Conservatives & Republicans

Much of the left would be thrilled if Bernie Sanders became the Democrats’ presidential nominee, but that, suggests The Washington Monthly’s Martin Longman, is what Al Gore might call a risky scheme. A Sanders win in the general election would make him the POTUS of progressive dreams, but a Sanders loss “would be a total epic disaster” and a boon for right-wingers who are “capable of great evil…

As seen in two previous posts at NewsBusters, once the Associated Press's Christopher Rugaber didn't get the job market "nearing full health" he expected and briefly thought he got in Thursday's jobs report, he quickly downgraded it to "painting a mixed picture," and took it further down to "a bleaker picture" about eight hours later. That still left the problem, six years after the recession's…

On Tuesday's Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, the New York Times' Maggie Haberman did her best to downplay Hillary Clinton's weaknesses, particularly in light of her recent interview with CNN's Brianna Keilar. Haberman asserted that the former first lady was "uneven" during the interview, but quickly added that Mrs. Clinton is "somebody who tends to get better over time." The journalist also played up…

Appearing on Wednesday’s NBC Today, Meet the Press host Chuck Todd delighted in Hillary Clinton refusing to admit any wrongdoing in the State Department e-mail scandal: “She showed no remorse, no regret....Very defiant. Reminded me of the old days. She almost – it’s almost as if she's enjoying the House Republicans attacking her.”

On Wednesday's New Day, CNN political analyst Carl Bernstein made excuses for Hillary Clinton's "difficult relationship to the truth," as he implicated "attacks" from the GOP as well as having to defend her husband's womanizing, which have led her to become a "specialist" at "fudging" in a profession where such behavior is "endemic" anyway. At about 7:08 a.m., co-host Alisyn Camerota brought up a…

On Tuesday night, ABC and NBC reported on the Professional Golf Association’s (PGA) decision to cut ties with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump over his stance on illegal immigration and, predictably, the two networks deployed soundbites from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s CNN interview to bash Trump and the GOP as a whole. In addition, prompted by a Washington Post article,…

Since Democrats belong to the party of government, it stands to reason that their presidential candidates actually want to be president -- including Bernie Sanders, who’s a Democrat only for the sake of convenience. Republican candidates? Not necessarily. Some of them, according to writer Sean Illing, are “half-baked celebrities allowed to hijack the process to promote their private careers.”…

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s first national TV interview aired during Tuesday’s edition of The Situation Room on CNN, and while Brianna Keilar pressed Clinton on her e-mail scandal and tumbling poll numbers, the interview measured up to little more than a stroll in the park. Along with gooey questions about which woman she thinks should go on the $10 bill and who plays a…

Fox News Channel's Elisabeth Hasselbeck interviewed Pastor Rit Varriale on Tuesday's Fox and Friends over his church's decision to fly a Christian flag over the American flag. Hasselbeck noted how "the move is sparking an outrage on social media," and wondered it was "a fight for faith, or a slam to Old Glory."

Boldly combining the investigative techniques of David McCullough and Maury Povich, New York magazine’s  Chait has done a little historical paternity testing and determined that Andrew Jackson “is, clearly, the father of the modern Republican Party.” Chait argued that Jackson’s status as “the progenitor of the Democratic Party” is based on “a myth.” On the other hand, Jackson “believed the…

Monday’s network evening newscasts offered continuing coverage on the July 1 murder of a San Francisco woman allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant, but it was NBC Nightly News that shamelessly used the occasion to blast "the new Todd Akin" in Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for having “seized upon” the story to promote his stance on illegal immigration as the GOP is “…

On Monday's New Day, CNN again reminded its viewers that the news network's idea of a politically balanced group of voters is to have Democrats who articulate liberal viewpoints paired with Republicans who themselves sound liberal with few conservative views expressed by anyone. After being bumped from the June 26 show in favor of breaking news, the third planned segment featuring a group of six…

The two most recent Republican presidential nominees weren’t particular favorites of the party’s core voters. This time, suggests Jamelle Bouie, if the GOP wants a candidate who excites its base, the choice is clear: Donald Trump, who boasts the “belligerence” and “bigotry” that “ugly and angry” right-wingers love. Since Trump’s never held political office, observed Bouie in a Wednesday piece,…

Richard Nixon’s campaign did what it could to make sure the Democratic party didn’t nominate its strongest presidential candidate in 1972, thereby facilitating Nixon’s re-election. President Obama won’t be on the ballot in 2016, but New York magazine's Jonathan Chait speculates that Obama is trying to smooth Hillary Clinton’s path to the Oval Office by nudging Republicans into nominating Scott…