I don’t understand why commentators persist in saying this week that Barack Obama avoided any discussion of race during the presidential campaign. Which campaign were they covering?
Here’s Jack Cafferty on CNN from this afternoon:
Isn’t it ironic, he went through the whole presidential campaign, with nary a nod toward any sort of racial problems in this country, and at the tail end of a news conference the other night he stepped right in it up to his eyebrows.
You might argue that Obama didn’t make race the centerpiece of his campaign or that he was careful not to explicitly shoulder the burden of centuries of black grievances. (The symbolic shouldering of those grievances was something the first serious black candidate for President, whoever he turned out to be, would not be able to shrug off easily.) But it’s wildly inaccurate to say that he ignored race during the campaign, even if he declined to play-act in the highly choreographed racial set-pieces that linger in our politics. Read More
‘Birther’ legal team somewhat less than lawyers in good standing.
Latest Tweet from Sarah Palin: “Another victory for my family/my admin/the people of AK; but the wins come @ great cost. Will link to presser when posted.”
No. I’m not sure either.
Whatever else Twitter might be, we’ve found it a good way of to keep tabs on politicos and reporters, what they’re doing, saying and so forth. Pols make unguarded or revealing statements, sometimes just helpful heads-ups on events or statements; reporters give early tips on stories. And just atmospherically you can get a feel for what certain groups of people are thinking and talking about. It’s not perfect. Obviously, people know they’re being listened to. But it’s still a very useful tool.
So with that in mind we set up a series of Twitter rooms that pull together the Twitter feeds of different groups. Here’s the feeds for Elected Dems on Capitol Hill, Elected Republicans on Capitol Hill, Democratic and liberal insiders, Republican and conservative insiders and reporters and bloggers.
Each page is auto-updating every few minutes.
The elected officials on Capitol Hill rooms should include every representative and senator on the Hill who has a Twitter account. The others obviously required some subjective judgment as to who to include. But they’re fairly comprehensive. And obviously if there are people who you think we should add to one of the lists, please let us know.
They’re permanently linked on our front page, below the fold on the right, just across from our masthead.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. says he’d be happy to have a beer at the White House with Officer Crowley and President Obama.
Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele warns that Democratic government intervention in health care will be even worse than the Schiavo case. Huh? That and other political news in today’s TPMDC Saturday Roundup.