Bailout tests McCain, Obama leadership
One of the most important qualities in a president - and one of the hardest for voters to gauge on the campaign trail - is the ability to move key pieces of his or her agenda through Congress. As we learned in the Bill Clinton years, it's one thing to promise universal health care in a New Hampshire living room and another to gather the votes to pass it into law. The tribulations of a power-sapped president were on full display yesterday, when a $700 billion financial bailout package that President Bush c

Trying to Figure Out Blogger Economics and, Once Again, Failing
Beside speculating on why Bill Clinton isn't showing his full support for Barack Obama — one theory says it's because the Democratic nominee wouldn't guarantee Hillary a Supreme Court seat — another favorite game of the MSM is figuring out how much money those pesky bloggers make. Are they raking in the cash like a lobbyist without a soul, or are they in the poorhouse and typing away on an ancient Brother typewriter? To the fuzzy math! Who better to sic on the money trail than Sl

Bill Clinton sells Obama (and himself)
Former President Bill Clinton campaigns for Sen. Barack Obama at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/John Raoux) by Frank James Bill Clinton is one the best political pitchmen in recent history and proved it once again today as he made his first campaign appearance on behalf of Sen. Barack Obama. Of course, he was also appearing in Orlando, Fla. on behalf of himself and his legacy as he reminded Americans of how much better off the nation was when he

Bill Clinton is hot to trot out good causes
Nothing - and we mean nothing - turns Bill Clinton on nowadays like helping people out. The former President seemed to wink at his frisky past Sunday night while ruminating on the joys of philanthropy with Matthew Bishop of The Economist. "Neuroscientists have monitored the part of the brain where you get the reward for giving, and it's the same place for sex," Bishop noted. Quipped the 62-year-old Clinton: "The older you get, the more the giving scale goes up." He let the line hang in the air while the c

McCain Mortgages His Reputation on a Chance to Bring Obama Down
Less than a month before Election Day, John McCain’s position is increasingly desperate. Barack Obama has built (or rather, regained) a mid- to high-single-digit lead in national polling over the last two weeks and has significantly improved his standing in most swing states. McCain is more likely to lose on November 4 than to win, and given the enormous built-in advantages that his opponent enjoys—the economy, most importantly—there may not be anything he can do to engineer a victory. But he

Dukakis on the Election: Obama Knows How to Win, 'McCain Has Nothing'
When John McCain’s campaign made it clear over the weekend that their stretch-run strategy would lean heavily on raising questions about Barack Obama’s personal history and past “associations,” Obama’s communications director provided a simple, almost indifferent reaction to the Washington Post: “This isn’t 1988.” Michael Dukakis, the Democratic presidential nominee whose campaign was eviscerated that year by tactics ripped from the same playbook from which Mr. McCain now seems intent on bor

Shakira endorses Barack Obama
Shakira endorses Barack ObamaShe can’t vote, but that didn’t stop Colombian pop star Shakira from throwing her support behind Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.“If I could vote, I would vote for Barack Obama because I think that he is the person that can bring the world the true American message,” she said, according to the Associated Press.Then the top-selling singer – who was recently described by Bill Clinton as “a young Colombian woman who loves her country, who doesn't

Esquire Endorses Barack Obama for President
In November 2008, Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive, Halle Berry, recreated a classic Esquire cover from December 2000, featuring Bill Clinton. An inside breakdown of how this image came together. 10/7/2008, 12:00 PM Esquire Endorses Barack Obama for President By The Editors We thought this election would be a serious fight over the future of this country, but only one candidate showed up. 10/7/2008, 11:00 AM

Anti-Piracy Group Gently Reminds You to Use Internet for Good Instead of Evil
Say hello to Arts+Labs, a group billing itself as a sex-ed class for the pitfalls of Internet piracy. The organization includes Viacom Inc., NBC Universal, Microsoft Corp, Cisco Systems, the Songwriters Guild of America, and AT&T — you know, all the poor folks who die a little every time you even think about BitTorrent. The group is chaired by Mike McCurry, a former press secretary for Bill Clinton, and Mark McKinnon, a former media advisor for John McCain. Their sweetly naïve mission: to remind

OBAMA’S STEADINESS
TIME’s Joe Klein, though not a conservative, is someone who (1) respects McCain and (2) like many of us has watched in amazement the transformation McCain has undergone from 8 years ago. Here Klein contrasts Obama’s level headedness in a crisis with McCain’s, well, insanity. “Part of Obama’s steadiness is born of necessity: An angry, or flashy, black man isn’t going to be elected President. But I’ve also gotten the sense, in the times I’ve interviewed and c

Esquire Blogs Itself So You Don't Have To
As if the blog world weren't bleak enough with layoffs and a few well-compensated sites hoarding traffic and precious memes, now mainstream media outlets are chipping away at bloggers' quotas by doing their posts for them. Esquire's Web site has a feature about the making of its current cover, which features Halle Berry posed like Bill Clinton from the magazine's December 2000 issue. First, Esquire juxtaposes the two Platon-shot covers so readers can see how similar they are, which everyone knows is a s

Re-Thinking Your Sarah Palin Halloween Costume [Not Afraid To Be Servicey]
Everyone—even 6'5" dudes—is planning on being Sarah Palin for Halloween this year. We called up a Ricky's costume store, looking to see if they carried Palin costumes or at least had noticed an uptick in glasses-and-brunette-wig sales. "Who?" Sarah Palin. "Sarah... um, oh. No." But had the sales clerk noticed people buying more brown wigs and glasses? "Well, we got Obama masks, John McCain masks, Bill Clinton masks." But don't just throw on a wig and glasses—there are so many angles on dr

Hollywood Radio & Television Society Books Bill Clinton
Annual Network Presidents Luncheon Remains in Question

Celebrity Prep Schools
Which ~elite~, ~exclusive~, and WASPY institutions can famous celebrities, politicians, lovers of Bill Clinton peen, and paternity test aficionados call their alma maters? Jennifer Anistion Rudolph Steiner School, NYC, NY "Friends" actress Anniston attended this exclusive NYC school, a Waldorf method school, before transferring to the "Fame" high school of the performing arts. In Spring 2003, the Steiner school announced they would be giving up their present address in a search for bigger quarters.

