Archive for January 2008

Mitt Romney, John McCain Trade Charges

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Mitt Romney and John McCain accused each other Monday of harboring liberal tendencies, a charge bordering on blasphemy in the increasingly caustic campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Romney struck first on the day before the winner-take-all Florida primary. He attacked the Arizona senator for his legislation reducing the role of money in politics, for his position on immigration and for his support of an energy bill that Romney said would have driven up consumer costs.

"If you ask people, 'Look at the three things Senator McCain has done as a senator,' if you want that kind of a liberal Democrat course as president, then you can vote for him," Romney told campaign workers. "But those three pieces of legislation, those aren't conservative, those aren't Republican, those are not the kind of leadership that we need as we go forward."

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Rudy Giuliani on the 9/11 Rescue Workers: "I'm One of Them."

Giuliani responds to criticism from families of rescue workers, August 10 2007

285 Days to the Election: A look at the race for 2008 on Thursday

Clinton defends husband's role in her presidential campaign ... Edwards: Bush economic stimulus package 1 month too late ... Huckabee faces questions about donors to Arkansas fund

Hillary Clinton defends husband on stump

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, defending her husband's increasingly vocal role in her presidential effort, sidestepped questions about whether Bill Clinton's suggestion that Barack Obama had put a "hit job" on him was language befitting a former president.

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The Race for the Presidency: 2008 by Evan Thomas of Newsweek

Hard to learn about candidates during election. Frustrating (for me) to figure from polls, talking points, blathering away. So here's my take on the candidates.

Hillary Clinton sells story of "restoration" of good 1990 Clinton Years. There's a reassuring quality of going back to good times. (Barack Obama says "I don't remember you being Secretary. of Treasury" though). Clinton is strident, paranoid, and in miserable marriage. Bill Clinton would be an unelected co-president—we would get players in a long, but dysfunctional marriage.

Barack Obama's message offers "renewal of hope"--reassuring, but vague and grandiose. Obama without question would be a roll of the dice. Good at least that he can write his own book (not ghost written).

John Edwards is a populist, but has slick, slippery quality (lawyer background). Populist has never gotten 51% from this message before (William Jennings Bryan got close at turn of century). Too much of a hustler in Edwards.

Rudy Giuliani's great moment was 9/11 a great moment--we've all seen that movie. Closer scrutiny makes me less confident. Giuliani bluffs away critics and is surrounded by "Yes-Rudis". Even 9/11 had problems: police/fire radios don't speak to each other. Central command center was in known terrorist target (Twin Towers). A bit of a demigod and bully--from un-confidence (not confidence).

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Students to analyze 2008 presidential advertisements

With the 2008 Presidential Election drawing closer, UW-Madison students working with the Wisconsin Advertising Project will attempt to analyze all federal and gubernatorial political advertisements aired on television this year.

UW-Madison political science professor Ken Goldstein directs the project, which began in 2000. According to a statement, a nearly $300,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation, an organization that aims to strengthen democracy and promote fair elections, will fund the program.

The project is considered the most important and credible source of information on broadcast campaign advertising, according to a statement. “We’re known as a really incredible place to get information on political advertising,” Goldstein said. He said data regarding the target of an ad is purchased for the project from the TNS Media Intelligence Campaign Media Analysis Group in Washington D.C.

A new technological system marketed by CMAG monitors local advertising in the country’s top 100 media markets, and is able to recognize the unique sound patterns of ads. According to the project’s website, once an ad is aired, the system downloads it and creates a storyboard the students are then able to code from.

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OH-EIGHT (D): HILLARY'S VARIOUS PERSONAS

CLINTON: The New York Times’ Healy writes about the various campaign personas Clinton has taken on. “There has been Commander in Chief Hillary Rodham Clinton, the steely leader who, voters were assured, would ‘destroy’ terrorists and be Thatcher-like tough. There has been Strong-and-Experienced Hillary Clinton, but that proved to be so uninspiring that Change-Agent Hillary and Likable-Since-I- Was-a-Kid Hillary were rolled out. And Teary-Eyed Hillary, of course, won the New Hampshire primary last week, after the candidate choked up describing the rigors of the race.”

“But as her advisers said after New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton cannot cry her way to the Democratic nomination. So she and her team have been searching for the right personality to help her connect emotionally with voters — an intuitive talent of her chief competitor for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Barack Obama — while also emphasizing her competence and experience. Her newest public face is a blend of policy and persona.”

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