AltWeeklies Wire
John McCain, the U.S. and the Latest Russian Crisisnew
If Randy Scheunemann's Georgian connections provide even a scintilla of influence over a potential President McCain's decision on whether we go to war on that country's behalf, that is the very antithesis of democracy. But how many Americans are aware of any of this, as the news gulls continue regurgitating the myth of McCain as the strong and forthright policy expert?
INDY Week |
Derek Jennings |
08-21-2008 |
Commentary
Obama's Silicon Valley Volunteers Play Key Role in Battleground Statesnew
With California locked up, the national Obama campaign decided not to let the smoothly functioning, highly responsive high-tech organization go to waste. Now, they want the Palo Alto group to turn their energy toward Nevada, a shifty swing state with five electoral votes at stake.
Metro Silicon Valley |
Erin Sherbert |
08-21-2008 |
Politics
Dreams of Obamanew

Barack Obama, it is true, is a transformational leader. But he needs a transformational movement to become a transformational president.
Sacramento News & Review |
Tom Hayden |
08-21-2008 |
Commentary
What Obama Could Learn from George H. W. Bushnew

When Obama gives his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention next week, he had better send the right message to working-class voters.
Boston Phoenix |
Steven Stark |
08-20-2008 |
Commentary
Why These Portlanders Aren't Voting for Obamanew
To see how race relations and politics were playing out in Portland, a city that's 6 percent black, we went door-to-door in two neighborhoods. It wasn't hard to find swing voters who aren't Democrats or Republicans and also aren't voting for him. Their reasons may surprise you.
Willamette Week |
Raymond Rendleman |
08-20-2008 |
Politics
Race Bait '08: Race in the Presidential Racenew

Race exploded into the campaign two weeks ago when McCampaign accused Obama of playing his racial ace by pointing out that he doesn't look like the presidents on dolla dolla bills, y'all. And ObamaRama said McCain's lackey's comment was the only race thing here, and so on.
New Haven Advocate |
Rachel Slajda |
08-19-2008 |
Commentary
Election '08: The Sour Politics of Declinenew
Fear worked for Reagan, Bush I and Bush II, and McCain is singing the same song. Hope worked for Clinton. Hope, plus good manners and a green version of economic nationalism, could be the formula for Obama to turn the Democrats that Jack Kemp and Ronald Reagan lured away back into Democrats.
Artvoice |
Bruce Fisher |
08-18-2008 |
Commentary
Nation of Idiots: Beavis and Butthead's Grandfather Runs for Presidentnew
With Bush we got eight years of corporate looting of the nation's hard-earned wealth. With McCain we'll have four more years of kleptocrats picking at the national corpse. Eventually there'll be nothing left. But we should vote for this guy because, well, something about him standing up against bullshit tire pressure pinkos and that anti-Christ smart talking celebrity fella. Ya gotta love American presidential elections.
Artvoice |
Michael I. Niman |
08-18-2008 |
Commentary
John McCain's Birth Control Dodge Continuesnew
"I don't usually duck an issue, but I'll try to get back to you," McCain told a reporter in early July. The uncomfortable moments documented on video show the presumptive Republican nominee squirming and stammering when he was asked why he voted against a 2003 bill that would require private insurance companies to cover prescription birth control, just as they cover Viagra.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
08-15-2008 |
Commentary
Election '08: Pop Go the Politicsnew
Half-truths, outrageous hyperbole and hilarious cock-and-bull stories bring us fully into the election season.
Election '08: The Confusion Campaignnew
As we approach the national political conventions, we all know this promises to be a mean season. Has America transcended its racist past? We're about to find out. Or are we? The landscape is already so littered with political detritus that it's hard to find a reliable vantage point from which to get a clear view of the world.
The Texas Observer |
Geoff Rips |
08-13-2008 |
Commentary
Those Hoping to Rent Out Their Apartment During the RNC Face a Glut in the Marketnew
In the past few weeks, more than 700 would-be landlords have posted ads to Craiglist hoping to rent their homes to visiting Republicans during the first week of September. Yet of the more than three-dozen Craigslisters contacted by City Pages not a single one has rented out so much as a broom closet.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Jonathan Kaminsky |
08-13-2008 |
Politics
US Presidential Candidates Oversimplify the Georgia Crisisnew
Both Obama and McCain failed to take advantage of the crisis as an opportunity to comment on the complex nature of the territorial dispute in Georgia. Yes, we know that one of the first rules of campaigning is that messages should be kept simple, but we don’t have to like it. And when the subject matter is dicey foreign policy with potentially grave consequences, over-simplicity is dangerous business.
San Diego CityBeat |
Editorial |
08-13-2008 |
Commentary
Postmodern John McCain: The Presidential Candidate Some Arizonans Know ... and Loathenew

I've been a writer and editor at New Times for 15 years. For much of that time, I wrote about Arizona politics, which is to say that I wrote about John McCain. It's still odd to see the guy in the spotlight, because for quite a while, I was pretty much the only one covering him.
Phoenix New Times |
Amy Silverman |
08-12-2008 |
Politics
Man Up, Charlie Crist: Make Your Own Macho Would-Be Veep!new
It's crunch time in the Republican VP sweepstakes. If Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wants to win, he has to outrun the rumor he's light in the loafers. Getting engaged was a good start, but he needs an extreme makeover to be straight enough for the family-values crew.
New Times Broward-Palm Beach |
Thomas Francis |
08-12-2008 |
Commentary