Would You Like Rivets With That?
Submitted by Laura Miller on
As job loss and unemployment become campaign issues, George W. Bush is struggling to whitewash his economic record.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
As job loss and unemployment become campaign issues, George W. Bush is struggling to whitewash his economic record.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Sometimes one wonders if campaign reporters could write a declarative English sentence if they were stripped of their cliches," complains the Columbia Journalism Review's Susan Q. Stranahan.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The 2004 elections may be "a new day" for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Hill reports: "The group has never made a presidential endorsement, recognizing that it must work with whoever wins." But John Edwards has them nervous. As a trial lawyer, Edwards "represented victims of medical malpractice during a 20-year career in North Carolina." Moreover, the Center for Responsive Politics reports that over half of Edwards' campaign contributions are from lawyers and law firms.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"A new dirty tricks campaign to embarrass the Democratic frontrunner, John Kerry, backfired ignominiously yesterday when it emerged that a widely circulated photograph of a protest against the Vietnam war was a crude forgery," reports Suzanne Goldenberg. "The photograph, falsely credited to Associated Press, combined two separate images to make it appear as if Mr Kerry shared a stage at an anti-war rally in the early 1970s with the actress, Jane Fonda." The fabricated photos are not the only recent attempt to smear Kerry.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
What went wrong in the Howard Dean campaign, which looked like a winner until voters showed up at the primaries? Maybe Dean was never really ahead, says Clay Shirky. A senior Dean campaign aide agrees: "Even though we looked like an 800-pound gorilla, we were still growing up. We were like the big lanky teenager that looked like a grown man." And why did the media think otherwise?
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
A Republican effort to suppress the black vote may be linked to black preacher Al Sharpton's campaign in the 2004 Democratic presidential primary. Sharpton has postured as a radical firebrand, accusing other Democratic candidates such as Howard Dean of racial bias. According to reporter Wayne Barrett, "Roger Stone, the longtime Republican dirty-tricks operative who led the mob that shut down the Miami-Dade County recount and helped make George W. Bush president in 2000, is financing, staffing, and orchestrating the presidential campaign of Reverend Al Sharpton. ...
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Indonesia will hold its first-ever direct presidential elections in July 2004. Noting that Indonesia is "a thriving democracy where public opinion matters," a partner in the Jakarta-based PR firm Maverick writes in today's Jakarta Post that "the more forward-thinking" candidates "have already appointed their image gurus." Not every candidate will clean up well, though.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Today's New York Times quotes an unnamed Republican "close to the Bush campaign" who says the timing of the State of the Union speech -- one day after the Iowa caucuses -- is no accident.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"The rise of Tony Feather from congressional intern to successful lobbyist is a story of loyalty, of good deeds rewarded -- and of Republicans taking care of their own," the Washington Post writes.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
According to Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark's pollster Geoff Garin, Clark appeals less to women than men voters. Part of the campaign's effort to decrease this "gender gap" is to change Clark's wardrobe. "Gone are his navy blue suit, red tie and loafers, replaced by argyle sweaters, corduroys and duck books," reports the New York Times.
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