Entries Tagged as 'Focus on Politics'

Sunday, February 3rd, 2008

Brady-Moss ‘08: Dream Ticket?

My dad, the Giants fans, called me three hours before kickoff on Super Bowl Sunday to deliver some news on a happy sighting on the Massachusetts Turnpike around Exit 10, outside lovely downtown Worcester.
“I just saw a ‘Brady-Moss ‘08′ bumper sticker,” he reported. He’s one of those classy Giants fans who appreciates the Patriots and […]

Sunday, February 3rd, 2008

Fox Scores TD vs. Networks With Sunday Football-Politics Extravaganza

This is why Fox News Channel is so successful, especially with American men: its producers think of programming like today’s offering in the 10 a.m. to Noon time slot usually devoted to the networks’ Sunday morning political pundit-fests. Fox, which is broadcasting Super Bowl XLII, put together a two-hour show combining football and politics […]

Saturday, February 2nd, 2008

Nader, Greens Try to Rekindle Flame of Relevance

So Ralph Nader still wants to be president — or at least it seems he wants to make life difficult for Democrats in the name of true representative democracy. Nader has announced he is thinking about another presidential bid.
This is the guy who ran as a Green Party candidate in 2000, taking 97,000 […]

Friday, February 1st, 2008

The ‘Hil ‘n’ Barack Show: Makin’ Peace by Makin’ Sense

As Super Tuesday looms, the two remaining Democratic candidates took to the stage in Los Angeles before a star-studded audience. (I wonder if any “average” Americans were even allowed in.) Politico seems to have been some kind of media sponsor for the event, since their readers got to ask all the questions through Jeanne Cummings, […]

Friday, February 1st, 2008

Debate in LA: Big Topic No. 1: Health Insurance for All — or Else?

Of course, people want to know where Obama and Clinton’s views diverge, since the candidates are equally hostile to George W. Bush’s policies and politics.
Our first topic is healthcare. Clinton believes “absolutely, passionately” in universal healthcare. “My plan lowers costs aggressively,” she said. There are people who don’t feel it’s their responsibility to get health […]

Friday, February 1st, 2008

Debate in LA: Big Topic No. 2 — ‘Judgment’ vs. ‘Experience’ (Iraq, etc.)

Obama’s big watchword of the night was “judgment” — he sought to separate himself from Clinton by suggesting that experience matters little if that experience is the result of bad decision-making.
He scored points on that score by reminding voters that he’d been against the Iraq adventure from the start. The next president needs to NOT […]

Friday, February 1st, 2008

Debate in LA: Other Stuff

Illegal Immigration
One Politico reader wanted to know how the candidates felt illegal immigration affected lower- and working-class African Americans. (I wondered if this was another litmus test to see if Obama was “black enough” for some people.)
“To suggest that problem of employment in inner city is attributable to immigrants is a case of scapegoating,” Obama […]

Friday, February 1st, 2008

Hillary Like the Pats? Wrong Number!

Prior to the Democratic presidential debate in Los Angeles Thursday, a commentator on CNN compared Hillary Clinton to the New England Patriots, saying she likes to “sit on the ball” after scoring points. A totally inappropriate comment, in my view.
For one thing, the Patriots are known for NOT sitting on the ball, but playing to […]

Friday, February 1st, 2008

Sarandon Not Sure About Hillary

I’m not just a football fan; I’m a post-feminist female former Democrat (now Independent). I’m one of those voters whose vote will make a difference in an election year where, more than ever, Independents will be a factor.
So I think the Dems and their friends in the talking-head community need to pay more attention to people […]

Friday, February 1st, 2008

Republicans Debate at the Temple of Their ‘American Idol’

The four remaining Republican candidates met to debate at the spectacular Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Wednesday, and I missed most of it. I got in late, so my choice was between the NFL Network’s interviews with the quarterbacks who didn’t make it into the Super Bowl and a “Project Runway” repeat.
Working in my favor: the fact […]