Campaign

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

The ‘Chit Chat Live’ tour is light on politics and heavy on nostalgia.

This article originally appeared in the February 4, 2008 issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD and is being published today in memory of Fred Thompson who passed away Sunday.

Last year, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was asked a simple question: What was your proudest moment as secretary of state? Posed at a women’s forum, it was hardly hostile in intent. Clinton was unable to answer, and the resulting New York Times headline was brutal: “Hillary…

How big a problem is it that the two leading Republican candidates for president aren’t actually qualified to be president?

How big a problem is it that the two leading Republican candidates for president aren’t actually qualified to be president?

The Donald Trump candidacy has inspired a hundred writers to pen a thousand think pieces about the meaning of it all. Is Trump’s surge the sign of a new breed of populism? Is it the Tea Party reborn? Is it the reemergence of the old Ross Perot-Pat Buchanan strand of protectionism? Does it signal a…

What is happening in the world? When one looks at recent news, one can’t help feeling a sense of bewilderment. A storied Olympian announces his new gender on the cover of Vanity Fair, the Supreme Court declares same-sex marriage a constitutional right, racial violence returns to St. Louis and…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with editor William Kristol on the impact of Wednesday's GOP debate.

Republicans debated on the eve of Constitution Day, and did our founding document more justice than usual. The Republican debate on CNN was full of impressive performances by nearly all the candidates—and most who addressed the Constitution did so in a less clichéd way than they typically do. 

Shortly before the start of a "Grassroots Organizing Meeting with Hillary Clinton" at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the backdrop of the stage fell down. Watch the video from America Rising PAC here:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with editor William Kristol on Hillary Clinton's bad weekend and the Iran deal. 

The Hillary Clinton presidential campaign is planning on relaunching (or reintroducing, or reengineering) its candidate this fall, reports the New York Times. Reporter Amy Chozick says the former secretary of state will attempt to "show her humor" and "show her heart."

It’s been a rough month for Scott Walker. From February through July, the Wisconsin governor topped virtually every poll of likely GOP voters in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. But after a lackluster performance in the opening Republican presidential debate on August 6, Walker dropped nearly…

More than a few Republican graybeards are panicking about how the rise of Donald Trump is pulling at the seams of the GOP’s big tent. However, the Republican establishment itself has played a big role in creating this particular Frankenstein’s monster.

‘The Muse of History must not be fastidious.” Thus Churchill the historian. But as Churchill the politician knew, the Muse of Politics must not be fastidious either.

It’s not over. And it’s likely to end badly.

As the 2016 elections begin to dominate the news, a recurring message has seeped into the narrative being spoon-fed to the American public: Millennials will be the key demographic and the single most important voting group. Really?

Andrew Ferguson, writing in the Wall Street Journal:

The top paid employee on Hillary Clinton's campaign is Huma Abedin. According to Federal Election Commission disclosures released this week, Abedin was paid $69,263.09 in the first quarter of the campaign. 

When Scott Walker formalizes his presidential run Monday with a long-anticipated announcement, he will have at his side a seasoned veteran of Republican politics and an architect of the modern conservative movement. THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that Walker is expected to name Michael Grebe as…

The top spokesman in the Hillary Clinton campaign says the press cannot get in the way of Clinton's ability to campaign. That's how Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director for Clinton's campaign, explained the press being roped off at a July 4 event for Clinton over the weekend.

Hillary Clinton is offering a chance for one lucky person and a guest to join her for dinner. The campaign is inviting supporters to "chip in" to be automatically entered in the contest, although no contribution is required:

Hillary Clinton and her husband, Bill Clinton, made their first joint appearance since the start of the 2016 presidential campaign. The event was a Memorial Day parade in Chappaqua, New York, the location of one of their multi-million dollar homes.

The Hillary Clinton campaign announced the hiring of Lorella Praeli to head Latino outreach. But it's the candidate, Hillary Clinton, who may have some explaining to do.

It's been a month since Hillary Clinton officially announced that she was running for president. On April 12, Hillary launched her presidential campaign by releasing a video--and then going into hiding as she road-tripped half-way across the country.

