U.S. Presidential Election

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TV's conservative bias

The Palin question asked and answered; plus, rescuing Lawrence
If Sarah Palin were to smoke a joint while piloting a flying saucer to Cuba, evidence suggests that more than one third of America would approve.
By EDITORIAL | February 10, 2010

New and improved Romney

He's more fiscal, less social. And he's got millions. But will GOP voters give a Mitt?
Scott Brown's unexpected victory in last month's special US Senate election captured the attention of the country — and particularly of core Republican voters, who huddled eagerly before their TV screens to watch their hero du jour give his acceptance speech. But even in the midst of his moment in the sun, Brown made sure to thank the other handsome, well-coifed man on the stage, Mitt Romney.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 12, 2010

Romney's new character: Macho man

In his new book, Mitt makes himself over as a muscular defender of America
Few things are more predictable than a GOP presidential candidate posturing as a he-man protector of America, and depicting his Democratic counterpart as an effete, appeasing girlie-man on the dangerous world stage.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 10, 2010

Massachusetts: You might be living in a red state if

31 signs that Scott Brown’s victory is changing the face of the commonwealth for the worse
Scott Brown’s Senatorial victory is merely the latest sign that red tides are creeping upon our once-progressive Commonwealth. Don’t believe us? Consider that Kenny Chesney sells out Gillette Stadium every summer, and, of course, that wealthy Republican presidential hopeful with the fantastic hair was recently our Governor.
By CHRIS FARAONE | January 25, 2010

The end of the affair?

Mitt Romney's right-wing-media problem. Plus, Michael Bloomberg's blind spot.
During Mitt Romney's failed bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, he demonstrated a potent knack for wooing the conservative commentariat.
By ADAM REILLY | August 27, 2009

Yoon or Flaherty

Who will win the chance to challenge Menino?
Boston voters will go to the polls in less than seven weeks to choose two candidates, out of the four now running, to face off against each other in November's mayoral election.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | August 20, 2009

Interview: John Legend

A different kind of R&B star
Despite being one of the most successful R&B singers of the decade — with six Grammys and three top-selling albums — John Legend is something of an oddball.
By BEN WESTHOFF | August 05, 2009

From Jester to Esther

Sarah Palin sees self as a religious legend, not a political football
During the presidential campaign last fall, the Phoenix took note of a curious undercurrent in the annals of Sarah Palin fandom: the notion of Palin as a modern-day Queen Esther.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | July 15, 2009

Eyes on the prize

Hold on, Linc Chafee! Dems Frank Caprio, Patrick Lynch, and Elizabeth Roberts would also like to be governor in 2010
We interrupt the Lincoln Chafee buzz fest to bring you this little nugget of news: there are a few Democrats who'd like to be governor, too.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | April 22, 2009

18. Joe the Plumber

PLUNGEBOB DUMBPANTS
An overnight sensation in unsexiness, this shiny skulled, pea-brained blue-collar worker has reverse-Midas powers: everything this faker touches — from the McCain campaign to Pajamas Media — turns into a substance that folks in his profession unhappily know all too much about. Of course, as was pointed out numerous times during the campaign but which still amuses, his name is not really Joe (he’s Samuel Wurzelbacher) and he is not registered to operate as a plumber in his home state of Ohio, which means that, er, he isn’t actually a plumber.
By Boston Phoenix Staff | March 25, 2009

14. Levi Johnston

IMPALINATOR
If John McCain had won the White House, then this hockey-playing Johnny-came-unwisely would have been poised for the life of Riley: from a penalty box in Wasilla to a luxury box in Washington. All that for impregnating Bristol, the Alaskan governor’s unwed daughter. But whereas as late as last summer he was vaunted as a knight in shining honor by various GOP pundits for choosing life and doing the right thing by standing by Miss Palin, he has since authored his own “bailout” and left her a single mom.
By Boston Phoenix Staff | March 25, 2009

Cracking up

State legislators across the country are filing resolutions declaring state sovereignty just as they did the last time a Democrat won the White House
Republicans all over the country find themselves backed into an ideological and political corner: their dogma has brought the country, and their party, to ruin.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | March 19, 2009

Sox to win 98 in '09?

