Tim Grieve
A farewell note
Some 4,000 posts later, this one will be my last.
Three years ago, I took over War Room from my friend and editor Geraldine Sealey. Some 4,000 posts later, this one will be my last. I’m leaving Salon for Politico, where I’ve accepted a job as congressional bureau chief.
Alex Koppelman will be taking over War Room.
I want to thank Salon for giving me the freedom to do what I’ve been doing here. More important, I want to thank you, the readers, for making the work feel so worthwhile. I’ll miss our dialogue — even the frank exchanges — and I wish you all the best.
We’ll take that as a “no”
In the run-up to Bush's last State of the Union address, his press secretary ponders whether the country is better off than it was seven years ago.
At today’s White House press gaggle, devoted almost entirely to George W. Bush’s final State of the Union address, a reporter asked Dana Perino a simple yes-or-no question: “Is the country better off now than seven years ago?”
Here’s how she answered:
“Certainly seven years ago — well, seven years ago, right before September 11th, I think that people would say that the country certainly felt better off. There’s been — once we were confronted with terrorists who would fly jumbo jets into buildings and kill thousands of our citizens in an instant, it created a sense of fear and nervousness about our security. And that’s why the president decided to take on the terrorists head on and go on the offense.
“And we have done that around the world. We have been successful so far in preventing another attack on our country. But it’s not for their lack of trying. And that’s another reason why the president — tonight you’ll hear him call on Congress to pass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization. They have until Friday to do that, and the president sees no reason why they shouldn’t be able to get that done.”
John Edwards’ “path to the nomination”
He'd be a contender if only someone else would drop out.
The John Edwards campaign has just distributed a new “interested parties” memo. Its subject line is “Path to the nomination,” and we were looking forward to reading the rest: Having not yet won a state, having lost badly in first-in-the-South South Carolina and trailing far behind in the delegate count, how can Edwards win the Democratic presidential nomination?
We’ve read the memo, and we’re still not sure.
Continue Reading CloseRezko arrest rains on the Obama parade
Already under indictment on fraud charges, longtime Obama supporter is taken into custody.
It’s not all good news for Barack Obama: Longtime Obama supporter Tony Rezko, already under indictment on fraud charges, was reportedly arrested today on an alleged bond violation.
Endorsing Obama, Kennedy goes after the Clintons
Kennedy says that Obama will be ready on "Day 1."
As Sen. Ted Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama today, he also made it clear why he’s not endorsing Hillary Clinton.
Although Kennedy called Clinton a “friend” and said she has been “at the forefront on issues ranging from healthcare to the rights of women around the world,” he also made a number of not-so-veiled stabs at the Clintons. Kennedy said that Obama refuses to be “trapped in the patterns of the past,” that he “cares passionately about the causes he believes in without demonizing those who hold a different view,” that he’s “tough-minded” but “also has an uncommon capacity to appeal to the better angels of our nature.”
Continue Reading CloseObama overflow
The campaign turns away thousands in Washington.
Our concept this morning: Experience Barack Obama’s rally with Ted Kennedy in Washington as a “civilian” would.
Our reality this morning: After standing outdoors for more than two hours in a line that stretched along several blocks — and eventually getting within 20 feet of the entrance doors — we were told that the roughly 6,000-seat Bender Auditorium at American University was completely full. At least several thousand people were in line behind us.
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