Tuned InUncategorized
In my last Time Tuned In column I wrote about the upcoming HBO movie Recount, about the disputed Florida vote in 2000, and its potential to stir up passions in the Democratic primary, where certain campaigns are charging disenfranchisement in Florida:
Even if the primary is settled by the time Recount airs (or by the time you read
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Tuned InUncategorized
Over at Slate, Timothy Noah wonders: will appearing in high-definition on TV be unkind to John McCain?
Last year, when McCain’s candidacy appeared to be in serious trouble, you heard a lot about how awful he looked. He’d gotten old, his face was scarred from melanoma surgery; no wonder his presidential run was headed south. Then McCain
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Tuned InNews Media
When Time’s not breaking news, we’re making news! After last night’s big Time 100 bash in Manhattan—which neither I nor fellow Timeblogger Lisa Cullen attended—a Fox News production assistant got her walking papers for telling Sen. John McCain she voted for him in the primary, reports TV Newser. (Link via Romenesko.) “I voted for you …
Tuned InUncategorized
In the paper version of Time magazine this week, my column looks at the upcoming HBO movie Recount, and how the 2000 electoral circus in Florida still looms over the psychology of politics—especially in a certain party that has a lot of members cheesed off about enfranchisement and Florida:
After George W. Bush won Florida in
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Tuned InUncategorized
Daily Show regular John McCain returned to TDS last night, this time as presumptive Republican nominee, and cited the inspirational words of Chairman Mao:
I somehow get the feeling that people would be making a bigger deal of it had Barack Obama dipped into the little red book. In the second half of the interview, Stewart “enters the …
Tuned InUncategorized
I confess I didn’t stay up past midnight for the resolution of yesterday’s primaries—American Idol or the Democrats, people! I cover one election a night!—but former TV reporter Jim Rutenberg in The New York Times has a good roundup on the sudden and stark shift against Hillary Clinton’s chances after the final Indiana returns came …
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A question to consider as the Indiana and North Carolina returns come in today: What’s the biggest determining demographic factor in the Democratic primary? It’s gender, right? God knows you can’t open a newspaper politics section, or even a style section, without reading about the great war between the boys and the girls in the …
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There’s been plenty of debate in the political media lately about whether or not this election is likely to be—or already is—a rerun of 1988. (I.e., culture warring, flag burning, Willie Horton ads, etc.) If you want to relive the actual election of ’88 for comparison purposes, you might want to watch PBS’s American Experience: The …
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New York magazine columnist Kurt Andersen (who is like me a declared Obama voter) has had some great observations all this election season on the Democratic primary and how it reflects American culture. He has a new column this week about the “elitism” issue, in which he argues, among other points:
Certain journalistic stars these last
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Tuned InUncategorized
On The CW, the debut of Farmer Wants a Wife, in which Matt, a 29-year-old Missouri country boy with a promising future as an underwear model, tries to find a match from among ten city women. On Fox News, Hillary Clinton makes her first appearance on The O’Reilly Factor.
Expect contrived drama, reinforcement of …
Tuned InUncategorized
A week before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, the Hillary Clinton campaign is asking for another debate. But this time a different kind of debate:
In the spirit of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, we make this proposal: Senator Clinton and Senator Obama will participate in a 90-minute debate in an open public forum. Just the two
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As Al Gore discovered, your political loss can be your media career’s gain. John Edwards appeared on The Colbert Report—along with current candidates Clinton and Obama—and he absolutely killed. (At last, the voice of the white man is heard!) There is a limit to how laugh-out-loud funny an active candidate can be: you can be wry, or …
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On time.com this morning, Michael Grunwald reviews last night’s Democratic debate in Philadelphia. Like many of the debates in this primary, the structure of this one was, roughly: Controversy, Controversy, Electability, Gaffe, Controversy, Symbolic Hot-Button Issue, Insinuation, Incitation to Fight; And Now, a few Boring Questions About …