VP DEBATE SPECIAL: Bill Clinton Makes the Case For Joe Biden
Clinton says there’s no better VP choice to help repair our relationships around the world than Joe Biden. It’s hard to argue with Bill on that one.

Tina Brown Launches Daily Beast [Tina Brown]
Tina Brown unveiled this morning her new internet venture, the Daily Beast. The Post's Keith Kelly said the website, a revival of the fictional paper in Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, is in the "soft launch phase," meaning apparently that it's devoid of advertisers, and that it "sees itself as a must-read for hipsters in news, politics and pop culture." Ahem. From our quick look — it temporarily went password protected as we were reading — the site seemed more noteworthy for its slavish devotion to inter

Debate Liveblog III: Townhall Without Pity
Karen Tumulty, Michael Grunwald and I will be liveblogging tonight's debate again at the usual address. Learn it, bookmark it, live it. As you know, tonight's debate will be a townhall, a format that allows for back-and-forth with voters, intermingling among candidates and questioners, and freewheeling exchanges. Oh, actually: it will allow for none of those! By agreement of the two campaigns, there are to be no followups. No reaction shots of audience questioners. (This last, presumably, is to avoid

"Larry Platt for Congress." Not
Last fall, I was called to serve. I was recruited to run for congress in Pennsylvania's prized sixth district, the suburbs of Philly. I accepted. I met Bill Clinton. I talked strategy with Steny Hoyer. I hitched myself to a grizzled, street-fighting campaign manager, asked all my friends for money, and came clean on the skeletons in my closet. And then I decided I couldn't go through with it. Here's why by larry platt Not My Freakin' Bag as he approached, he was actually biting his lower lip. Just like

Sarah Palin Goes Nucular
U.S. presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, as well as Presidential Candidate Walter Mondale and Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin, have all used this pronunciation. Ha ha. It’s just the special, presidential way to say “nuclear.” Sarah Palin Wants Nuclear War Share and Enjoy: Posted: 4th, October 2008 | In: Politicians, Race For The White House, Sarah Palin, Twitterings.

Palin-Biden debate sets TV ratings record
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sarah Palin's televised showdown with Joe Biden drew nearly 70 million U.S. viewers, far surpassing last week's John McCain-Barack Obama face-off and ranking as the most watched vice presidential debate ever. Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, and Biden, the Democratic senator from Delaware, also drew the biggest audience of any nationally televised political debate in 16 years, going back to a matchup among then-President George H.W. Bush, Democrat Bill Clinton and in

Palin-Biden debate "most watched vice presidential debate ever"
Los Angeles, Oct 5 (ANI): The much-hyped Sarah Palin-Joe Biden vice-presidential debate on October 2 has been ranked as the "most watched vice presidential debate ever", as it was keenly viewed by around 70 million viewers across the US, which was even more than those who watched the Presidential debate between Democratic Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, and Biden, the Democratic senator from Delaware, also drew the biggest audience of any nationally televis

69.9 Million People Watched Joe Biden And Sarah Palin’s V.P Debate.
The final numbers are in 69,989,000 viewers tuned in to watch the Vice Presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. That makes it the most watched vp debate ever. It is also the most-viewed debate, presidential or vp, since the second round between Bill Clinton, Ross Perot and George Bush in 1992. Some other notable stats: – 33% higher than Friday’s top-of-the-ticket debate between John McCain and Barack Obama (52.4 million). – 61% higher than the 2004 vp debate between Dick

Biden-Palin debate set ratings record
The audience was 34 percent greater than that for the presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama in Oxford, Miss., last week, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Nielsen Media Research said it measured the TV audience at just under 70 million, but Nielsen doesn't measure C-SPAN or PBS audiences. PBS estimated 3.5 million viewers watched the debate on public television, the Times said. It was the largest audience for a vice presidential debate since Nielsen started measuring audiences in 196

The Sarah Palin Show - Highest Rated Debate Since 1992
Thursday’s highly anticipated face-off between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden may be the most-watched debate in 16 years. Last night’s event totaled a 45.0 overnight meter-market household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. That’s 42% higher than Friday’s presidential debate between top-of-the-ticket contenders John McCain and Barack Obama, which scored a collective 31.6 rating among broadcast and cable networks. It’s also a stunning 60%

While You Were Sleeping: Colbert '08 Is On Again
 Bruce Springsteen is playing the Super Bowl, a free show for Obama in Philly on Saturday, and a show with Billy Joel in New York next month.Paris Hilton's new song"My BFF" has been called a "musical abortion."  A teenager was named prom king, coaches ice hockey, gets good grades, and works a steady job. The news here? He has down syndrome. Megan Fox is... a man with a vagina. We're not against that.Megan Fox reckons she will be the perfect wife because she is just like