Politico calls this “fickle.” Some might call it spoiled.
An emerging group of political practitioners and social scientists is examining the trend and finding that loyalty — at least the kind of loyalty that once kept consumers bound to products and voters bound to political parties — is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. …
<snip>
Just […]

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The Al Franken era begins.
That noise you just heard is the sound of O’Reilly popping blood vessels.

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Did not see all of the speech last night, stuck in class until late, heard some of it on the radio, watched the last half-hour on the tube. CNN replayed portions the rest of the night. Liked the tone of what I did hear a lot. Uneasy about the lack of specifics, but that’s the nature […]

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The Ayers controversy has been instructive in a lot of ways, not least of which is the right’s umbrage at the fact that the left, way back when, descended into violence, and that violence is the rationale by which Ayers should be prohibited from “making a living off a system he tried to destroy,” as […]

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Had half an eye on this for a few months, but sounds as if it’s becoming more serious:
The Northeast’s dwindling cast of Senate Republicans has Democrats circling Arlen Specter’s seat in Pennsylvania, convinced the party is well-positioned to make a competitive race out of the 2010 election.
Leading the pack of prospects — at least in […]

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So maybe Sarah Palin’s coming to Lancaster because Lancaster is “pro-America“:
Palin also made a point of mentioning that she loved to visit the “pro-America” areas of the country, of which North Carolina is one. No word on which states she views as unpatriotic.
This was a paraphrase, though as Steve Benen notes, the McCain/Palin campaign later […]

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So I got an e-mail yesterday, as I periodically do, from a moderate Republican wondering why we all just can’t get along:
I have no problems with Obama being president, I just prefer McCain’s policies and experience more. I believe we actually have two good choices this election, opposed to the last one. Having said all […]

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It was a bad week for John McCain in large part because it was a bad week for Sarah Palin.
“Terrible,” said My Mother the Winger, who doesn’t even try to defend Palin anymore.
The Katie Couric interview is probably going to go down as one of the greatest crash-and-burns in political history. And as I’ve written […]

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Like LOLcats, but more relevant. Sort of.

see Obama pictures

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Brad over at Sadly! No:
One of American liberalism’s saddest myths is that the American people are inherently good, optimistic folks who have been duped into voting against their interests by crafty Republicans who play on their spites and resentments. If only the Democrats could nominate someone who embodies a new kind of politics where people […]

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I hadn’t called Shawn the drummer for months, and I felt cheesy about it. With the class and the kids and everything else there’s just no time to rock and roll, but my stuff - an amp, microphone, various stands, etc. - were still at his house. So I dropped him an e-mail: Uh, I […]

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Hm. NY Times takes a look at the “Milennial Makeover,” a book which theorizes that the future of American politics is being crafted by the Facebook pages of today:
Why are Millennials [those born since 1982] inclined to vote Democratic? Thanks to “their protected, structured and positively reinforced upbringing” (lots of quality time with their parents, […]

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Via the Interfaith Alliance, Pastor Dan - in an apparent attempt to get my blood boiling (mission accomplished!) - provides us with the top 10 (or bottom 10) moments in our national race for Pastor-in-Chief:
10. Mitt Romney is asked if he believes “every word” of the Bible (CNN/You Tube debate (11-28-07).
9.  CNN’s Soledad O’Brien asks John Edwards […]

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Curious to follow the discussion in this thread regarding patriotism and whether liberals have any. This, of course, has long been the cudgel which the right has used to beat up on the left, and it’s been effective. Or rather, it was effective - before Iraq.
Because the quagmire in Iraq (Now with 50 percent less death!) […]

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So Marv (my boss) forwards me an e-mail, and apparently we’ve gotten quite a few of these this week:
I find the implication that someone who has dedicated his or her life to serving America lacks patriotism utterly unpalatable. But reading Nedra Pickler of the AP’s Sunday smear piece against Senator Barack Obama, it appears that […]

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My father is a big Lou Dobbs fan. Might get a chance to vote for him for president, it seems.

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…in which the cross-dressing, twice-divorced, nice to gays, pro-choice Giuliani is endorsed by Pat “9/11 was punishment for our sins!” Robertson.
In a word: Sellout.
Update: Lew Rockwell weighs in with this:
I am not at all surprised that Christian right leaders like the Rev. Robertson are endorsing men like Giuliani. The core values of the “Values Voters” […]

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In a much-remarked upon piece, USA Today notes that the country is in one of its most sour moods in decades, a funk that is remarkable both for its depth as well as its duration:
In all, 72% of those surveyed in a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Oct. 12-14 say they are dissatisfied with how things […]

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Steve Benen gets it exactly right:
There’s just no reason for apoplexy here. Stark said something mean about Bush during a congressional debate. The president is a big boy; I think he can handle it. But by throwing a tantrum, congressional Republicans are suggesting that they can’t handle it. They’re not grown-ups. Random, intemperate criticism of […]

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Over at Sullivan’s place there’s this debate going on about Hillary - how the right is specifically using the spectre of Hillary to raise money, to galvanize supporters. Sullivan has suggested repeatedly that were the Democrats to nominate Hillary it would be a bad move for a lot of reasons -but primarily because of her […]

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