Free Republic

LOS ANGELES — It is a thought that sends shivers down the backs of Democrats, a name that brings to mind memories of an election lost that might have been won, against a war hero once referred to in headlines as a “wimp” who won not so much by his own strengths but because of the skill of his operatives in painting his lesser-known opponent as an out of touch “liberal” who refused to salute the flag or admit his mistakes, not to mention his supposedly unpatriotic wife. Could Obama be another Dukakis? It isn’t just die-hard Clinton supporters who...

The Debate: The mainstream media were taken aback by some of the questions asked of Barack Obama at the ABC-run debate in Philadelphia. We, on the other hand, were pleasantly surprised.We'll admit we weren't expecting much more of this debate than the earlier puffball affairs sponsored by CNN and MSNBC. And indeed, the first question out of ABC anchorman Charlie Gibson's mouth — about the chances for a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton dream team — had us muttering, "Here we go again." But when that went nowhere (Obama said such talk was "premature"), Gibson got down to business by asking about...

Barack Obama threatens to drive political cartographers crazy. By attracting young people and African-Americans, he believes he can turn red states blue and upend our relatively stable political map. Obama may well win the November election on a wave of Democratic turnout and enthusiasm, but he will likely find that states don’t change their political stripes very easily. The 2000 and 2004 elections were remarkably similar. Forty-seven states voted for the same party in both elections. Only New Hampshire, which switched from Republican in 2000 to Democrat in 2004, and Iowa and New Mexico, which moved in the other direction,...

Howell Raines said tonight that Bill Clinton has engaged in a subtle race-baiting campaign against Barack Obama. "He has sought to, in a low key way, remind people, 'Hey, this guy is black,'" Raines said of Clinton during a panel discussion at a journalism awards banquet sponsored by The Week magazine. As editorial page editor of the New York Times in the 90s, Raines frequently penned scathing attacks on the former president. But since resigning as the paper's top editor in 2003 amid the Jayson Blair scandal, he has kept a low profile, living in relative seclusion in Pennsylvania. Tonight,...