Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
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Code Pink Moment |
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Posted by:
Jonathan Garthwaite at
9:15 PM |
So what makes the Code Pink gals show up at the 2nd Annual America's Polo Cup in Loudoun County, Virgina this past Saturday?
Was it the cruel treatment of the horses? No.
Was it all the patriotism around? No.
Was it the Marine performance? Not this time.
Was it the event's unique sense of fashion? Not a chance -- there was pink everywhere.
Was it the 58 year old eighties rock n' roll sensation making a comeback?
or his use of the Flux Capicitor as an alternative energy source? No.
It turns out the pre-match, half-time, and post-match entertainment included the BlackwaterUSA parachute performance team. Apparently they're war profiteers.
And before long the sheriff ushered them away.
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Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
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SNL's Hillary Skit Hints at Truth |
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
8:35 PM |
The best humor has, at least, an element of truth in it. Here SNL has Hillary making the arguments she can only imply in real life...
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Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
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Howard Wolfson: "Spinmeister" Extraordinaire |
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
6:53 PM |
Hillary Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson was on Fox News Sunday today, and once again proved himself to be one of the most effective surrogates in the business.
Regardless of how you feel about Clinton, you've just got to sit back and admire the talent of the truly great operatives who can parry tough question after tough question and stay on message, stay on message, and stay on message. Wolfson gave a clinic this morning in how to give an interview. They should show his videos for PR training seminars.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is probably the other surrogate this year who has been the most impressive and effective surrogate. Obama's David Axelrod is fine, but I don't think he matches either Wolfson or Rendell (who are both vastly superior to Mark Penn when it comes to giving interviews, by the way).
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Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
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Reason 103 Obama Won't Pick Hill as Veep ... |
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
5:12 PM |
Maureen Dowd points out yet another reason Obama won't pick Hillary to be his running mate:
"Hillary has a strange, unnerving effect on Obama, and whenever he is around her, he’s unable to do his best. Probably, it’s because she’s furious, always shaking his hand off her arm, ignoring him, giving him the evil eye and emasculating him, and the Golden One is not used to such rough treatment.... Obama will never be at his best around Hillary; she drains him of his magical powers. She’s Jane Jinx to him. It’s a similar syndrome to the one Katharine Hepburn’s star athlete and her supercilious fianc? have in 'Pat and Mike.”
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Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
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New Look at TH |
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
12:53 AM |
We just deployed some new features on Townhall.com.
If you happen upon any bugs or problems, please shoot me an email at MattKLewisAThotmail.com.
Update: Thanks for your valuable feedback. Based on your requests. we are making several changes asap. For example, we agreed with many of the commenters who noted it makes more sense for the comments to have a subject line -- as well as for all the names align on the left. That input made a lot of sense, and we took it seriously.
We made the changes to the entire columns -- not just the comments -- page for a few reasons.: 1) We have heard from readers and wanted to make the page cleaner better organized. We have more of a consistent three columns now with the content straight down the middle and in a larger default font. 2) we wanted to better highlight relevant videos and photos for readers that want more information on what our columns are discussing. 3) We added a news ticker and local weather at the top of the page to better give folks breaking news .
My hope is that this re-design will ultimately improve the site -- and make your experience better. Thanks for your input!
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Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
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Better Late Than Never ... |
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
9:24 PM |
A new NY Times editorial says it's time for Congress to "rethink" ethanol ...
"Ending the tax subsidy should be easy. Ending the mandate will be tougher, though some members of Congress are showing buyer’s remorse. One reason is the worldwide spike in food prices. That has been driven largely by a huge increase in demand and rising energy costs. The diversion of American corn from food to fuel — about one-fourth of the crop — has not helped."
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Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
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In Defense of Second Chances (Why Hillary Can Run Again) |
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
7:35 PM |
The prospect that Hillary Clinton could make a run for president in 2012 (if McCain beats Obama) came under attack yesterday by cable TV talking-heads who insisted Democrats don't give their candidates a second chance.
While I agree it has become tougher in the modern era (William Jennings Bryan famously lost 3 presidential races -- but that was a long, long time ago), these pundits failed to draw a distinction between losing a primary -- and losing a general election.
