By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
I wouldn't read much into John McCain's reference to Barack Obama as "that one."
Here's the context: McCain was talking about the latest energy bill. “You know who voted for it? You might never know — that one,” he said, pointing to Obama. “You know who voted against it? Me.”
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Put this in the "You Have Got To Be Kidding" category:
Within days of receiving an $85 billion bailout from the federal government, executives of American International Group spent $500,000 at an exclusive resort, while supposedly discussing business at a "retreat."
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post has an interesting account of Sarah Palin's day campaigning in Florida. The McCain campaign's designated pitbull is going after the mainstream media and, as Milbank reports in this startling account, things are getting ugly:
By Barbara Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
It was on the topic of Middle East diplomacy that the wheels fell off the wagon for Sarah Palin, to stick with her folksy touch.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
For somebody who talks a lot about "regular folks," Gloria Squitiro shows little regard for the hard-working traffic control officers at Kansas City International Airport.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
(Additional thought added at bottom)
Today's tempest in a teapot concerns PBS journalist Gwen Ifill, the designated moderator for the vice presidential debate Thursday in St. Louis.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
The ditch-Biden rumor won't go away.
This is the rumor that has Joe Biden dropping out so that Barack Obama can replace him with Hillary Clinton. Or maybe Kathleen Sebelius.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
This week got off to a very bad start for U.S. Sen. Kit Bond and his staff.
The U.S. Justice Department's inspector general concluded in a report that interference from Bond's office got Todd Graves removed as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
McCain is covering a lot of ground in the foreign affairs discussion, talking about his decisions over the years. His treatment of Obama is pretty condescending: "I don't think Senator Obama understands that there was a failed state in Pakistan." He undoubtedly does understand that, actually. Wonder how McCain's act is going to play.
Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
The master of drama strikes again. John McCain proposes a spending freeze on everything except defense, veterans affairs and entitlements, which can't be frozen.
Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
McCain is on comfortable turf discussing pork barrel spending. He's comfortable with it and passionate when he talks about the corrupting influence of unbridled spending. Obama is holding his own, though. He's doing a good job of summarizing his tax policies and clearing up some misconceptions that the McCain camp has put out about them.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Jim Lehrer just threw a question out for either candidate and Barack Obama jumped on it like a loose basketball. It was startling how he stepped in front of John McCain. McCain is on a riff about history now, but Obama has done a better job, so far, on laying out a path forward.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
A poll conducted for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Research 2000 of Maryland has John McCain leading Barack Obama by a single percentage point, 47 percent to 46 percent.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial board columnist
More fair disclosure. Fact-checkers at the Washington Post give Joe Biden four check marks (they call them Pinocchios) for falsely claiming that John McCain's tax plan would represent "the largest tax increase in American history" for middle-class citizens.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Americans love the bold stroke. That's why John McCain's dramatic I'm-suspending-my-campaign announcement was met by a nice bump in his daily Gallup Poll numbers.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Thomas Taylor, barber and businessman, is beautifully positioned to articulate Main Street’s perspective on Wall Street.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Such a deal.
Where else but Washington can one's firm secure a $15,000-a-month "no work" contract just for the sake of connections?
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
John McCain's campaign can knock itself out trying to drum up outrage about Barack Obama's associations with disgraced Chicago fixer Tony Rezko and others in the so-called Chicago machine.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
I caught some flack from readers over a column printed last week that said John McCain was shamelessly misleading the public by distorting Barack Obama's record in ads and pronouncements.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Harry S. Truman has been pressed into service once again.
This time it’s Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin who has invoked comparisons with the man from Independence.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
The hacking of Sarah Palin's private e-mail is criminal.
And the posting of the purloined content on websites? That's low, low, low.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Carly Fiorina is reportedly in the McCain campaign doghouse for blabbing to an interviewer that neither John McCain nor Sarah Palin was qualified to run a major corporation. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are similarly unqualified, she added.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
I see Karl Rove made news over the weekend, pronouncing on Fox News Sunday that he thinks both White House candidates have gone too far in attacking each other.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Maybe you’ve seen it. The campaign ad cites the authoritative journal Education Week to claim that Democrat Barack Obama has been missing in action on education reform.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Hey, I have something in common with Sarah Palin.
Both of us are former hockey moms.
She's sort of made it a marquis item on her resume, and the crowd at the RNC loved her line about the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
I thought I'd end the workweek with just one post that doesn't mention a certain governor from Alaska.
This will be a great weekend at the local farmer's markets. I'm a big fan of the Bad Seed Market at 1909 McGee, because I can stop there on the way home from work on Friday nights. Brooke Salvaggio and some other vendors have beautiful produce.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
John McCain's campaign has stooped to pettiness. It has diminished itself with mocking attacks on Barack Obama. It has focused on small things. The Paris/Britney ad? Please.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
John McCain has often vowed to shake things up and now he’s done it.
But it’s not Washington he’s turned on its head this week. It’s the long-running conversation by and about working mothers.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Sarah Palin proved some things tonight.
John McCain's vice presidential nominee proved she can give a good speech. She proved she can throw the proverbial red meat to the ravenous party faithful.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
The Kansas City Police Department has undoubtedly upset the What-Part-Of-Illegal-Do-You-Not-Understand? crowd by giving a pass to the family that spray-painted tributes to a loved one on the walls of the Heart of America Bridge.
