Commentary

Even before all the facts are out, the Republican National Committee is trying to link Barack Obama to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested today for allegedly trying to sell off Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. The Hill reports that the GOP’s email to reporters included “laudatory remarks the president-elect has made [...]

With Pennsylvania Democrats confirming Chris Matthews is contemplating a Senate run against Republican Sen. Arlen Specter in 2010, The Hill wonders if the “Hardball” host will face what I’m calling the Franken Factor: intense scrutiny of public utterances made in the course of working a media job. Matthews’ candidacy is “in its infancy” according to [...]

The Democrats’ response to Sen. Joe Lieberman’s vigorous campaigning for John McCain, which included the former Democrat taking to CNN to endorse the GOP’s talking point that “Hamas endorsed Obama”: He got to keep his chairmanship and was allowed to remain part of the Democratic Senatorial Caucus. Since his party won’t deal with Leiberman harshly, [...]

With the nation on the verge of electing Barack Obama to the presidency, I decided to spend the evening surveying the political mood in Juneau, the city to which Sarah Palin would soon be returning as a defeated vice presidential candidate.

Norm Coleman stood before a gaggle of reporters and fans at what was supposed to be a routine campaign stop in Moorhead this morning and addressed the story that’s been chasing after him for the past few days. Allegations that Coleman pal Nasser Kazeminy had funneled money to Laurie Coleman for doing a non-existent job were “absolutely false,” Coleman said. But that was only the starting point of his remarks, which sought for the better part of five minutes to paint the whole affair as a fabrication wrought by “Al Franken and his political allies.”

Only the plaintiff, Paul McKim, can answer with certainty as to his timing and motives. But ultimately, the question of whether politics played a role in the timing of the lawsuit has no bearing on the merit of the claims in the lawsuit.

Let’s take a closer look at the legal complaint.

Yesterday CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked GOP strategist Ed Rollins if a Hail Mary pass from Osama bin Laden might save John McCain’s electoral prospects. He cited the 2004 election, when a new video by the al-Qaeda head surfaced within days of the election.
“The problem when you do something late in the campaign is that you [...]

Most of the chatter about Sarah Palin’s political future rests on the optimistic premise that Palin, as a presidential candidate, would at last be capable of energizing social conservatives while drawing independent voters in ways that she’s been unable to do as a vice presidential pick. This tableau further assumes that Palin, having taken four years to mature as a national candidate, would carry none of the baggage she’s accumulated — quite literally — over the past two months. Barring a massive swing in the nation’s political climate, Palin will likely be a worse candidate in 2012 than she is at the moment.

It’s been almost two weeks since Michele Bachmann dropped the “anti-American” bomb that has become the most widely aired gaffe in any US congressional campaign this year, and her campaign’s handling of the matter looks a lot like one protracted act of political malpractice.

Sarah Palin’s appearance on Saturday Night Live preoccupied rightward-leaning political observers for a few hours before Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama changed the subject. But they were an amusing few hours, as conservatives — underscoring how badly things appear to be going for the McCain campaign in its final weeks — pondered the question [...]

With half of my Twitter friends in the political sphere and the other half involved with art, watching my feed during last night’s debate yielded an entertaining mash-up of both. One, from Washington, D.C.–based art journalist Tyler Green, referenced a contemporary art darling (who happens to be Mr. Björk): “It occurs to me that Matthew Barney was on the vanguard of incoherence as a strategy. Palin’s just following in his footsteps.”

So in the spirit of absurdity and art, a less-than-political rundown of odd takes on proceedings.