Saturday, January 26, 200826 Jan 2008 11:05 pm A Dam Breaks?Conservatives recognize what's in front of them. Here's Lowry:
And Pete Wehner, who has noted Obama's power before:
He nearly had K-Lo. And some liberals also saw new strength. Noam Scheiber agrees with me about the speech. Dickerson has a great line:
And don't miss Ambers. (Photo: supporters watch Obama's acceptance speech in South Carolina tonight. By Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty.) 26 Jan 2008 10:36 pm Exit Poll NuggetsThe exit polls show a couple of fascinating data points: Obama won 52 percent of the non-black vote under 30. Among the over-60s, he won a mere 15 percent of the non-black vote. The legacy is racism is clearly dying. Then this: Obama won every demographic among the religiously observant. And the more devout they are - judging by their church attendance - the better he did. His narrowest margins against Clinton and Edwards were among those who never attend church services. 26 Jan 2008 09:48 pm "A President Like My Father"Caroline Kennedy goes where her cousins have not:
I've often wondered why even I - who was three months old in a foreign country when he was assassinated - feel the power of the Kennedy charisma from the 1960s. I know the many mistakes he made and the good reasons to criticize his presidency. But the memory of him as a symbol of eternal possibility endures. It endures beyond the shores of this country. Why? Because America still means something, and every now and again, a person captures it: the restless, liberal hope for a better future, under the sober constraints of a conservative constitution. That was Kennedy. It was also Reagan, as Bill Bennett gracefully recognized tonight. It's real. You can feel it. And who wants to win the presidency by defeating it? Sometimes, things come together. Watching a black man win the South Carolina primary in a landslide by transcending race: I can't help be moved and inspired. Like so many of my generation and many, many more younger than me, Obama makes me believe in America again, after seven years of brutal, painful, searing disillusionment. I won't let that go. Neither, I have a feeling, will the American people. (Photo: the scene at Obama headquarters in South Carolina tonight. Win McNamee/Getty.) 26 Jan 2008 09:34 pm Obama Beat McCain and Huckabee CombinedThat's a staggering fact, as a reader reminds me:
Another interpretation:
26 Jan 2008 09:25 pm Obama's Acceptance SpeechI've now listened to and read dozens of his speeches, on television and in person and in print. Tonight was, in my judgment, the best. He was able to frame the attacks on him as a reason to vote for him. He was able to frame his foes as the status quo - beyond the Clintons or the Bushes, Democrats or Republicans. He was able to cast his candidacy as a rebuke to the Balkanization of the American public, a response to the abuse of religion for political purposes, a repudiation of the cynicism that makes all political commentary a function of horse-races and spin. It was an appeal to Democrats, Republicans and Independents to say goodbye to all that. It was a burial of Rove and Morris. And it was better than his previous speeches because he kept bringing it back to policy specifics, to the economy and healthcare and, movingly, to this misbegotten war. The diverse coalition he has assembled - including an ornery small-government conservative like me - is a reflection of the future of this country, its potential and its irreplaceable, dynamic cultural and social mix. This is the America we all love. He is showing us how to find it again. That's leadership. And, yes. We can. 26 Jan 2008 09:07 pm 55 - 27!Sorry, but the Clintons were just destroyed in South Carolina in an unprecedented turnout. This was a butt-kicking of massive proportions. How else do you interpret a 28 point margin? It's staggering. And I'm sitting here watching Bill Bennett, despite his Republican loyalties, clearly happy that we have achieved this breakthrough in civility, in transcending race, in bringing so many people back into the system. Good for Bennett to see the import of this. This is history. In some ways, I wonder if the Clintons' baring of the fangs hasn't played to Obama's advantage. He is showing he can beat some of toughest competition out there. If he wins, he will have beaten not just Hillary but Bill as well. He will have redefined the Democratic party and remade its politics. By staying civil, by focusing on the big picture, by refusing to take the low road while defending himself robustly: he won the right way. And he will win in a big way. Yes, we can! Si, se puede! 26 Jan 2008 08:56 pm Barack 1, Bill 0In the war of words, both men were hurt, but a majority sided with Obama:
