At night, when Mark Penn sleeps and dreams of Hillary Clinton’s electorate, his head dances with visions of voters like this. Born June 13, 1944. White, female. College-educated. An elementary school teacher. Pays a mortgage and worries about her retirement. A lifelong Democrat. Born in the North, but lives in the South. Has four kids, Read More
The John Edwards “surge” has been the Loch Ness Monster of this primary campaign. There have been unconfirmed sightings of this elusive creature in the closing days of Iowa, New Hampshire and even (to a small degree) in Nevada, where he actually ended up getting just four percent of the vote. Now, based on a Read More
Walterboro, S.C.—“This is huge,” Bill Clinton was saying. His speaking voice, the most famously fragile in politics, was at full-tilt croakiness, yet another reminder of campaigns past.
“You can make biofuels in every county in this state…” The former president was standing alone on an auditorium stage in this Spanish moss-festooned town of 5,000 in Read More
WALTERBORO, S.C.—At a panel and Q&A session this afternoon, one attendee asked Bill Clinton about how accessible Hillary would be as President. After speaking to the topic, he digressed, and challenged the Bush administration’s rationale for warrantless wiretaps.
“After 9/11, I think most people thought we may need a stronger President to deal with the Read More
WEST COLUMBIA, S.C.—We were at a community center attached to a megachurch-ish place called the Brookland Baptist Church. No one seemed to know we were coming. Charlie Rangel ambled in, looking Ranglian. He took three questions. The first, from a Greenville news reporter, was basically, what are you doing here.
“I have no idea,” Rangel Read More
Warming up a crowd for John Edwards yesterday in Lancaster, S.C., the bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, a slight man with a shock of white hair, stood alone at a microphone on a flag-bedecked auditorium stage. “I’m death I come to take the soul,” he sang, in a husky a capella warble. “Leave the body and Read More
COLUMBIA, S.C. — I’m going to be spending the rest of the week in my home state, South Carolina, writing about the upcoming Democratic primary for the Politicker.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into my mother’s house, where I’m staying, was a flashing red light on the answering machine. I pushed the Read More
Andrew Cuomo makes dating safe and cheap.
Shrinking violet Bo Dietl criticizes Spitzer, wants his phone calls returned.
Binding arbitration gets the veto treatment in Albany.
Steve thinks that letting Scooter off did nothing for Bush with the base.
Michelle Obama says her husband Read More
How poorly is fundraising going for the Republican presidential contenders? Libertarian fringe candidate Ron Paul is in third place among the candidates in terms of cash-on-hand, with $2.4 million. George Stephanopoulos, who might want to have a frank conversation with his booker, will have an "exclusive interview" with Paul on Sunday's edition of Read More
Steve Kornacki has a long column today on the reemergence of Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor who dropped out of the presidential race last year, ostensibly because he didn't want to put the strain on his family. With rumors abounding that Senator John Warner might step aside, the other, younger, Democratic Warner is Read More