Hillary Clinton wants you to wish her a Happy Mother's Day -- and maybe send a few dollars her way, as well. Often, organizations that support politicians or candidates (such as the Democrat or Republican National Committees) will solicit such greetings for holidays and special occasions. But in…

The brand new 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton will embrace "small donors in early fundraising," according to a Monday Politico story. The second-time presidential candidate wants to "make even small-dollar donors feel like they are part of the inner circle." Based on the campaign's…

Republican Carly Fiorina, a possible presidential candidate, reacts to Hillary Clinton's entry into the 2016 race.

California senator Barbara Boxer said that she's so excited about Hillary Clinton running for president that her "heart's beating a little faster today."

Stephen F. Hayes and Thomas Joscelyn report in the Wall Street Journal on the latest developments in uncovering how the Obama administration actively played down the threat of al Qaeda during President Obama's reelection campaign.

President Obama's former campaign manager, Jim Messina, said today that it was Hillary Clinton's "turn" to be the next president of the United States:

The Colorado Gazette reports this week that “Colorado is taking a novel approach to marijuana education — not telling people to avoid the drug, just to use it safely.”

The top Democrat in the Senate, Harry Reid, admitted today that he hasn't slept at home since May. The admission comes the same week Reid is beginning to plot his 2016 reelection.

President Obama will be busy tomorrow -- but he won't be actively trying to influence voters as they head to the polls on Election Day. Instead, he's got a full day of meetings at the White House.

Whether or not Jeff Bell comes from behind to win the New Jersey Senate race, he deserves credit for having run a classy, ideas-focused race. That's epitomized by his "closing argument," reproduced below. If a majority of New Jersey voters actually read this email, I do think Bell would win. The…

Speaking to the overflow crowd at a campaign rally at Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, President Obama urged the crowd to make sure "cousin Pookie" voted in November's election.

President Obama may not be, in his words, "on the ballot" this November, but that doesn't mean he's not on the campaign trail. Between the president and Vice President Joe Biden today, the two will be attending no fewer than six Democratic campaign events per the official White House schedule, and…

A new poll from Public Opinion Strategies, commissioned by Independent Women’s Voice, finds that people who care about the issue of Obamacare really don’t like Obamacare.  On the flip side, people who like Obamacare really don’t care about it very much.  That’s a bad combination for pro-Obamacare…

Despite Hillary Clinton’s disappointing book sales, and a gaffe-prone publicity tour, she remains the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination. If anything, the last few weeks have only confirmed her advantage. Despite these disappointments and mis-steps, there is no substantial…

Paradise for the most dedicated supporters of President Obama would look like an eternal campaign. It would, in fact, be an eternal campaign. The speeches about hope and change would never end and there would be no messy governing to attend to.  One could promise passionately, to make the…

President Obama appears to be the best there ever was when it comes to raising cash. But that’s because he works so hard at it. As James Oliphant of Government Executive reports:

Democratic senator Mark Udall of Colorado won't say whether he'll campaign for his own reelection with President Barack Obama:

At a stop in San Francisco on a three-day fund raising swing along the West Coast, President Obama said during a speech that "sometimes people forget I'm not running for office again."  The president was talking about Republicans in Congress and the immigration reform that he is trying to get…

The president is getting out of Washington and will, as Alexis Simendinger of Real Clear Politics reports:

President Obama announced today that his administration would follow the models pioneered by Google and his presidential campaign to make government smarter:

The State Department yielded to pressure from a coalition of Seattle and Washington state politicians, community groups, and advocacy organizations and agreed to withdraw at least one ad in the department's Metro bus ad campaign in Seattle promoting the “Rewards for Justice” campaign. The program…

Veterans of a failed campaign will gather Sunday in Burlington, Vermont.  Ten years ago, Howard Dean offered himself to the nation. He would run for President and take his stand with “the Democratic wing of the Democratic party.” His supporters loved him for that. They craved the real thing.  After…

The White House pool report reveals that only 6,000 will be in attendance for Obama's Berlin speech today:

The Republican National Committee announces that it's filing a Freedom of Information Act request for the release of all "Benghazi Emails Between Obama’s Reelection Campaign and State Department." The RNC's press release reads:

Today, President Obama personally became re-involved in his former campaign organization's new incarnation Organizing for Action.  On the same day he is scheduled to appear at two DCCC fundraisers in Chicago, the president of the United States sent the following email to OFA's mailing list, signed…

In a petition emailed today to supporters, Organizing for Action, President Obama's former campaign group, uses violence in Chicago to push for more gun control.

