because one of the things he accused middle america of was ‘anti immigration’ and ‘nativism’ while making no attempt to actually specify that illegal immigration or trade deals may be more complex issues than just labeling people ‘racist’ and may deservingly be issues which can have a legitimate ‘anti illegal immigrant’ strance
so much for a uniter or someone who would transcend the modern day simplification of complex issues. then again, mccain or hilary are both likely worse
@anonymous I’d take either Hillary or McCain over Obama.. I simply fail to see his appeal.
@Just to point out how amazing it is that once the weekend is over, the fields go back to their state of being red flagged for 99% of the year. And I swear, with no one on those fields, they look no healthier than any of the other lawns around campus.
@Anonymous What fields does anyone walk on? They’ve blocked pretty much all of them off. I don’t really understand it, to be honest. Grass is probably the hardiest vegetable matter we know about, found everywhere from the Arctic to the Amazon, and we can’t find a breed that will stand up to some foot traffic? Are we not men?