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Obama as a weapon of ‘mass attraction’ | An international election, not just an American one COMMENTARY The overseas press: In Paris, the American nightspots were filled--with French people. In Indonesia, there were 15-minute silences in schools all week so children could pray for Obama. In Great Britain, The Guardian writes that Joe the plumber stood for what used to be a "silent majority" of white working-class Americans but is now a (not so) silent minority. And José the plumber, the newspaper notes, voted for Obama. 
The overseas press | Internationally, it's all Obama COMMENTARY The overseas press: Obama’s half hour on TV Wednesday seems to have sealed the deal. A Turkish writer puts it this way: “People want to see a new America.”
Election 2008 | Last call for questions on Iraq ASK THIS Time is running out for reporters to get McCain to spell out his plans for victory -- and to explain the moral justification for the war in the first place.
The overseas press | The international media take shots at Sarah Palin COMMENTARY She is called a disaster, an albatross, a hypocrite. The Guardian predicts that after this election, we will have seen the last of her as a national candidate.
Election 2008 | Ten questions to ask Joe Biden ASK THIS David Cay Johnston writes that reporters haven’t sufficiently explored Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden’s relationship with banks, despite his going into ever more debt as he ages, his reliance on the banking industry for contributions, and his actions on their behalf in the 2005 bankruptcy law and other legislation.
Election 2008 | Ten questions to ask Sarah Palin ASK THIS Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal finances, and those of the city and state that she has run, have received little scrutiny from reporters, writes David Cay Johnston. Obvious issues have not been examined, including two items on her 2006 and 2007 tax returns that suggest the Palins cheated on their federal income taxes.
Iraqi endgame | Watch out for the 'victory myth' ASK THIS The reduction in violence in Iraq is allowing a significant segment of our society to believe what we all desperately want to be true: That the war began badly, but is ending as an honorable, glorious success. Author Christopher Fettweis proposes some reality-checking questions for political candidates.
| OK, what are we expecting for black turnout? ASK THIS Reporters and editors shouldn’t be waiting for Election Day to report Republican efforts to suppress the black vote or the Democrats’ drive for a high turnout. They should also ask the pollsters a question or two.
Hiding the news | The silent treatment regarding Vietnam POWs COMMENTARY Sydney Schanberg has been trying for many years to get the press to look into the fate of American POWs who weren’t accounted for at the end of the Vietnam war. He says John McCain has played a central role in suppression of government files—but even that’s not enough to get reporters or editors interested.
| Anybody read the L.A. Times? Rolling Stone? COMMENTARY Leading news organizations, the TV networks and cable news political operations are disregarding well-documented news stories that by themselves, if true, could cost John McCain the election. The media are hiding the news, not reporting it.
The Overseas Press | First Obama-McCain debate seen as 'forgettable' COMMENTARY| September 28, 2008 The overseas press: There's positive and negative commentary about both candidates. The Telegraph said, 'McCain throws punches, Obama talks of a better world.' For some, body language was an issue.
Letter to a county official | A blogger in Texas has questions about voting ASK THIS Linda Wallace wrote a letter to a Harris County official out of concern `that large numbers of citizens will go to the polls on Nov. 4th and discover they can’t vote.’
The overseas press | International media are critical of McCain COMMENTARY The overseas press: A sampling of opinion in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Canada shows harsh views of McCain’s response to the financial crisis. Some say that, as a result, he has handed the election to Obama.
Election 2008 | Questions for McCain and Obama on the economic carnage ASK THIS The candidates talk about protecting the middle class; how would they follow up? Would they, for example, continue to let multinational corporations shift their profits to tax havens abroad? Keep taxing income from labor at a higher rate than income from capital? Eliminate corporate subsidies?
Election 2008 | Questions for Obama and McCain on health care ASK THIS Reporters should get down to basics with the candidates: Ask what they would do to hold down costs in the existing system and how they would promote illness prevention programs.
Election 2008 | Ask McCain and Obama about missile defense ASK THIS Pentagon plans for establishing missile defenses in Europe have caused a serious strain in U.S./Russian relations not seen since the Cold War. Dealing with this controversial project will be the most pressing item on the missile defense agenda for the next U.S. president. And that’s only one problem with the ineffective, costly Star Wars shield.
Looking ahead | Questions for McCain and Obama on Russia and NATO ASK THIS The plot of the Georgia-Russia-U.S. situation, in which all participants have been overreaching, could have been lifted from the 1959 movie, 'The Mouse that Roared.' Except the movie, a Cold War satire, was funny and the real-world situation is a very serious mess.
'Daredevil clowning' | Ask about McCain’s Navy career, aside from the POW part of it ASK THIS McCain has made his military experience a key reason to vote for him. Reporters should examine his military records, including reports on air mishaps he was involved in before he was shot down over Hanoi. And McCain should see to it that all reports are made public.