President Barack Obama raised campaign funds yesterday for the 2014 House elections. Visiting the homes of California billionaires, Obama touted Nancy Pelosi, as a primary reason for Democrats needing to win the next national election.

Michelle Jamrisko at Bloomberg reports:

College basketball player Kevin Ware's compound fracture in Sunday's Elite Eight game has gained widespread media attention. And now a Kentucky group is trying to capitalize off the Louisville player's injury. 

National Journal's Steven Shepard reports that Anthony Weiner's

Just before Hillary Clinton testified on Capitol Hill about the terror attack in Benghazi, her 2008 presidential campaign filed paperwork revealing that millions of dollars worth of debt had finally been repaid.

The Obama campaign, months after the November presidential election, is continuing its quest for ... cash. The latest plea comes in an email from campaign manager Jim Messina, who also announces a "Obama Campaign Legacy Conference, where we'll firm up the structure and leadership of the new…

Barack Obama's reelection campaign sent an email today asking supporters to call Congress to help gather support for the president's "fiscal cliff" proposal. Then, the campaign asks supporters to donate--even though the election ended over a month ago.

Matthew Continetti, writing in the Washington Free Beacon: 

President Obama the self-proclaimed compromiser sounds the same as Obama the partisan politician running for reelection. At his press conference Wednesday, he harped on what had been a chief talking point of his campaign—raising taxes for the wealthy.

Republicans never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.  In 2010, they failed to win the Senate when it was theirs for the taking. Now they’ve lost the White House to President Obama, despite his poor record and the likelihood things won’t get any better in his second term.  And they failed…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

President Barack Obama told a Virginia crowd last night that he's "a prop in the campaign":

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

President Barack Obama invoked the destructiveness of Hurricane Sandy--and the ensuing clean-up--in his campaign stop earlier today in Wisconsin.

President Obama is on board Air Force One on his way to Orlando, Florida for campaign events. "[Obama] is bound for Orlando to squeeze in some campaigning before Sandy really bears down," according to the pool report.

Mitt Romney’s aim was to present himself with the demeanor and grasp of foreign and national security issues of a president of the United States. He succeeded. President Obama sought to make Romney appear unqualified to be president and commander in chief. He failed. And that was the story of the…

Paul Begala, an adviser to the pro-Obama super PAC, says that the Obama campaign has given up on North Carolina:

The good thing about the presidential debates is that they give us a clear idea of where each candidate wants to take the country. Not in great detail, with every twist and turn on the road to each man’s promised land marked off, but in terms of the general direction. Obama wants more government,…

According to the campaign, Mitt Romney raised $170 million in September alone. That dollar figure includes money raised by the Republican National Committee and various state parties.

Watching last night's debate, I'm more struck than ever that Obama may be able to fight the economic policy issues to a draw. Romney-Ryan still haven't answered the blame-Bush narrative, and that combined with scaring people about Romney-Ryan on taxes and entitlements have probably pulled…

NBC's Chuck Todd reports:

Perhaps because Mitt Romney is a Winston Churchill fan and Barack Obama is not, I thought this morning of Churchill's "end of the beginning" remarks, delivered almost 70 years ago, at Mansion House in London, on November 10, 1942.

If Mitt Romney campaigns over the next month in the bold, aggressive manner he debated Wednesday night, he will be the next president.

Democrats today trotted out a new tactic for raising campaign cash: shame.

One of the ways you can tell that Obama's magic is gone is the lack of insane, iconographic art surrounding his campaign this time. In 2008 Obama art was beyond parody. There was an entire meme about The One riding on unicorns.

With just over 50 days until the presidential election, Joe Biden, the gaffe-prone vice president, is taking the weekend off. "The Vice President will be in Wilmington, Delaware," his public calendar reads. "There are no public events scheduled."

