Romney Relying On… Zingers?

19 Comments
First, I have trouble envisioning Mitt Romney delivering a zinger.  Zingers work when they flow naturally.  Zingers work when your opponent plays the straight man/woman and gives you the opening. …

QOTD — Early Voting for Delaware?

25 Comments
There's two kinds of early voting -- absentee ballots and the in-person voting (but with limited venues open). Delaware only lets you vote absentee -- and even then you need to sign an affidavit with an "excuse" for not being available on Election Day. But if you are following the news, then you know that in-person early voting is starting to ramp up. Should Delaware change its rules for early voting?

The Polling Report

1 Comment
We have some new state polls out of Iowa, Ohio, Arizona and North Carolina, as well as some interesting national polls. But the race basically remains as it has for weeks since the conventions: Obama is winning.

Compassionate conservatives and the crucible of fire

16 Comments
Democrats have facetiously said that Republicans think that the rich don't have enough money and the poor have too much. But the more I think I about modern Republicanism, the more I think that the statement it is literally true. Republicans believe that the poor are too well off. The modern Republican Party honestly yearns for a cleansing fire of misery and pain to sweep the land. They believe that the nation's problems are largely due to the fact that the poor are living in relative comfort as a result of the overall affluence of our society. America is the victim of its own success and has become a weak and lazy country slouching toward calamity. ...

Fox News Performs Rare Triple Face Palm

Fox News out did itself yesterday and not in a good way.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans watched a man shoot himself in the head live on television on Friday as Fox News broadcast the final moments of a car chase in Arizona. The cable news channel was playing live footage of the pursuit when the suspect leapt out of his car and began running away down a dirt track. As producers and viewers watched, the man staggered away from his vehicle, ran a short distance into the grass and then produced a gun. Shephard Smith, Fox News's afternoon anchor, was providing a running commentary as the suspect lurched away from the vehicle and viewers could hear his producers gasping in horror as the man shot himself. Mr Smith shouted "get off it, get off it" as it became clear the man intended to kill himself but the station did not cut away in time and broadcast the suspect crumpling to the ground.

Saturday Open Thread [9.29.12]

3 Comments
"Many of the well-known Ohio Republicans I interviewed offered their blunt assessments only after they were guaranteed complete anonymity. That is often the Faustian bargain of political journalism in 2012: robotic talking points on the record or something resembling honesty with no names attached. The reason, though, that I am emphasizing the don't-quote-me part of the equation is that I was stunned by the vehemence of the thumbs-down-on-Mitt verdict. All but conceding the state to Obama, these Republicans were offering what may be the biggest rejection of Ohio since Philip Roth wrote Goodbye Columbus."

A Couple of Cell Phone Pics from Last Night’s Gilligan Gala

1 Comment
... and some tibits from last night's honoring of the retiring Speaker of the House, Bob Gilligan: Congressman Carney gave the Speaker a Congressional Recognition, and remarked about how Gilligan gave him his first job as a Legislative Fellow. Senator Coons remarked that Gilligan was a friend, a role model and a mentor. Vice President Biden said that Gilligan was his county councilman back in the day, that he has been a state leader, and that Gilligan proved that in Delaware you're never out of reach. Vice President Biden concluded, "I'll see you at the beach." Mike Castle said that Gilligan would always beat the best people Castle could find to run against him, so Castle finally gave up.