The deep-fried Oreos, the funnel cakes, the pork chops on a stick: The news media covers what presidential hopefuls eat on the campaign trail as much as their policy statements. Maybe more. It is a very telling moment when a candidate addresses a corn dog live on camera; to emerge unscathed is definitely part of the contemporary political skill set.
At the top of the Democratic Party's to-do list should be this item: "Develop a new narrative." The party's big summer meeting is coming up next week, so there's still time. Maybe.
Like everything else, even media bias and press fairness is subject to interpretation. And confusion.
A timely new book has just landed: "Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency" by Andrew McCarth meticulously proves that President Trump has faced some unprecedented partisan hostility. The author parses the "collusion fable" and revisits details almost too numerous to mention.
The spectacle of 2020 presidential politics continues, punctuated by melodrama, unintentionally comedic moments and gaffes. Now-and-then Democratic front-runner Joseph R. Biden had a moment in that realm during a campaign appearance at a "gun safety" forum in Iowa — when he declared that flamethrowers were illegal.
Public patience with the 24 Democratic presidential hopefuls and the electoral process appears to be wearing thin very early in the election game. Let us consider the fact that 6-out-of-10 Americans say they are not looking forward to any future Democratic debates. So says a new Economist/YouGov poll.
The news media was hostile to President Trump the moment he declared his intention to run for the White House in 2015. The tradition continues. Ongoing analysis of broadcast coverage by the conservative Media Research Center, in fact, has documented the fact that 90% of the news accounts have been negative toward Mr. Trump since he took his oath of office.
A leading progressive publication has a warning for the zealous liberals and Democrats who attacked The New York Times for running a headline that was actually fair-minded toward President Trump, noting that he was urging "national unity" over racism during a difficult week amid a contentious campaign.
Hello, Main Street. Amid an avalanche of alarmist coverage of the economy and the stock market comes this happy news. Gallup reveals noteworthy sentiments among the nation's U.S. small business owners: 58% say their revenues have increased in the past year, 64% say they expect further increases in the future, while 79% now say they are optimistic about the future in general. All of these percentages are up since the second quarter of the year, the pollster says.
Capitol Hill may not be such a quiet place this week.
A decade ago, talk radio host Michael Savage was banned from the U.K. by Britain's then-Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who placed Mr. Savage on a list of undesirables that included known terrorists and neo-Nazis. One of the few who defended Mr. Savage was Boris Johnson, then the mayor of London, who called the ban an "utterly demented decision." Now he is prime minister. Things change.
The 20-plus Democratic presidential hopefuls have been called all sorts of things in recent days. "Deranged" has been a favorite description of this bustling group, deployed daily by the Republican Party - which points out, and rightly so - that the flock of would-be presidents is either fixated on impeaching President Trump, or driven into a frenzy by his latest tweet.
A certain presidential hopeful could foster a whole new demographic for the Democratic Party that could prove problematic.
A pair of esteemed economists have two words to describe the favorite pet ideology of a certain population of Democrats: "Socialism Sucks," the title of their book, subtitled "Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World."
A simple announcement from Judicial Watch adds another dimension to "Russian collusion" -- particularly one aspect which did not get much play during the recent Robert Mueller hearings on Capitol Hill.
On July Fourth, Gallup released a timely poll that found that 45% of Americans said they were "extremely" proud of their country. That finding included 76% of Republicans — but only 22% of Democrats.
The Democratic Party is now in an identity crisis with all the trimmings, trying to gain some war footing as the clock tick-tocks toward the 2020 election. The trouble is, the press is reporting that there's plenty of "internal warfare" going on among Democrats as the push and pull between establishment leaders and determined, outspoken young newcomers to Congress continues. Eager for a little action, the press already has its eyes trained on next week's Democratic presidential debates in Detroit.
Well, that's showbiz. The long-awaited testimony of Robert Mueller has come and gone.
Some eight weeks ago, the nation's capital shook with the power of several hundred thousand motorcycles as the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom came to town for the 32nd time to raise awareness for POW and MIA issues and help military veterans. As it has in the past, the unapologetically patriotic demonstration drew national news coverage for the sheer size and spectacle of the gathering, organized by stalwart volunteers who last year raised $256,276 for vets in need of such basics as rent, clothing and food.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller's upcoming testimony before both the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees beginning Wednesday has already mesmerized the news media, who remain fixated with "Russia collusion" and other narratives that are hostile toward President Trump.
