Campaign Desk

Shuns of Steele

Can Michael Steele still steer the GOP?

By Katia Bachko   Apr 16, 2009 at 01:16 PM

Poor Michael Steele. When he was elected as the head of the Republican party in late January, he was seen... More

New ProPublica Site Birddogs the Bailouts

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 16, 2009 at 09:13 AM

The investigative outlet ProPublica has created a new site devoted to tracking the government bailouts. Called "Eye on the Bailout,"... More

Wish He Was a Baller

Friedman fumbles with last-minute call for a carbon tax

By Daniel Luzer   Apr 16, 2009 at 08:39 AM

As virtually all of America knows by now, Tom Friedman is a big environmentalist. He loves nature, green things, responsible... More

A-Pirate Hunting We Go?

Bad-guy commentary is too easy, limits public discourse

By Jane Kim   Apr 15, 2009 at 04:43 PM

Spike TV is really happy it has a pirate show in the works. After the dramatic rescue of Captain Richard... More

Above the Fold: Beltway Journalism, “Swallowed by an Hourglass”

It’s long past time to expand the spectrum of Sunday-show punditry

By Charles Kaiser   Apr 15, 2009 at 03:42 PM

The more things change, the more Beltway punditry stays the same. If only the voters could change the composition of... More

What Hath Dog Wrought

Bo-bama, unleashing cable’s worst impulses

By Megan Garber   Apr 15, 2009 at 02:15 PM

So. As you've undoubtedly heard, unless you spent yesterday under a rock or in a coma or some such, the... More

60 Minutes and The Nation Shine on Health Care

Two good stories that expose health care’s holes

By Trudy Lieberman   Apr 14, 2009 at 02:41 PM

Politicians and journalists take note. In the last several days, a segment on 60 Minutes and a personal story in... More

Hiding the Messenger

What’s Lewin’s pedigree anyway?

By Trudy Lieberman   Apr 13, 2009 at 10:55 AM

The big news in health care last week, at least for the cognoscenti, came from the Lewin Group. Lewin reported... More

WSJ Gives TARP Panel the Play It Deserves

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 13, 2009 at 08:57 AM

Good for The Wall Street Journal for giving a nice run to an exclusive that the TARP oversight panel is... More

Obama and State Secrets? Shhh…

Silence breaking on key legal filing

By Clint Hendler   Apr 10, 2009 at 03:29 PM

Obama, like Bush, decides to limit what the courts and the people can know about warrantless wiretapping. Isn’t that a... More

Laurel to the Tampa Tribune

For adding a fresh dimension to the Medicare Advantage story

By Trudy Lieberman   Apr 10, 2009 at 08:26 AM

We were pleased to see the Tampa Tribune publish a smart, enterprising story that took a different angle on an... More

Now or Never

Does the president have to get everything done this year?

By Katia Bachko   Apr 9, 2009 at 03:24 PM

Last month, Media Matters documented that CNN and other outlets repeatedly wondered if President Obama was addressing too many issues... More

Class Dismissed

The ‘populist’ case against cap-and-trade is absurd

By Daniel Luzer   Apr 9, 2009 at 10:20 AM

Historian John Steele Gordon, writing on Barack Obama’s economic policies in the April issue of Commentary, says that the president's... More

The Press Buries the TARP Overseer’s Report

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 9, 2009 at 09:04 AM

The press has given short shrift to an important report by the Congressional Oversight Panel on the government's bailout efforts.... More

Painting by Polling Number

WaPo’s Gerson depicts wide partisan gap, misses bigger picture

By Jane Kim   Apr 9, 2009 at 08:00 AM

Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson has a column up at The Washington Post arguing that Obama isn’t delivering on his... More