Legal Commentary

Timing...Is Everything

Posted on September 03, 2008
Following up here on what I posted last night, Dan Balz has a fascinating piece in today?s Washington Post with more details about how Sarah Palin skyrocketed to the top of McCain?s short list over Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and...

Surprise, Surprise

Posted on September 02, 2008
I think it's a good idea, as we call it, to float names--in other words, put the name out publicly, leak it some way maybe, so it is known around the country that 'Joe Blow' is being considered. Because sometimes...

Waiting Word

Posted on August 28, 2008
Having decided on his running mate, John McCain will soon begin making calls to the people who were on his short list for vice president to inform them of his choice. McCain will introduce his running mate to the nation...

A Brawl in St. Paul

Posted on August 28, 2008
With John McCain weighing a running mate who supports abortion rights, a revolt is brewing among his conservative base that includes a walkout at the Republican National Convention next week and a huge battle on the floor---especially if he selects...

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The Quadrennial Quest

Posted on August 15, 2008
With less than two weeks to go before the conventions, there?s still no obvious runaway frontrunner for VP on either side---although that?s about to change. We expect Barack Obama to make his announcement next week, just before the Democratic convention,...

McCain: I prayed "to keep going"

Posted on August 15, 2008
The Chicago Tribune's Jill Zuckman has a fascinating and revealing article today looking at John McCain's faith and how he relied on it to survive in Vietnam--and suffered for it greatly at the hands of his captors. McCain and fellow...

McCain: Not Ruling Out Pro-choice VP

Posted on August 13, 2008
As John McCain weighs his choices for vice president, he gave a fascinating interview today in which he said he would not rule out the possibility of choosing an openly pro-choice running mate?something no Republican President has ever done. In...

McCain: "Put my country first"

Posted on August 11, 2008
With his campaign plane parked on the tarmac at Erie's "Tom Ridge International Airport," Sen. John McCain just finished up an appearance at a GE transportation plant here with the with the former at his side. He heaped praise on...

Kaine: Lieberman for President

Posted on August 01, 2008
It was just last week that the McCain VP hysteria was at a fever pitch, after a couple news outlets breathlessly speculated that his running mate selection was imminent. This week, it was an uncharacteristic media blitz around Tim Kaine,...

McCain's "Celebrity" Strategy

Posted on July 31, 2008
McCain's tough new "celebrity" ad campaign, designed to portray Obama as an empty suit who -- like Paris Hilton -- is devoid of substance, is the first part of a broader strategy that ultimately could have ramifications for McCain's VP...

Obama's Mixed Reviews from Chicago

Posted on July 30, 2008
Today's NYT has a fascinating article about Obama's 12 years teaching at the University of Chicago Law School, which happens to be my alma mater. It quotes a number of professors (liberal and conservative), as well as former students. They...

McCain's VP: An Early Pick?

Posted on July 22, 2008
I said the other day that covering the run-up to the VP announcement reminded me of the good ol? days of summer 2005, when we all were trying to figure out who President Bush would pick for the Supreme Court....

Party Mixers

Posted on July 17, 2008
Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel may be joining Barack Obama on his fact-finding trip to the Mideast next week, but a bipartisan "Obama-Hagel" campaign is likely a "dream ticket" only in a Chuck Hagel nocturne. "Take a look at the...

McClellan: Condi a war criminal?

Posted on July 09, 2008
My colleague Jake Tapper has just posted a rather astonishing excerpt of an interview with former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, in which the former Bush loyalist-turned-critic says top administration officials may be guilty of war crimes for approving...

Kaine Spins Webb

Posted on July 08, 2008
As our colleague Matt Jaffe reported on RADAR yesterday, in a statement, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine spun the Jim Webb announcement by the junior Democratic senator that he won?t be a vice presidential contender as "good news for Virginia that...

The Politics of Abortion

Posted on July 06, 2008
I was going to write today about the story that has captivated my neck of the world for the past three days ? one that's had us all talking about how this could have happened, what does it all mean,...

Obama revisits abortion

Posted on July 05, 2008
We've gotten a response from Sen. Obama on his comments this week that he would support a ban on abortions after 22 weeks--even if a woman sought the procedure because she was in "mental distress." Obama told a Christian magazine,...

Obama: Sounding Like Thomas and Scalia?

Posted on July 04, 2008
The Supreme Court fired a shot last week that ricocheted into the political campaign when it struck down a Washington DC law that banned people from owning handguns. For the first time in history, the justices said the Constitution's 2nd...

KSM in the "hood"

Posted on July 03, 2008
No less than White House spokeswoman Dana Perino gave voice to the extreme nightmare scenario that Bush administration officials fear could be the outcome of the Supreme Court?s five to four opinion in Boumedienne v Bush late last month: ?It...

Detainees to be freed in the U.S.?

Posted on July 03, 2008
As high-level discussions continue over the future of Guantanamo as a prison for al-Qaeda suspects, administration officials also are focusing on how to handle detainees who prevail in federal court and are ordered released from prison. The administration fully expects...

Bush to Close Guantanamo?

Posted on July 02, 2008
President Bush will soon decide whether to close Guantanamo Bay as a prison for al-Qaeda suspects, sources tell ABC News. High-level discussions among top advisers have escalated in the past week, with the most senior administration officials in continuous talks...

A "Flaw" in the Child Rape Case?

Posted on July 02, 2008
The controversial decision outlawing the death penalty for child rape has taken a bizarre turn. Today?s New York Times has a Page One story by Linda Greenhouse that the Court -- and the lawyers on both sides -- failed to...

Hitting the Trail

Posted on June 30, 2008
The Court wrapped up another big term with a bang, so to speak, and I?m now going to spend the next four months covering the presidential campaign for ABC, focusing on the candidates for the number two spot on the...

Obama, guns and self-defense

Posted on June 26, 2008
Barack Obama has recently been calling himself a strong defender of the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, but Hale Demarr?an Illinois man who got in a ton of legal trouble after he shot a home invader--might disagree with that....

The Politics of Interrogation

Posted on June 17, 2008
A strong statement by Sen. Lindsey Graham in this morning's Armed Services Committee that sheds some light on how Republicans are going to approach controversial interrogation policies and terrorism issues in the months to come--as Democrats kick off a series...

Nothing is Private: Judges and "Porn"

Posted on June 16, 2008
It?s one of those stories that make you say: WHAT? Renowned federal appeals court Judge Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, outed for keeping so-called ?sexually explicit? materials on his home...

KSM in Gitmo: A view of the "Mastermind"

Posted on June 05, 2008
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba--We're on a break for lunch and a scheduled prayer time for top 9/11 suspects who are being arraigned here today. It's been an extraordinary last couple of hours, sitting in the courtroom press gallery, a mere 50...

General Garre

Posted on June 02, 2008
Today is Paul Clement?s last as Solicitor General, and the White House moved quickly to tap a replacement: Deputy Solicitor General Gregory Garre. The White House announced this afternoon that President Bush would nominate Garre to be the administration's top...

Supreme Court on Discrimination

Posted on May 27, 2008
The Supreme Court this morning refused to narrow the scope of two federal discrimination laws, ruling that people who are fired for complaining about age and race bias are protected under federal law. The Court, ruling in two separate cases,...

Obama's "Jewish Problem"

Posted on May 22, 2008
The New York Times has a problematic article on Page One today that suggests some Jewish voters won?t back Obama in part because they?re a bunch of racists. Here?s the problem: The article focuses largely on people in their eighties...

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