The candidates, privatization and the '45% trigger' | Is Medicare important to Obama? To McCain? ASK THIS How high a priority is Medicare for Obama and McCain? Both have positions on it but reporters should try to draw out their true understanding of the issues, or lack of it. Under Bush, Medicare is being privatized and is en route to extinction. Is one candidate more likely than the other to reverse that?
Election 2008 | How unscrupulous campaign strategists are taking advantage of a quirk in our brains – and what reporters can do to stop helping them COMMENTARY| August 25, 2008 Because of the way humans process information, political journalists who think they are dispelling false beliefs may actually be spreading them. Two brain experts offer ground rules for reporters who want to avoid becoming accessories to disinformation campaigns. Rule one: Stop repeating things that aren't true.
The $53 trillion questions | Time to face up to our mountain of debt ASK THIS The former head of the GAO says the presidential candidates need to be pressed not just about their incremental budget proposals – but about their long-term plans to deal with an anticipated $53 trillion in current liabilities and unfunded promises.
'Enlarging the political space' | What about Gore’s challenge to drop oil altogether? COMMENTARY Joseph A. Davis lists nine points reporters often overlook when dealing with climate and energy. As he does, the question changes—it’s no longer whether becoming 100 percent carbon free in 10 years is possible. It’s whether the current system can last another 10 years.
The 2008 campaign | Ask McCain and Obama if they'll work to create a world free of nuclear weapons ASK THIS Longtime establishment leaders Shultz, Kissinger, Nunn and Perry have issued a call for the world to be rid of nuclear weapons. Obama says that is his goal; McCain hasn't staked out a position. The press, which has long avoided this subject, needs to ask Obama to spell out his plans, and it needs to get McCain on the record.
Election 2008 | Bush broke the government. So who's going to fix it? ASK THIS You don't have to be a Washington policy wonk to notice that our government has ceased to function on many levels. A veteran budget expert writes that the political candidates who will inherit Bush's mess need to be asked what they're going to do restore the government to working order.
A backup in Louisiana | Voter registration problems are already starting ASK THIS How big is the registration drive among blacks? Among young people? When applications aren’t filled out properly, do officials tell people -- or do they just put those applications aside, setting up major Election Day problems? These are stories everywhere; news organizations can be working on them now.
Entrenchment, Part V | How far will Bush loyalists go to help McCain win? ASK THIS For administration officials trying to avoid a rollback, the best way, of course, would be to get a Republican elected president. Are they already aiming grants, announcements and visits at swing states? Last in a five-part series on questions for the twilight of the Bush era.
2008 Elections | Change the economy? Change? How about some specifics? ASK THIS It's time reporters got Obama and McCain to go beyond calls for 'change' and spell out their positions on deregulation, deficits, the plight of the middle class, taxes and energy.
Significant deficiencies | Iowa Democrats need to modify their caucus system COMMENTARY| June 07, 2008 The press has been a passive bystander despite serious, undemocratic flaws. This year was no exception. Says Gil Cranberg: "The press should quit being cheerleaders for the seemingly grassroots character of Iowa’s caucuses and report forthrightly about their significant deficiencies."
Life or death issues | Reporters: Get the candidates to focus on federal safety groups ASK THIS Serious regulators are needed, not lobbyists or industry executives like those Bush appointed. Morton Mintz cites coal mine safety as a case in point.
A Sentencing Project report | The candidates on the legal justice system COMMENTARY Where McCain, Clinton, Obama stand on the death penalty, crack cocaine sentencing, minimum sentencing and other issues.
A historic turning point? | What will the next president do about global warming? ASK THIS McCain, Clinton, Obama all back a cap-and-trade program, something Bush rejected early on. Reporters should now ask the candidates how they would follow through on their campaign pledges.
Questions for House and Senate leaders | Are new Air Force ads a political statement? ASK THIS The Air Force, seeking to more than double its advertising budget, has new ads that focus on threats to America. In this election year, aren’t such ads a way of offering political support to Republicans over Democrats?
A look back | Gore would have invaded Iraq, don’t you think? COMMENTARY That's what Ralph Nader said on Meet the Press in 2004. Comparing him to Bush, Nader said a Gore administration 'wouldn't have been any different in terms of military and foreign policy.'
Moment of truth | The next president should open up the Bush Administration's record ASK THIS By now no one expects the Bush Administration to make itself accountable for its controversial and possibly illegal practices. But the next President will have a unique opportunity to reveal what has been kept hidden for the last seven years. Secrecy watchdog Steven Aftergood suggests a few questions for the presidential candidates about their willingness to disclose just what the current Administration has done.
Any lessons for November? | Huckabee and the Religious Right ASK THIS Why has Mike Huckabee been unable to sustain his momentum from Iowa, and what broader lessons about the Religious Right in American politics today might be gleaned from his campaign?
