My latest podcast features Sam Leith, the author of “Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama.”
Leith has analyzed President Obama‘s use of rhetorical style to explain why he is such an effective public speaker. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation:
Obama is completely addicted to what we technical rhetoricians call anaphora, which is what politicians always do. It’s where you repeat a word or a phrase at the beginning of the sentence, so More »
The new Quinnipiac poll has some good news for Marco Rubio.
After 18 months on job, he has his highest job approval ratings ever. As Christian Heinze notes, “His job approval rating is 54%/27% for +27%, and he scores big with nearly every demographic, including indies (+27%), men (+33%), women (+20%), and Hispanics (+26%).”
This is no small thing, especially considering the stances he has taken and the (often unfair) scrutiny he has endured. More »
Last night on CNBC’s “Kudlow Report,” I argued that, while perhaps not likely, replacing Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton on the presidential ticket is not an absurd notion.
Adding Hillary, I argued, would make this election (like the 2008 one) historic. What I did not argue — what I do not believe — is that Biden should be ousted as the running mate because he is gaffe prone.
In fact, I tend to believe that (whether More »
Over at the Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf has written an interesting critique of Chris Matthews’ comments about Cory Booker on MSNBC’s “Hardball” last night. But while I generally agree with Friedersdorf’s larger points regarding intellectual honesty, I have to quibble with some of his specific conclusions about the game of politics.
Personally, I find surrogates boring. They are not intellectually honest. I’d much rather watch an analyst or a journalist on TV than a spokesman. That’s More »
This is pretty horrible.Via the Columbia Free Times,
A video posted online that shows a former union leader in South Carolina smashing a piñata effigy of Gov. Nikki Haley has riled the national office of the AFL-CIO, which wants it taken down.
…
Pro-union sources in South Carolina say they aren’t worried about the video.
“[Haley] has been whacking at us since she realized how much money the More »
With just two weeks to go, national Democrats appear to be using anonymous press comments to lay the groundwork for explaining away a loss in the upcoming Wisconsin recall election.
“[T]he national party turned down Wisconsin Democrats’ request for $500,000, one party official said.”
“We told them [the recall] was a bad, bad, bad idea,’ one Democratic official said.”
… These, of course, are not profiles in courage. But they are consistent with the finger More »
Over at the Washington Post, opinion writer Marc Thiessen is arguing that Gov. Bob McDonnell’s (R-Va.) failure to veto a recent law challenging the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) “could also have implications for his vice presidential aspirations.”
Thiessen writes,
… McDonnell’s national security credentials have come into question, thanks to his mishandling of a bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly that disassociates the commonwealth from the military detention of al-Qaeda or its terrorist affiliates who More »
Yesterday, The Hill reported that the Health and Human Services Department signed a $20 million deal with a PR firm to “describe the importance of prevention while also explaining preventive benefits” of ObamaCare.
The story notes that the public relations firm Porter Novelli “won the contract after a competitive bidding process.” Interestingly, the managing director of Porter Novellis’ Washington D.C. office is Catherine “Kiki” McLean — a true “D.C. insider,” according to her bio.
Indeed More »
This Super PAC ad is probably the most devastating use of Mitt Romney’s primary opponents (and GOP pundits) against him, to date. It is, I think, much more effective than the Gingrich ad the Obama campaign used a few weeks ago.
It is interesting how both sides are co-opting the other side’s messengers in order to lend credibility to their arguments. Yesterday, Romney created a web ad featuring two Democrats, Newark Mayor Cory More »
How important is Hollywood money and liberal support to Barack Obama? Pretty important, apparently. At least, that’s the only conclusion that can be drawn from the chasm between Team Obama’s rhetoric and action.
Despite declaring earlier today that Mormonism was off limits, the Obama campaign has been silent in the face of flagrant violations of the campaign’s declarations (*see update below).
How is it possible that Bill Maher’s tweet does not elicit a response?
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