Daily Archives: April 24, 2009

Did McCain never stand a chance?

April 24, 200912:27 p.m.

mccain7John McCain’s former campaign chief has loosened his lips about what sank his man’s presidential candidacy. Appearing with Obama campaign manager David Plouffe in Delaware Thursday, McCain chief strategist Steve Schmidt said the McCain campaign was “the strategic equivalent of throwing a football through a tire at 50 yards.”
He also said: “We were running a campaign under extra difficult circumstances — the state of the Republican party, the president’s unpopularity, the economy — a lot of issues that were not John McCain’s fault but were John McCain’s problem in this race. When Lehman Brothers collapsed in the fall I knew pretty much right away that . . . from an electoral strategy perspective, the campaign was finished.”
On the subject on why McCain didn’t go with his first choice for a running mate, former Democratic running mate Joe Lieberman, Schmidt said: “It was communicated back to us very clearly from within the party that not only was Sen. Lieberman not acceptable, but any pro-choice nominee was not acceptable, (and) it would lead to a floor fight at the convention with an alternate nominee for vice president put into play.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (71)

Lucas likens Cheney to the emperor, not Darth Vader

April 24, 20096:04 a.m.

cheneyemperor“Star Wars” creator George Lucas objects to liberals likening Dick Cheney to Darth Vader. He told columnist Maureen Dowd that Anakin Skywalker is a promising young man who was turned to the dark side by an older politician and became Darth Vader. “George Bush is Darth Vader,” he said. “Cheney is the emperor.” Lucas added: “You know, Darth Vader is really a kid from the desert planet near Crawford, and the true evil of the universe is the emperor who pulls all the strings.”

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under President Bush | Comments (68)

Open thread 4/24

April 24, 20096:03 a.m.

arborday

By The Editors | Filed under Open thread | Comments (307)

Bigger fights than Sebelius ahead?

April 24, 20096:02 a.m.

abortionanti2Social conservatives’ last-ditch effort to keep Kathleen Sebelius from becoming secretary of Health and Human Services hasn’t been entirely about her, according to the president of pro-choice group NARAL. Nancy Keenan told Politico: “The attacks by the right wing are, quite frankly, a dress rehearsal for the big dance, which is the Supreme Court vacancies. They are testing their tactics.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Abortion, President Obama | Comments (14)

Peterjohn squeezes the Charmin budget

April 24, 20096:01 a.m.

peterjohn2If we had warned during the fall campaign that, as a Sedgwick County commissioner, anti-tax crusader Karl Peterjohn would second-guess staff recommendations on purchases of toilet paper and paper towels, we might have been accused of hyperbole. But there Peterjohn was Wednesday, engaging Iris Baker, county purchasing director, in a discussion of toilet paper-purchasing criteria in which Baker spoke of considerations such as “per-sheet cost,” absorbency, durability and “excessive scrap.” Ultimately, Peterjohn joined his colleagues in approving the expenditure.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Sedgwick County | Comments (8)

Different presidents, same thought

April 24, 20096:00 a.m.

Bush Obama“I wake up every day thinking about how to keep the American people safe.” — President Obama, Tuesday in the Oval Office

“I wake up every day thinking about how best to protect America.” — President Bush, Sept. 30, 2004

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under President Bush, President Obama | Comments (9)