Election 2008 | Eight questions reporters should ask Romney ASK THIS Todd Gitlin continues his series of questions the press should ask political candidates. His unasked questions for Republican Mitt Romney cover motherhood, abstinence and the Bush Doctrine.
Start with global warming | How about a candidate debate on science? ASK THIS Leaders in various fields, not just the sciences, back such a debate. They envision holding it in April, and having both Republican and Democratic candidates--whoever is left at that point--share the stage.
Election 2008 | Eight questions reporters should ask Obama ASK THIS| January 23, 2008 Todd Gitlin wants more details from Barack Obama about withdrawing from Iraq, preventive war, the role of government, and more.
Is a major clash coming? | A campaign threat to the nuclear power industry ASK THIS If a Democrat wins the presidency—and if campaign promises count—it may be time to write the obituary for Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site. What happens then to the renewed call for nuclear power in the U.S.?
Election 2008 | Eight questions reporters should ask Huckabee ASK THIS Todd Gitlin is struck by the significant questions that go unasked -- or at least not asked very often or insistently -- of the major presidential candidates. Sample question: What do you mean by 'God's Absolutes'? First in a series.
Election 2008 | Will the next president talk to Iran? ASK THIS The head of the National Iranian American Council suggests questions presidential candidates should be asked about relations with Iran.
‘Don’t obsess over sampling error’ | Phil Meyer on what to look for in covering pre-election polls COMMENTARY The renowned journalist-pollster offers a 5-point checklist. He sees primaries as more difficult to poll than general elections and has no problem with focusing on the horse race.
Election 2008 | Looking for a display -- rather than just talk -- of leadership ASK THIS With the three major Democratic presidential candidates so intent on establishing themselves as the most capable of bringing about change, reporters should be looking for them to make their case not with promises, but with action.
Wrong questions | How not to conduct a presidential poll COMMENTARY From its bumper-sticker mentality to its gaping margin of sampling error for subgroups, the Des Moines Register's new poll of likely Democratic caucus-goers provides a great example of what not to do in an election year.
Decades of fiscal illusion | Washington-centric candidates and reporters: What’s missing here? ASK THIS Presidential candidates and the reporters covering them are out on the hustings all the time, but they often act as though government begins and ends in Washington.
Debate questions | Rating Bush, on a scale of 1 to 10 ASK THIS| December 13, 2007 The Republican presidential candidates avoid talking about their party's standard-bearer, for obvious reasons. But Dan Froomkin argues that journalists should press them to say what they think of Bush's legacy, which elements of his presidency they would emulate, and which they would reject.
Re-examining the Constitution | Questions Sabato would put to the candidates ASK THIS In a new book, Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia puts aside issues of the day to take a more long-range look at the structure of government in the U.S.
The Iowa caucuses | In the Iowa straw poll, candidates got exactly what they paid for COMMENTARY Romney got 32% of the votes -- but he kicked in 32% of the funding. That's fun and games and democracy at work. (One in a series on the Iowa caucuses.)
Second in a series | Craziness in Ames is part of the Iowa caucuses COMMENTARY In one event—the GOP straw poll in Ames, coming up in August—voters have to pay $35 to take part. But not to worry, the candidates often foot the bill. And for sure, the press will cover it.
Connecting the dots | Linking campaign financing to what's wrong with the health care system COMMENTARY Shifting to public funding of campaigns could be a big first step toward health care coverage for everyone.
The environment and the 2008 elections | Coal to liquids—silver bullet or coal-state pork? ASK THIS Making liquid fuel out of coal is a costly process both in dollars and energy expended, and it’s no environmental bargain, either. So why do Barack Obama and others favor it? (The first in an occasional series on environmental issues in the 2008 elections.)
Making votes count | HR 811 would require a paper trail ASK THIS Some in Congress, like Rush Holt, are calling for stringent vote security measures for states that use electronic voting machines, to be in place by 2008. It has a majority of House members as co-sponsors, and Dianne Feinstein says she will introduce a similar bill in the Senate. Reporters might find out what House and Senate members in their area have to say about a bill like this.
The overseas press | McCain is having image problems internationally COMMENTARY Der Spiegel sees GOP candidates as a ‘pathetic assemblage’ of 10 old white men who exhaust themselves with slogans and platitudes. Spiegel and other news organizations, all more familiar with McCain than the other candidates, wonder what became of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’
The overseas press | Hillary and Barack, as seen from Britain COMMENTARY Some writers are amazed that the 2008 election campaign has already started, and some are almost totally focusing on Senators Clinton and Obama. Sound familiar?
Shifting concerns cited | Can the GOP count on evangelicals in 2008? ASK THIS For the past two decades, the Republican Party has been able to count on loyalty from evangelical Protestants, including in the 2004 reelection of President Bush. But election results in 2006 suggest that Democrats may be making inroads among evangelicals.
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