26 Jan 2008 08:44 pm Bill's Advance SpinIn a simple phrase: "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina twice". Listen to it yourself. I'm not making that up. I don't think there can be any doubt about the Clintons' racial strategy now. The people of South Carolina just rejected that logic by voting for Obama - white and black, male and female - in a diverse coalition in the face of a deliberate attempt at racial polarization. They threw the Clintons' logic back in their faces. Kudos to Josh for noticing this. It's revealing, and depressing. 26 Jan 2008 08:30 pm Obama's Second Coming (Or Is It Third?)This looks much bigger than expected. Bill seems to have hurt Hillary's candidacy:
And Oprah came through:
Race mattered - but by no means as much as some feared, with Obama winning a quarter of the white vote, much better than the 10 percent recorded in some late polls. Is that a reverse Bradley effect? And on the question of unifying the country and defeating the Republicans, Obama scored a huge victory:
These inferences are from the exit polls. The final result is still to come. Stay tuned. (Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty.) 26 Jan 2008 08:23 pm Crist Endorses McCainA big blow to Romney in Florida. With Crist, Martinez and South Carolina behind him, the momentum is with the old guy. And the shameful era of American torture may come to an end ... 26 Jan 2008 06:30 pm Is Bill Also After McCain?A reader suggests that the real import of Bill Clinton's recent remark about how well his wife and John McCain get along is not an attempt to help Hillary. It's an attempt to damage McCain, the Clintons' next target, in Florida and throughout the South and West. My reader has a nice phrase to describe the power-couple's effect on many of us:
26 Jan 2008 05:13 pm The Rules Are For Other PeopleThe Clintons push the envelope again - on the Michigan and Florida delegates. Ed Morrissey and Josh Marshall come together. Maybe the Clintons can bring the country together again - in revulsion at their expediency. Jon Chait crosses the anti-Clinton Rubicon for the first time:
Wakey! Wakey! 26 Jan 2008 05:01 pm Right In The SmackerAn unfortunate moment in investigative journalism: 26 Jan 2008 04:34 pm Yglesias Award Nominee"Bill Clinton is not a racist, but he is crafting a message that unleashes the demon of racism into the Democratic primary because it will help him win. He has unleashed this demon: this base appeal to our fears and divisions. It is done and it can not be put back into the bottle. It will be a part of the 2008 election regardless of who wins. And it has and will hurt Democrats in 2008. Bill Clinton’s released meme is dividing the Party and I do not see a way back to unity," - a Kossite, reflecting growing disgust in Democratic ranks at the tactics of the Clintons. 26 Jan 2008 03:21 pm The Economist On BillAn editorial worth absorbing:
26 Jan 2008 03:18 pm Obama Gains?The Rasmussen tracking poll shows a sharp tightening of the national race, with Obama within 3 points of Clinton. It's one day and it's Rasmussen - so the usual caveats. But I wonder: is Bill provoking a backlash? 26 Jan 2008 03:13 pm Delegates Or Votes?A must-read Ambers report on how the Cliton and Obama campaigns will be spinning the next couple of weeks. At least. 26 Jan 2008 02:51 pm Bear Band , Music">
The world's first bear boy band. 26 Jan 2008 02:37 pm Dating Male ModelsAs Cartman might say, why the fuck not? I like this sentiment from an empowered woman who has the courage of her own desires:
Exactly. 26 Jan 2008 12:56 pm Von Hoffmann Award Nominee"[Bill] Clinton doesn’t like to play an overtly political role anymore; he enjoys the statesmanlike aura that surrounds any ex-president, and he is not about to undermine it, even for his wife’s campaign," - Matt Bai, New York Times Magazine, December 23, 2007. He admirably cops to it here. Glossary for Dish award criteria here. 26 Jan 2008 12:45 pm Romney Whisper UpdateThis thing won't quite go away. A reader writes:
