With all the talk of Palin, her presence in this ad was noticeably absent.

Posted at September 2, 2008 2:48 PM in response to New Obama Ad: "The Same, The Same, The Same"

And in that time she ruined Wasilla's budget with a fouled-up bid to build a super-expensive sports center and fired the city's police chief for questionable reasons in her time as mayor, and is alleged to have fired a state employee for questionable reasons in her 18 months as governor.

What experience!

The only thing Palin has any real experience in is bankrupting budgets and politicizing public offices -- on second thought, she's the perfect Republican!

As far as voting present is concerned, that argument is bogus. It's a frequently used tactic in the Illinois legislature to signify unresolved issues with a bill, a willingness to cooperate on an issue, disapproval with a bill or the unconstitutionality of a bill. It's sort of like saying "nay, but...". http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4152798

Posted at September 2, 2008 11:54 AM in response to Election Central Morning Roundup

On an unrelated note, what does "Dem operative" mean? Can I be one?

Posted at August 29, 2008 4:31 PM in response to Source: McCain, GOP Significantly Expanding Advertising Map Into New States

That is, the objective headline on the main page.

Posted at August 27, 2008 5:25 PM in response to Polls: Race Remains Tight In Five Key Battlegrounds

I approve of the objective headline. The rest of you guys, cut Eric some slack. If you aren't willing to offer constructive criticism of the reporting, check the name-calling at the door or please go elsewhere.

Posted at August 27, 2008 5:25 PM in response to Polls: Race Remains Tight In Five Key Battlegrounds

Do NOT care. I don't give a good god damn about what Howard Wolfson thinks about MSNBC. I don't give a rat's ass what Olbermann and Matthews think about Fox News or Howard Wolfson. And I sure as hell don't like TPM wasting space covering this little tissy fit between puffed-up egos.

The media must never make itself the story. Get back to reporting the real stories, TPM.

Posted at August 27, 2008 3:38 PM in response to Howard Wolfson Goes To War With MSNBC, Hammers Chris Matthews And Keith Olbermann

I am so sick of this bullshit. 24-news networks should be banned by law. News companies should only get, at the most, 1 hour each day to report the news.

Posted at August 27, 2008 11:56 AM in response to New York Times: Hillary Speech Partly Driven By Ambition

I feel the proper way to desensationalize this headline would be to say: "Quinnipiac: Obama's lead drops in OH, FL and PA". Another way would be the reverse: "Quinnipiac: McCain gains in OH, FL and PA".

"Slipping" improperly suggests he is about to lose his lead, and "3 largest swing states" attaches an unwarranted amount of urgency and importance to the poll. "Obama slipping in 3 largest swing states" in itself generalizes the results of the one poll and makes it sound like this is the general state of affairs rather than indicating the singularity of the poll's results, as mentioning the source in the headline immediately suggests.

While sensationalism is a common phenomenon in the mainstream media, TPM sure doesn't have to engage in it.

Posted at August 26, 2008 12:06 PM in response to Poll: Obama Slipping In The Three Largest Swing States

Wikipedia defines "negative campaigning" as:

trying to win an advantage by referring to negative aspects of an opponent or of a policy rather than emphasizing one's own positive attributes or preferred policies

I don't care for the connotation of "negative" in the term "negative ad", especially in reference to this ad, but it is, by definition, a negative ad in that is focuses on the negative aspects of the opponent rather than the positive aspects of the candidate.

I guess I don't like Obama's ads being classified with the same term as McCain's ads. Maybe Obama's ads could be called "negative" and McCain's ads called "atrocious"?

Posted at August 14, 2008 11:13 AM in response to Election Central Morning Roundup

So, at what point does Lieberman get ostracized from the party?

I think calling into question the Democratic nominee's dedication to his country is a terminable offense.

Posted at August 12, 2008 6:01 PM in response to McCain Campaign Officially Endorses Lieberman's Claim That Obama Hasn't "Put Country First"