Sure, the days of losing a general election, and then making a comeback, are probably long gone (the possible exception is Gore -- but he actually won the popular vote).
Losing a presidential primary, on the other hand, has less of a stigma attached to it, and may actually be seen as a badge of honor.
And it's certainly not heard of for primary losers to make a comeback -- even in the Democratic Party. Al Gore lost the 1988 primary, but won the 2000 nomination, after all (granted, that's not as recent as the McCain example of losing in 2000 before getting the nomination this year -- but it's not exactly ancient history, either.)
Hillary may well be back in 2012. The pundits who are cavalierly dismissing the prospect she may well rise again are comparing apples to oranges.
Losing a primary isn't a game ender; losing a general election is ...
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Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
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The Romney Reunion Last Night |
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
3:10 PM |
Last night, Mitt Romney hosted a campaign "reunion" in Houston.
More than 1,200 people attended -- many of whom flew into town to attend -- leading me to believe that they believe Romney has a future.
The event was for fun and did not include official strategic meetings, though staff mingled and, no doubt, networked.
The festivities included a VIP reception (Robert Masbacher spoke at the reception) and then a Beach Boys concert. Ann and Mitt actually danced, and at one point came up on stage and sang Barbara Ann (not the "bomb Iran" version).
Attendees included Romney top-donors and staff. A top campaign finance chair from Houston hosted the event.
There was also a separate breakfast fundraiser this morning for McCain. The message was simple: Support McCain because you don't want Obama for president.
Regarding "veep' possibilities, one source told me: "I came away with a clear impression that nobody on team Romney are under the illusion they are the favorite son of John McCain."
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Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
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Quite a Celebration! |
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Posted by:
Carol Platt Liebau at
12:20 PM |
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Life is lovely here outside L.A., but one of the downsides (aside from the fact that it takes an hour to get across town to a TV studio!) is that too often, you miss wonderful occasions like the 20th anniversary celebration for Elayne Bennett's Best Friends Foundation.
Luckily, the Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez has covered it here.
The success of Best Friends has played a significant role in proving that young people thrive when they are offered "abstinence education" that is at once deeper and more transcendant than "don't do it or you'll get pregnant or contract an STD." When sex education becomes about something more than putting condoms on bananas -- and treated as a part of overall character education -- the results are amazing.
President and founder Elayne Bennett's motto for the Best Friends Foundation is: We must offer our children our best. If we do, they will surely respond with their best.
She is so right. We get what we expect from our children.
God bless Elayne Bennett for her hard work and high expectations. They have made a great difference in the lives of so many.
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Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
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It's Not Race, It's Wright |
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Posted by:
Carol Platt Liebau at
12:08 PM |
Everyone knows that Democrats and Barack's friends in the media will attempt to portray any opposition to his candidacy as nothing more than racism. But Stuart Taylor makes an important point -- that Obama's troubles attracting white votes seem to postdate the Wright imbroglio, noting that Barack "easily won the caucuses in overwhelmingly white Iowa on January 3 and, over the next seven weeks, captured the white male vote in Maryland, Virginia, and Wisconsin and as many white male voters as Clinton did in South Carolina."
Here's the question: Would Americans be offended if a white pastor had blamed 9/11 on The United States? Yes -- in fact, the regrettable former rector at my church did the same thing, and his congregants were appalled. Would some (at least) Americans be taken aback at the news that a candidate's close confidant (and spiritual advisor) had said, "God d**n America"? Of course.
All this has taken a toll. One anecdote: A close friend of mine, a moderate Republican who was initially receptive-to-enthusiastic about the Obama candidacy recently wrote me, "I'm rethinking it after this Wright thing. And his wife is now proud to be an American for the first time? Forget her." If some white voters are turning from Obama, it's not because of his skin color. It's because of the views of those closest to him -- and what they suggest about the candidate's own views.
Just for the record: It's not Obama's Republican opponents who have made an issue of his race -- or who have most damaged his candidacy. It's his closest compatriots (like Wright and Mrs. Obama) and his intra-party competitors (like Clinton).
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