I really don't know what happened. But I have yet to hear a convincing explanation either. 26 Jan 2008 12:25 pm The Best Clinton Column YetA blast of pure derision from the essential Colbert King. 26 Jan 2008 12:20 pm The View From Your WindowGjilan, Kosovo, 12.15 pm. 26 Jan 2008 12:16 pm The Harvard Crimson For ObamaA pitch-perfect editorial. The younger generation gets it. 26 Jan 2008 12:06 pm A Constitutional Question, Ctd.My own rambling thoughts on the dangers - political and constitutional - of a two-headed executive can be read here. Today, Garry Wills provides a deeper analysis, one that goes back to the Founders and their legitimate worries about accountability without a, ahem, unitary executive. He fears that Bill Clinton could become Hillary's Dick Cheney - but worse, in fact, since at least Cheney was on the ballot and in some sense accountable to the public directly. Money quote:
Can we all agree on that? 26 Jan 2008 12:06 pm Predictive Texting , Technology">
Why not swear-words? An exploration of the possibilities. 26 Jan 2008 11:54 am How Obama Has Handled The ClintonsI would have lost it. He didn't. His coolness and good humor under fire have not gotten enough attention. Here's a good take on it. 26 Jan 2008 11:54 am The Obama-Muslim EmailsRoss, Marc and Matt talk it over in the humming, throbbing intellectually tumescent world of the seventh floor Atlantic library. 26 Jan 2008 11:50 am Why One South Carolinan Voted For The ClintonsA reader writes:
26 Jan 2008 11:38 am The Art Of Math
More after the fold. Continue reading "The Art Of Math " » 26 Jan 2008 10:17 am Male Genital Mutilation UpdateAn Oregon court finds that the views of a 12-year-old boy are a "fact necessary to the determination" of whether he should be circumcised. That's a start. 26 Jan 2008 09:59 am A Weed Vending MachineHow on earth could one live without one:
26 Jan 2008 09:01 am The Electronic EyeContact lenses could become the computer monitors of tomorrow:
26 Jan 2008 08:12 am The Hispanic Vote In SC UpdateOh well. Obama has at least six Latino supporters:
Friday, January 25, 200825 Jan 2008 10:30 pm The Corruption Of FeminismA reader transcribed the following conversation on Hardball tonight:
Wow. A proud defense of nepotism over feminism. Or rather, as is the Clintons' wont, a total conflation of feminism with nepotism. I remember similar Clintonian feminists in the 1990s trashing, smearing and sliming women who dared to complain about the sexual harassment and abuse of women that Bill Clinton - with his wife's full knowledge - engaged in for years. This couple really do corrupt everything they touch. 25 Jan 2008 08:41 pm Big Bird's LegacyA reader writes:
25 Jan 2008 08:33 pm Figuring Out Anger At The ClintonsA reader's eureka moment:
25 Jan 2008 08:02 pm South Carolina End-GameCharles Franklin pores over the sensitive last-minute polling. 25 Jan 2008 08:00 pm Romney WhisperMSNBC's explanation makes no sense at all. Was it a secret service agent? 25 Jan 2008 07:57 pm Face Of The DayMiner Stuart Griffin laughs as he leaves the mine after the final shift at the Tower Colliery in Hirwaun, near Merthyr Tydfill on January 25 2008 in Wales, United Kingdom. The Cynon Valley pit is one of the oldest continuously-worked mines in the world and the last deep mine in Wales. Tower is the only colliery within the once-thriving South Wales coalfield to drain all its coal resources and hit the headlines in 1994 when it was subject to a miners buy-out of the deep mine - after it had been closed by the then Conservative Government. By Matt Cardy/Getty Images. 25 Jan 2008 07:08 pm Evita!A reader writes:
(Photo: Eric Thayer/Getty.) 25 Jan 2008 06:27 pm Should McCain Reject The NYT Endorsement?Lawrence Kudlow thinks so. 25 Jan 2008 06:12 pm The "GLBTQTQI" CommunityThe queer left jumps yet another shark. 25 Jan 2008 05:36 pm Hillary Clinton's New Black Friend , Race">
Stephen Colbert explains. 25 Jan 2008 05:23 pm A Constitutional Question , Law and Government">
A reader writes:
25 Jan 2008 05:20 pm Quote For The Day III"Are we the country we say we are? Are we the country that holds certain truths to be self-evident, words which incidentally were written by a 33-year-old named Thomas Jefferson. You know, are we the country that judges people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin -- words that were written by Martin Luther King when he was about 34 years old," - John Kerry, National Journal. Does anyone think that Jefferson was too inexprienced when he wrote that phrase? 25 Jan 2008 05:14 pm Bill and Dick , Clinton">
An unsettling resonance. More on the Clintons' scorched earth politics here. 25 Jan 2008 05:13 pm "35 Years Of Experience"A useful scrutiny of another deceptive Clinton talking point. 25 Jan 2008 04:52 pm "American-Style Torture"The phrase appears in Asia Times. Sigh. Hat tip: Brad. 25 Jan 2008 04:45 pm Another TwistClinton is trying to reinstate Michigan's and Florida's delegates. Ezra Klein:
|











