Thursday 24 July 2008

 

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Clemency Burton-Hill
Clemency Burton-Hill

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American Election blog

Saturday, 2nd February 2008

What to do with Bill?

James Forsyth 6:53pm

The Bill Clinton story is getting bigger and bigger. As the Politico reports today, the networks now all have producers covering him full time according him a status normally given only to candidates. Even, though, Bill has reportedly been told to tone it down since South Carolina he is still swinging away—Teddy Kennedy now regularly comes in for criticism following his endorsement of Barack Obama.

There’s little doubt that Bill provides the Clinton campaign with something phenomenally useful; a surrogate who can have as much media impact as the candidate. But...

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What McCain should do after Super Tuesday

6:22pm

St Louis, Missouri
It is telling that John McCain’s lead in national polls of Republican primary voters is now greater than Hillary Clinton’s among Democratic voters. As Michael Barone points out, few would have expected the Republican contest this year to finish earlier than the Democrats but barring a major shock that’s what will happen.

This gives the Republicans a real opportunity in what will be a tough year for them. McCain needs to do two things once the nomination is secured: reach out to conservatives and appeal to swing...

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First Kennedy, now Eisenhower 

James Forsyth 3:26pm

This morning, Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Dwight Eisenhower and a player in DC think tank circles, endorsed Barack Obama for president in The Washington Post. This is a far less newsworthy event than the Kennedy support that Obama received earlier in the week but it is significant that a member of the Republican establishment, albeit a moderate one, would come out in support of Obama. The choice is particularly interesting given John McCain’s praise for Eisenhower.

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The Battle for the Show Me State

James Forsyth 3:14am

I’m travelling to Missouri tonight which will be one of the crucial contests on both the Republican and Democratic sides on Tuesday with the polls having both races there within the margin of error. Missouri is a key state for Obama, if he can win in this bellwether state—in the general it has gone with the winner every time bar one since 1904—it will prove his appeal in the swing states and that he has the potential to broaden out the Democratic coalition. It will also give him a win in...

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Friday, 1st February 2008

$490,000 per delegate for Romney

James Forsyth 9:01pm

The amount of money that Mitt Romney has spent so far is quite staggering. As Jennifer Rubin notes, he has spent $29 million on TV ads compared to John McCain’s $8 million and Huckabee’s $2.6 million.

Ronmney  now seems to be easing back on the ad front, his February 5th purchase is far from gigantic and he is running an old ad. This is a mistake if Romney actually wants to win as the only way he can do so now is if he takes McCain out and the only plausible way to do that is to hammer McCain on immigration every day. It seems that Romney wants to stay in but isn’t prepared to go all in.

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They both think they are winning

James Forsyth 8:50pm

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both think that they are the frontrunner. That’s the only explanation for why last night’s debate, the first with the just two of them, failed to catch fire with neither candidate taking any risks.

One can make a case that they are both right. Hillary still leads in the national polls and seems to be ahead in most of the Super Tuesday states, the traditional hallmarks of a frontrunner. Yet, the longer the nomination goes on the more likely it is that Obama will be Continue reading...

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Gore-watch

James Forsyth 5:06pm

Last night’s debate between Clinton and Obama was not decisive and there is probably only one thing that could transform this race before Super Tuesday: a Gore endorsement. So far, there is no sign that Gore wants to get involved. The feeling is that he is a statesman now and that dropping down into this race would tarnish that image and, if he makes the wrong call, lessen his ability to get the next administration to follow his environmental agenda. But journalists and politicos being what they are we can’t help but speculate...

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Passing the torch

4:42pm

Here in DC folk are raving about this ad. It is easy to dismiss the whole Kennedy thing, but as David Brooks points out JFK's new frontier liberalism resonates again.

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The issue of 2008

James Forsyth 2:51pm

David Brooks has a typically excellent column in the New York Times this morning in which he puts his finger on what will be the domestic policy issue of the 2008 campaign:

“The definition of being middle class has changed, as many have noticed. It used to be a destination. Now it’s an uncertain place. It’s a struggle just to stay there. Any candidate who can’t talk specifically to these concerns is doomed.”
For all her failings as a candidate, Hillary Clinton has thought about this more in policy terms than anyone else running. The other candidates need to catch up.

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