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Andrew Rice

Why My Mother Dumped Hillary for Obama

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 Unlikely Event of the Edwards Surge in S.C.

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

The Man Who Knew Too Much? Bill Clinton Goes Back to Smart in S.C.

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

Bill Clinton on Bush Administration Wiretaps

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

In S.C., Rangel Girds for Campaign, Lunch

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

A Homecoming, An Anti-Clinton Robo-Call

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

Ron Paul, Political Machine

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

The Return of Pop Warner

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