Back when I did Candidate Confessional, we interviewed @stuartpstevens about Romney-Obama ’12. One thing that stuck with me is how confident he said the campaign felt that they would win. One of the reasons they were confident? Because Obama was flailing. (cont…)
@stuartpstevens Stu chuckled at one attack line in particular: a riff Obama did in mid Oct. about Romney suffering from “Romneysia.” It was cheap and silly. And for the Romney campaign it was a sign that Obama was still scrambling for a message.
Last week, a coalition of leading progressive groups that make up the relatively secretive Fight Back Table discussed, for the first time, how to organize and prepare for post-Election Day chaos.
The meeting was two hours. And touched on operational questions: setting up a communications infrastructure, how to fight against disinfo, how to get quick transportation in place if a pol location mysteriously closes, etc...
There is wide consensus that this could be the biggest mass civil unrest moment in decades. One source described the plan as: “Occupy shit, hold space, and shut things down, not just on Election Day but for weeks."
I don’t think people appreciate just how bad Donald Trump was during the Ebola outbreak of 2014. Here’s a short list of the things he said, which were amplified (rather inexplicably) by the media. (Seriously, what was the reason for that?)
He infamously insisted that the U.S. could not allow those infected back into the country, saying that had to “suffer the consequences” -- including doctors who’d gone to treat patients.
He said that the CDC was not being honest with how contagious the disease actually was
Some personal news. I am a father again. Harry Leinwand Stein was born four weeks ago. I've held off on saying anything because he's been in the NICU since his birth. He came pretty early.
The NICU can be a trying place. But my wife and I are fortunate. Harry is doing great and his big brother is loving him being home
Most important we had exceptional care. The staff at @MedStarGUH are truly amazing people. But especially the nurses. They lifted our spirits when they were low. They helped us through emotionally difficult times.
At the risk of incurring just a horrifying backlash, i have a few thoughts on Mayor Pete's "McKinley problem" that I've hesitated on sharing because of fear of the Twitter mob---but, you know what, F the mob.
The "problem"--if we must call it that-- is both real and, obviously, overstated.
It's real in that we absolutely should know this part of his bio. He's running for president. This is fair game. And I trust his aides know they need to push to disclose this stuff.
It's also real in that he almost certainly worked on some project that involved "creating efficiencies" -- i.e. laying people off-- on behalf of a corporation. This is what consultancies do. And that's a problem, politically and culturally.
I'll probably regret tweeting all this because i don't actually know the motivations, reasoning and process behind the booking. Still, Lewandowski's appearance on CNN this morning left me feeling intense despair. (1/?) thedailybeast.com/cnn-brings-on-…
It wasn't even 24 hrs ago that he admitted he lies to the media and, even worse, feels no obligation to tell us the truth. We are in truth business. To book an admitted liar runs contrary to that mission. And the impact of doing so, i fear, is more profound than appreciated (2/?)
There is an inclination to believe that the media industry suffers from a lack of trust because we are perceived as "unfair" and that the way to build that trust is to show "fairness." That, in turns, compels the booking of people like Lewandowski. We need to show ALL sides.
Indulge me in a thread about a man named Rufus Rochell who you almost certainly do not know and have never heard of before. (1/???) thedailybeast.com/rufus-rochell-…
That's because 31 years ago, Rufus was convicted of selling crack. He was 36 at the time and given a 40 year sentence with no chance of parole. He is currently in the federal prison facility in Coleman, Florida. (2)
I met Rufus over email. I was looking to profile a prisoner who didn't get a commutation under Obama and was now petitioning Trump, who was, at least then, presenting himself as a throwback on crime. (3) thedailybeast.com/rufus-rochell-…