Statistically Speaking
Stat savant Nate Silver, widely lauded for foretelling the 2008 election in detail, was a baseball geek first.
By MIKE MILIARD | February 27, 2009

Toxic talk: Hating Obama

Repugnant anti-Obama hate speech has dissipated for the moment. How likely is it to raise its ugly head again?
During and just after the 2008 presidential campaign, the antipathy of right-wing pundits toward Barack Obama reached remarkable, often repugnant depths.
By ADAM REILLY | January 19, 2009

Capital cash

Weiners donate $100K for Obama's inauguration
A well-connected Rhode Island couple has donated $100,000 for the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
By STEVEN STYCOS | January 07, 2009

Looking Back

America didn’t become colorblind in 2008
Since Barack Obama’s election, there have been many congratulatory essays — verbal and written — about the greatness of Americans being able to elect a person of color to our highest office.
By MARY ANN SORRENTINO | December 29, 2008

Fourth-estate follies!

Remembering the year in media malfeasance
Granted, other years have had flashier media embarrassments (Jayson Blair, Stephen Glass), but that doesn't mean that 2008 lacked for media misdeeds.
By ADAM REILLY | December 24, 2008

Proponents make the case for National Popular Vote

Talking Politics
During a fundraiser for FairVote Rhode Island at the Hi-Hat on Monday, supporters of the concept known as National Popular Vote several times used the acronym NPV with a wink and a smile, eliciting the question from a colleague, "What's NPV?," and then offering the all-too obvious answer.
By IAN DONNIS | December 18, 2008

He’s not like us

Diverse city
While I’m still celebrating the election results — and don’t plan to stop until just before Thanksgiving — there is one sobering thing.
By SHAY STEWART-BOULEY | November 12, 2008

Girl power at Halitosis Hall

Paiva Weed to reach lofty height in old boys' club
Phillipe + Jorge have always been strong supporters of state Senator Teresa Paiva Weed, the presumptive (God, do we hate that word) new Senate president.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | November 12, 2008

Two many Americas

Could an Obama administration mean an end to the red-state/blue-state divide?
It's worth reminding ourselves that when the Republicans are out of power, they go apeshit.
By MIKE MILIARD | November 14, 2008

California’s shame

Equal marriage rights suffers a setback, but there is hope. Plus, young voters.
The politics of division as practiced by lame-duck president George W. Bush at the connivance of his onetime Svengali Karl Rove are not dead.
By EDITORIAL | November 24, 2008

Divide and be conquered

The GOP relied on talk radio to carry its water, but votes are worth more than ratings
Things do indeed look bad for their Grand Old Party. Actually, it's even worse than they think.
By BY STEVEN STARK | November 14, 2008

Say it ain't so, Joe

Breaking: Biden resigns the vice-presidency amid Wentzgate scandal
Breaking: Biden resigns the vice-presidency amid Wentzgate scandal
By DAVID THORPE | November 14, 2008

Mod on the move

Obama supporter Lincoln Chafee talks about the post-election landscape
The Brown University class being taught this semester by Lincoln Chafee, the Republican US senator-turned-independent supporter of Barack Obama, has an up-to-the-moment title: “Whither America.”
By IAN DONNIS | November 05, 2008

Obama ’08: Dawn of a new era

Few socks tossed at TV during liberal klatch in Edgewood
Since 1984, every year in which there is a presidential election, the Murphy/Deans of Edgewood in Cranston, have held a small get-together for friends and family.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | November 05, 2008

Obama redraws the map

But the electoral shifts may not last
Barack Obama has made history. The next question is whether his victory has sparked a lasting electoral realignment.
By STEVEN STARK | November 07, 2008

Hope restored

Barack Obama's election has sparked international wonder. His task, however, is great.
Barack Obama's election has sparked international wonder. His task, however, is great.
By EDITORIAL | November 06, 2008

McCain in the membrane

The Maverick-iest candidate has hip-hop support from R.A. the Rugged Man
Four tracks into his Monday Monster Jam performance, Brooklyn rap czar Jay-Z stops the music and points to a freeze-frame image of George W. Bush on the titanic screen above the TD Banknorth Garden stage.
By CHRIS FARAONE | November 03, 2008

The alt-candidates

On the Rhode Island ballot: a revolutionary, conservatives — and Ralph Nader, of course
A revolutionary, Ralph Nader, a Baptist minister, and two former congressmen from Georgia are all running for president in Rhode Island.
By STEVEN STYCOS | October 29, 2008

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