Category: Primary Dolor

Additions Based on Hearing the Audio

Princeton graduate Josh Marshall (and, perhaps you didn't know, he also has a PhD from Brown) makes some helpful "additions" to a transcript of that White House briefing Drudge was so het up about the other day:

THE PRESIDENT: Let me ask you a couple of questions. Who is the AP person?
Q I am.
THE PRESIDENT: You are? [Then ask it]
Q Sir, [what 'a], in regard to --

We had no idea you were allowed to do that. But if you're gonna insert things you claim to have heard, why settle for "what 'a"? Based on our hearing of the audio, the briefing went more like this:

THE PRESIDENT: Let me ask you a couple of questions. Who is the AP person?
Q I am.
THE PRESIDENT: You are? [You're a good lookin' guy.]
Q Sir, [why thank you], in regard to --
THE PRESIDENT: Who are you talking to? [I mean, I was just being polite to Brit Hume -- you're really hot. ]

What was this about? [TPM]
The Gayest-Seeming Bush Poll: Results! [Wonkette]
The President: Into More than Just a Pretty Face? [Wonkette]

READ MORE: Campaigning , Media , Personalities , Primary Dolor

Air America: What Up?

• The BoreAmerica blog monitors Air America so we don't have to. [BoreAmerica]
• New York magazine would like Janeane Garofalo to start behaving like an asshole. . . and quick. [NYM]
• A blogger notes that AA's business model gives them "an excuse to fail." [Quibbles'n Bits]
• Al Franken is desperate for material. [Moveon.org]

READ MORE: Democrats , Media , Personalities , Primary Dolor

Primary Dolor: Guess I'll Have to Think of a New Name Editon

• Judgment day for Edwards. "What about three states, or four states?" he teases. He has a hoarse throat and skipped his usual jog. [WP and NYT]
• The race could end tonight: Kerry on the verge. [WT and LAT]
• Front-loaded primary calendar hurt Edwards. "People make decisions based on what other people are doing. . . The effect gets stronger and stronger the more ambivalent we are. In this year, people are looking for a winner more than they are for any particular winner," says a sociologist. "Kerry may be "the Democratic Bob Dole," warns pollster. [WP]
• Kucinich questioned in his hometown. "He has done some good locally, but I think he's gone bananas," says one elderly resident. [NYT]

• GOP moves to corner Kerry by scheduling congressional votes on gay rights, abortion, and guns during the primary season; today, Edwards and Kerry vote on gun liability. [WP]
• Democrats feel rushed, Kerry benefits: "Kerry's not only the front-runner, he's also the fallback candidate for just about every Democrat who likes someone else. A lot of people aren't ready for this race to be over. Democrats feel they don't have much time to decide whether to fight for someone other than Kerry," says political scientist. [BG]
• Voters in the industrial heartland of Ohio could decide general election. [BG]
• Kerry, Edwards don't socialize within senate. Maybe they're just too busy to mingle. [NYT]
• California's controversial electronic ballots put to the test today. [LAT]
• Edwards linked to lobbying dollars. [LAT]
• Questions raised about Kerry's $6.4 million bank loan to his campaign. [WT]

READ MORE: Democrats , Media , Primary Dolor , Republicans

Primary Dolor: Edwards Snaps Edition

• "Snappish" debate gives Edwards a chance to make waves prior to Super Tuesday. Kerry rolls his eyes at the snark-fest: "That was a debate?" [WP, NYT and NYT]
•Edwards' belligerence at the debate may have been "the biggest gamble of his candidacy." [NYT]
•Kerry, Edwards fight for New York; Edwards looks for surge among working-class voters upstate, but uncertainty about employment isn't an election issue for them: "People are almost resigned to the fact." [NYT and LAT]
• Domestic issues could pose a problem for Bush. "When President Bush goes to make his case for a second term, his domestic performance will not be his strong suit. It's not a hopeless thing, but boy. . . he has some work to do to get people to feel better about what he has accomplished," says pollster. [LAT]

• Edwards nomination determined the science of the probable: "Proportional representation makes dramatic comebacks essentially impossible." [NYT]
• Kerry-Edwards ticket seems less likely after yesterday's date as their true chemistry is revealed. [WP and WSJ]
• Edwards could be the first Clinton-echo candidate, appealing to angry Southerners, but their differences are deep: Edwards is more disciplined, less wonkish. [WP and LAT]
• Black voters mostly support Kerry: "For black Democrats and white Democrats, their calculus is pretty much the same: They want to get rid of George W. Bush. George W. Bush represents everything -- war, violation of civil rights, tax cuts for the rich and program cuts for everybody else. There's not one issue that really much matters; it's the whole package." [WP]
• Kerry on party labels: "Labels are so silly in American politics. I think it's the silliest thing I've ever heard. . . . Is this president a legitimate Republican or conservative?" [WT]
• Bush focuses on the green as he closes in on goal of raising $170 million; Democrats focus on Bush. "I'm beating George Bush and John Kerry is losing by double digits," says Edwards. [BG and LAT]
• Kerry, Edwards understand the force of the AFL-CIO. [LAT]
• Kerry pockets Massachusetts vote; Edwards needs Georgia. [NYT and NYT]

READ MORE: Campaigning , Democrats , Primary Dolor , Republicans

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