The White House just announced that President Obama will speak about the events in the Middle East at 10:35 a.m. Hillary Clinton will be by the president's side:

As we wait to see the extent and duration of Barack Obama’s post-convention bounce, it makes sense to do a little analytical house cleaning. In particular, a meme developed over the summer that Barack Obama was a strong favorite to win reelection, thanks to a sustained and substantial lead over his…

President Obama made a campaign stop to a fire station and hand-delivered a case of beer. Via the pool report:

After President Obama's remarks this morning on the tropical storm headed toward New Orleans, a reporter asked whether it's appropriate to continue campaigning. Obama did not answer the shouted question.

Earlier this week, we received final fundraising totals for the month of July – and the numbers were quite a shocker. The Republican side of the campaign (a joint effort between Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee) raised a total of $101.3 million dollars, and has $185.9 million in…

A big-time donor to President Barack Obama is also a financial supporter of Paul Ryan. Marc Benioff, a national campaign co-chair for President Obama's reelection campaign, donated $10,000 to Ryan's political action committee earlier this summer, in June, according to CNN.

According to a new ebook by Glenn Thrush, President Barack Obama's top political adviser, David Axelrod, had a spat with Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign manager for the president's reelection campaign. 

President Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina, sent an email this morning to Mitt Romney's campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, asking for Romney to release his tax returns. In an email back to Messina, Rhoades writes, "If Governor Romney’s tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will…

Mitt Romney will hit President Obama for high-level national security leaks coming from the White House, according to excerpts of the speech the Republican presidential candidate will deliver later today at the VFW in Reno, Nevada. Romney will call the leaks "contemptible" and a betrayal of "our…

It was earlier noted that the Obama campaign paid a whopping $2.6 million on polling in the month of June alone. It turns out, the president's reelection campaign has spent $15 million on polling--this election cycle alone.

According to disclosure forms with the Federal Election Commission, President Obama's reelection team appears to have paid $92,751.50 to rent the Ohio State University's Jerome Schottenstein Center, the site of the campaign's much touted kick-off event in May.

Is the left turning against the reelection campaign of Democratic President Barack Obama? That's the impression one gets from a recent article in the left-leaning Huffington Post. 

A new ad from Mitt Romney's campaign promises that the candidate will seek a "Bipartisan Solution for Immigration" if elected president. The ad, which is in Spanish and stars Romney's son Craig, would appear to be directed at Hispanic voters: 

An email with the subject line "SO COOL" was sent this morning to Obama's supporters by the president's reelection team. The email, from Obama for America national finance director Rufus Gifford, encourages supporters to send in cash for a chance to celebrate Obama's birthday--with the president…

In the latest Barack Obama campaign fundraising pitch, First Lady Michelle Obama asks supporters to donate money to help celebrate the president's 51 birthday. Those who donate, the first lady writes, will be entered into a drawing to celebrate Obama's birthday at his Chicago home next month.

Barack Obama's campaign just announced that it raised $71 million in the month of June, while earlier today Mitt Romney's campaign announced a $106 million June haul. The difference? Romney outraised Obama by $35 million in June.

The Romney campaign announced its impressive June haul this morning, via a campaign email:

An email with the subject line "Urgent," has been sent to President Obama's supporters by campaign manager Jim Messina. It's a request for campaign cash.

Matt Continetti, writing for the Washington Free Beacon: 

In a report called, "Messina dismisses doubts about Obama chances of winning North Carolina," the Hill has this to say about Obama campaign manager Jim Messina: 

Businessman Frank Vandersloot, the CEO of Melaleuca, has been targeted by the Obama campaign after donating money to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. "Three weeks ago, an Obama campaign website, 'Keeping GOP Honest,' took the extraordinary step of publicly naming and assailing eight private…

President Obama's reelection prospects look grim. The New York Times, in its account of Saturday's campaign launch, reported:

On Sunday evenings, President Obama meets with his top ten campaign officials to "gather for a confidential briefing on his re-election," according to the New York Times. Present at these meetings, which, we learn, usually take place after the president's Sunday golf outings, are a slew of White…

According to Politico, the Obama campaign's new video, titled "Forward," may in fact prefigure a new Obama campaign slogan.

