Politics

A Cancer on the Presidency

The fact-checkers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania have taken the trouble to check out radio ads by Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, in which he falsely claims that only 44 percent of men with prostate cancer survive under England's "socialized medicine" system. In reality, they report, this statistic is merely "the result of bad math by a Giuliani campaign adviser, who admits to us that his figure isn't 'technically' a survival rate at all.

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The Media Primary

"In the early months of the 2008 presidential campaign, the media had already winnowed the race to mostly five candidates and offered Americans relatively little information about their records or what they would do if elected," concludes a new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

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Queueing for Concert Tickets? No, Congress

Passers-by might think that the people camped out at dawn to ensure a seat in a Congressional committee hearing are a shining example of democracy in action. In fact, chances are that they are a perfect example of what's wrong with our democracy. They may be professional "line standers" -- people who get paid by lobbyists to arrive early and hold a place in line for industry reps that arrive just before the hearing starts. Democratic Sen.

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Pelosi and Congressional Democrats Launch PR Effort to Spin their Dismal Image

Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress are preparing to "embark on a publicity blitz starting in November to combat a dismal 25 percent approval rating," reports Jonathan Kaplan. "Democrats are keenly aware of the public's frustration.

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Bush, Congress, Iraq Still Unpopular

George W. Bush's job approval ratingsTwo new opinion polls show deepening public dissatisfaction with U.S. politicians. According to a Reuters/Zogby poll, "The number of Americans who believe the country is on the wrong track jumped four points to 66 percent. Bush's job approval rating fell to 24 percent from last month's record low for a Zogby poll of 29 percent.

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U.S. Spin Pros Influence Ukrainian Politics

The influence of U.S. political advisors was evident in the Ukrainian parliamentary elections that took place this past weekend. Current President Viktor Yushenko has benefited from the services of a variety of U.S. political advisors, including Stan Greenberg, former pollster for Bill Clinton; Stephen E.

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Pill Pushers Avoid Advertising Restrictions

Congress has jettisoned proposed amendments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) legislation that would have expanded the agency's powers over drug industry direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns promoting prescription drugs.

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Framing the War on Terror

The Gallup polling organization marked the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by publishing a thoughtful analysis challenging the assumption that "religious fanaticism fuels extremism and therefore replacing Muslims' worldview with Western liberalism is the path to victory against terrorism. ... As a starting point, Muslims do not hold a monopoly on extremist views.

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Bush's Surgeon General of Industry-Friendly Spin

dandelion"White House officials viewed former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona as a public relations tool, pushing him to make political appearances and promote the Bush administration's agenda while he was in office, according to a series of executive branch e-mails released yesterday by Sen.

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