Entries for January 2008

John McCain's victory in Florida was important to him, but it was somewhat eclipsed by the stunning downfall of Rudy Giuliani.

True, McCain walked away with all of the state's 57 delegates and a likely infusion of needed money before the February 5 showdown with Mitt Romney.

The former mayor of New York, on the other hand, spent millions more than his rivals in Florida and yet dropped like a rock after leading in all national polls as recently as late last year.

The message from South Carolina Democrats last Saturday could not have been clearer: Bill Clinton is on the verge of ruining his wife's campaign.

Or even if she survives the primary, she has already been weakened for November and the general election, especially if the Republicans nominate John McCain.

If you think that verdict is too harsh, Clinton got just over 25 percent of the vote. Yes, Barack Obama had the advantage of a huge African-American vote, but her showing was still dismal.

On the eve of the South Carolina primary for Democrats and before the next GOP primary in Florida, the landscape looks this way:

The Republicans are squabbling over who is the most conservative; Barry Goldwater would love it.

The Democrats seem hellbent on snatching defeat from the gaping jaws of victory.

The GOP candidates are drifting so far to the right that the eventual nominee will have to sprint to the middle before the general election.

Many in journalism have deplored the fading vibrancy and strength of the nation's newspapers, large and small. Even those that were once the best in the business are hurting in large part because owners want more profits at the expense of shrinking news budgets.

To be sure, advertising is more highly competitive with television, magazines, and Internet sites. The poor economy isn't helping matters.

The latest episode in journalism's sad narrative was the firing of Jim O'Shea, editor of the Los Angeles Times, who refused to cut $4 million more from an already tight budget. O'Shea becomes the third editor to leave or resign in recent years over similar demands at the paper.

Call it a recession or not, the U.S. economy is headed south and with no end in sight.

While Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke refuses to call it a recession, some economists, from liberal to conservative, say we're there now.

Even President Bush admits something has to be done and quickly to stimulate the economy.

According to Mitt Romney, Washington is broken and he's going to fix it when elected.

The Republican presidential candidate is dreaming. There are 535 members of Congress, many in his own party, a stubborn bureaucracy, and a tough press corps who will present some challenges to that promise.

Romney is hardly the first outsider to run against Washington—an easy target. Politicians of both parties do it all the time at the presidential and congressional levels.

There was too much moaning in the press about the polls missing Sen. Hillary Clinton's upset of Sen. Barack Obama in the New Hampshire primary.

Yes, the pollsters and the media deserve some criticism but more for the reporting following the post-Iowa hype of Obama's victory there.

Moreover, the polling data surprised even the Clinton campaign. It was recording the same poor numbers as the nonpartisan pollsters. The senator was fully prepared to put up a tough front in the wake of a second straight loss.