Daniel Strauss

So what was with that whole green background during McCain‘s speech last night? Josh Marshall‘s readers at TPM found that the background was the lawn of one Walter Reed Middle School in Los Angeles’ North Hollywood neighborhood which further raises the question ‘Was it supposed to be Walter Reed Hospital?’ The middle school’s name may […]

It’s getting hard for a political journalist to keep track of all the scandals surrounding Sarah Palin — and she’s only been John McCain‘s VP pick for six days! Here’s a list, though I can’t promise it’ll still be accurate by the time you read it: Palin, who based her political career on ethics and […]

Which potential GOP VP would be a good counter to Biden? Politico has an interesting article assessing each of McCain‘s vice presidential prospects. The article recognizes the strengths and weaknesses (mainly weaknesses) of Mitt Romney ( too rich — together Romney and McCain are worth $35 million), Joe Lieberman (too Democratic and he’s worked closely […]

At The Corner, Andy McCarthy not so subtly implies that the Russia-Georgia conflict is Obama‘s fault: I suppose if we are thinking about turning our country over to the second Carter term — or the first McGovern — it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see Russia go into its Afghanistan mode … or Czechoslovakia … or […]

Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner have named a group dominated by ex-representatives (including Abner “nobody that nobody sent” Mikva) to run the new Office of Congressional Ethics including Republican former CIA Director Porter Goss who will co-chair the office with democratic ex-Rep. David Skaggs. Recall that Goss was one of the main backers of the […]

Jane Mayer discussed her new book The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, with Steven Clemons today at The New America Foundation. The discussion touched on a number of topics in Mayer’s book but the most engaging and disturbing part of the discussion […]

I attended a panel today on political speeches at The New America Foundation moderated by Steve Coll with Michael A. Cohen, James Pinkerton, and Jeremy Rosner. Rosner had probably the best point of the day. He said that the problem with McCain‘s speeches is that he hasn’t figured out a political strategy yet: “I think […]

You’d think both John McCain and Barack Obama would support competition for government contracts, alongside every other reasonable person. A healthy competition means the end product is the best possible, right? Consider the the Northrop Grumman vs. Boeing competition to build a fleet of refueling tankers for the Air Force. Originally the Air Force awarded […]