Joe Gandelman's blog

Has The GOP's Use Of Iraq In Campaign 2024 Badly Backfired?

Joe Gandelman — Fri, 20 Oct 2024 10:01:00 -0700

There are still enough days left until election day to warn Democrats: don't count your political chickens until they're hatched.

On the other hand, angry rumblings — coming from such diverse constituencies as former members of the first Bush administration, independent voters, and traditional conservatives — are the sounds of egg shells breaking.

The Consequences of Near One-Party Government?

Joe Gandelman — Wed, 04 Oct 2024 20:02:00 -0700

Hurricane Katrina seems to be striking again — only this time as a political storm. The San Francisco Chronicle's blog says it best:

While Bush administration defenders say critics are drawing the wrong conclusions from the leaked parts of the NIE report, that Bob Woodward's book is full of "myths", and that the Mark Foley affair is no worse than various Democratic congressional and presidential indiscretions, it is hard to see how things won't get worse before they get better (assuming they do) for Republicans, with mid-term elections just four weeks out.

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Are Independent Voters the Wave of the Future?

Joe Gandelman — Mon, 25 Sep 2024 07:51:00 -0700

Are independents voters the key to Democratic and Republican victories in 2024 and perhaps 2024? Or have the two parties become so repugnant to some voters that even that conventional wisdom could be outmoded?

"The Path to 9/11" Catches ABC in Political Mousetrap

Joe Gandelman — Fri, 08 Sep 2024 07:38:00 -0700

How often do you see a corporation truly step in it — I mean, step in it so strongly that you virtually can hear the "squish"?

Baggage, Fighting Fascism and Donald Rumsfeld

Joe Gandelman — Mon, 04 Sep 2024 10:02:00 -0700

Scene: An airport where some passengers are about to embark on a trip when they're confronted by a salesman.

A salesman from the The Decider Company holds up a big, plain bag. "Trust us. This'll be great for your trip! It an amazing product that will help you complete your difficult trip in a wise, learned, and secure manner! It guarantees your safety — you your family's lives. Trust us."

Joe Lieberman Arousing Top Democratic Party Backlash?

Joe Gandelman — Wed, 16 Aug 2024 11:59:00 -0700

It sounds like Joe Lieberman's independent campaign for re-election to his Senate seat is heading into rocky political waters: top Democrats are beginning to become concerned about his message, according to The Hill:

Connecticut Primary Is D-Day For Joe Lieberman And The Democratic Party

Joe Gandelman — Sun, 06 Aug 2024 11:34:00 -0700

Tuesday is truly “D-Day” for Joe Lieberman and the Democratic party.

For Lieberman, will it be the day Democrats defeat his re-nomination bid and send him (and others) a message that he is outside what many anti-war and anti-Bush Democrats believe is the Democratic party’s new, majority-supported mainstream? Will it be the day he must define himself as an independent who will run against his party’s nominee, perhaps causing a Republican victory or a victory where a big chunk of his November re-election votes come from Republicans rather than from Democrats?

Expect the Unexpected in Politics

Joe Gandelman — Mon, 31 Jul 2024 07:26:00 -0700

Political punditry has become an incredibly huge business and pastime in the United States these days. Consider:

Newscasts operating 24-hours-a-day have talking heads seemingly asserting 24-hours a day...Always-confident newspaper columnists get huge readerships analyzing and predicting...Left and right talk radio shows, guests and listeners/viewers scream and rant as they react to events and predict what will come next...And have you EVER read a blogger who is not certain that he/she/it is correct (and that the dumb, ol’ mainstream media and bloggers on the other side of the political street have it all wrong)?

Groping For Another Way

Joe Gandelman — Thu, 20 Jul 2024 10:25:00 -0700

This was the week of “high concept” audio and visual clips from the G8 conference. And what memorable imagery...

First, there was President George Bush’s blunt, no PC use of a four letter word beginning with “s” in referring to Hezbollah’s provocative Middle East actions (The word wasn’t “sore.”) in a moment when he didn’t know his mike was on.

The Straining of the Center in Connecticut

Joe Gandelman — Fri, 07 Jul 2024 11:33:00 -0700

It was a debate watched all over the country. Political partisans from the state (and visiting the state) watched their man take on the hated incumbent with a bated breath so strong that Sea World’s Shamu drooled.

They were taking on the hated enemy, a man often called by some of them a “liar,” a man who stood in the way of their party’s agenda.