Romney Ad

I ran into this Romney Ad released last week following the Democratic debate.

Romney attacks Clinton while emphasizing his own executive experience. I think the ad is effective. Romney is a strong public speaker with a better presidential image than Giuliani. It is also interesting to note that he has shifted his campaigning to Clinton attacks.

Just food for thought: Pomona held a discussion of the 2008 presidential election featuring a few of the Politics Faculty and the new Con-Law Professor, Justin Crowe, made an interesting argument that the real "winner" of the campaign is Bush's approach to presidential powers. In particular, he argued that while Democrats have attacked Bush's use of policy, They have not questioned his authority to implement those policies, especially with respect to national security. More specifically, Crowe mentioned the lack of transparency in the Bush administration and the unlikelihood that any of the candidates would operate differently.

I think the argument has some gaps (torture being the main one) but it is interesting to consider that the main Democratic candidates are not campaigning against presidential authority. In fact, I think it says a lot that the exception to this is Ron Paul as the loudest voice for less Presidential voice.

The West Wing

For more on the points that Matt raised (and for the writing assignment), see a story on a recent statement by Senator Clinton and an analysis of her comments.

Look here for a list of White House offices.

All presidents worry about staff leaks. LBJ did. Even the Bartlet White House did.

Fred Thompson the Actor/Politician

A recent article in the New York Times described a theme that Professor Pitney has addressed a number of times in class: the intertwining of Fred Thompson's political and dramatic careers. Fred Thompson's characters on screen are not that far from his persona in real life. Take a look at the slide show as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/arts/television/04kant.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The Race Thus Far

An article in today's NY Times summarizes the key issues of the upcoming election very well. It first touches on what the author deems "The Bush Effect," questioning whether Republican candidates are hurting themselves by not simply avoiding comparisons between themselves and President Bush but rather refraining from speaking of him at all. It points out that despite Bush's 30 percent approval rating, two-thirds of Republicans support him and asks whether a Republican candidate should be alienating these voters. The article also talks about campaign contributions, Iran, comedy as an asset, Congress, taxes, and the Internet. Check it out here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/us/politics/04vote-web.html?ex=1351918800&en=7c37f906ef99e54a&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Nixon

• On Rummy
• The Smoking Gun Tape
• Farewell to the Staff

Obama won't accept VP

Barack Obama has announced that he will not accept nomination for the Vice Presidency:

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Obama_would_snub_VP_offer_from_1029.html

This is probably not much of a surprise, because candidates rarely announce any intentions for the Vice Presidency for fear of undermining their Presidential campaign. In many ways, Obama would be a poor choice for VP for any candidate, because he would overshadow the President, given the enormous hype surrounding him.