President Barack Obama sat down with Rolling Stone for an hour long interview, which the editors there are billing the "most substantive interview the president has granted in over a year." The president used the opportunity to single out two conservative Americans for attack.

Matt Continetti, writing at the Washington Free Beacon:

Sean Trende has an important column that connects presidential job approval to reelection results. You really should read the whole thing, but here is the big take home point:

President Obama is in Florida to tout his economic policy of raising taxes on the wealthy. But first he's holding a fundraiser. And it seems that many in the Palm Beach Gardens gated community, where the fundraiser is being held, are excited to see the president.

At a campaign event in Coconut Creek, Florida today, Vice President Joe Biden was introduced as . . .  "President Biden." Here's video:

The following exchange should give Republicans a pretty good indication of whether President Obama would rather have the upcoming election be focused on Obamacare or the economy:

At a posh fundraiser in Atlanta, where 40 guests each paid $35,800 to attend, President Obama talked about . . . the weather. As today's White House pool reporter notes: 

Matt Continetti, writing at the Washington Free Beacon:

Zeke Miller of BuzzFeed reports:

In his last work, The Responsible Electorate (1966), the great scholar V.O. Key argued against the thinking of political scientists of his age that the mass public was too ill-informed to make wise decisions:           

Newsweek writer Andrew Romano takes a tour of Barack Obama’s reelection headquarters in Chicago and reports:

The length of American political campaigns is a source of annoyance to those for whom there is a life other than sound bites, attack ads, and commercials extolling the virtues of their sponsors and the evils of opponents. And the cost of campaigns is a source of amazement to foreign observers. But…

The Obama campaign sent out an email today asking supporters to urge Congress to at least vote on the president’s jobs bill almost immediately after Democratic majority leader Harry Reid blocked a vote on the bill in the Senate.

Politico reports that President Obama will go "on the road" to "GOP swing districts" to tout his "jobs bill."

President Obama arrived in Cincinnati Thursday afternoon to tout his newest bill meant to stimulate the economy with billions of dollars in infrastructure investment for job creation. The Obama team chose the “functionally obsolete” Brent Spence Bridge connecting Kentucky and Ohio, and the still…

President Obama’s speech to the United Nations, which he delivered this morning in New York, is filled with lots of little surprises. (For instance, “the United Nations helped avert a third World War.” Really?) But the big surprise is that he’s made his address to the General Assembly into a…

A reader with federal government experience emails:

Politico: "Rick Perry panic fires up the left"

President Obama portrays himself as the nonpartisan adult in the room in the struggle over raising the debt limit. In his nationally televised speech Monday, he placed himself above Washington’s “three-ring circus,” as someone who has “put politics aside” and is desperate for a bipartisan…

At Barack Obama’s White House, the presidency and the president’s reelection campaign have merged. Totally. In the past, presidents have exploited their office to boost their reelection prospects. But never like this.

A reader sends in this volunteer spot from real America (Ohio, I'm told), supporting Paul Ryan for president of the United States: 

And so the great machinery of the Obama-Biden campaign has slowly begun now to turn. Consider the following:

Straight from the Obama campaign to my inbox:

President Barack Obama, in an email to supporters, today officially announced that he's running for reelection in 2012:

Crossroads GPS, the policy arm of the Karl Rove-backed  American Crossroads PAC that was instrumental in the 2010 election, has just started running a national ad attacking the link between public sector unions and Democrats. You can bet this is just an opening salvo in what will be a significant…

Can anyone beat President Obama when he runs for reelection? The question seems to be on the minds of people whose job, or avocation, it is to ask. In other words, the people who write for, and read, Politico.

The New York Times reports that the president's reelection campaign will officially begin in March:

Steve Hayes and TWS contributing editor Charles Krauthammer last night on Fox News's Special Report:

I don’t actually have proof that John Podesta’s Center for American Progress is funded by foreign interests and corporations, but does anyone have proof that it isn’t? This is the new standard set by the Obama administration for organizations engaged in political activity it dislikes – guilty until…

Last week House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio delivered a stinging critique of the Obama administration’s economic policies. But the White House’s swift and tart reaction to Boehner was both illuminating and sadly predictable.