ON THE BUS: An Obama campaign digest

Writ Large has gone on the road. For the next week, we’ll be with the Barack Obama campaign as it buses through the battleground states.
SOMEWHERE IN WESTERN OHIO–Campaigns are long marches. Extended, heavily choreographed, highly accessorized, marches.
They aren’t unlike Hollywood movies or Broadway plays. What the viewer sees on the screen is the result of [...]

OBAMA: OH. . . IO

Writ Large has gone on the road. For the next week, we’ll be with the Barack Obama campaign as it buses through the battleground states.
DUBLIN, Ohio–Barack Obama and Joe Biden took their message to the nation’s test-market Saturday evening, hosting a boisterous outdoor rally outside Columbus, Ohio.
With the sun sitting over a football field at [...]

DOUBLETAKE: Is Mac thumpin’ PC?

Welcome to Doubletake, your morning mash-up with Tribune correspondents Jim Tankersley and Jim Oliphant. Now in new Extreme Arctic Blast flavor.
Jim Oliphant: So, get your text message yet?
Jim Tankersley: No. And my new rule is, no text, no veepstakes in the chat. This is non-negotiable.

Oliphant: I haven’t gotten mine yet either. But this I am pret-ty sure this art [...]

DOUBLETAKE: The backlash begins here

Welcome to Doubletake, your daily morning mash-up from Tribune correspondents Jim Oliphant and Jim Tankersley. Part of a balanced breakfast.
Jim Oliphant: So, this morning let’s talk about the coming letdown
Jim Tankersley: I’m too tired to make a joke here. So please tell me, oh, law-degreed one, what that means.

Oliphant: Basic concept. Nothing complicated about [...]

DOUBLETAKE: Guilt by association

Welcome to Doubletake, your morning cup of joe with Tribune correspondents Jim Tankersley and Jim Oliphant. They can also been seen starring in a musical version of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” at the Potomac Playhouse through Aug. 29. The pork chops are half-price.
Jim Oliphant: Bonjiourno. Tough night last night
Jim Tankersley: Don’t tell me [...]

DOUBLETAKE: Rock me like a hurricane!

Welcome to Doubletake, your daily spin on the headlines from Tribune correspondents Jim Oliphant and Jim Tankersley. Ask your doctor if Doubletake is right for you. Side effects include blurred vision, disproportionate anger, and moral bankruptcy.
Jim Oliphant: Good morning! It’s a new week, a new news cycle, and I have a new hair product. [...]

Obama on crime: Doing the Willie Horton?

 

WASHINGTON — Few presidential candidates in modern times have been identified with a large urban area likeBarack Obama is with Chicago. And sometimes, that can present a problem.
This election season, for instance, the residents of Obama’s hometown are being murdered at a clip not seen in five years.  
Murders have risen 18 percent [...]

Appeals court: Saudis can’t be sued over 9/11 attacks

The Second Circuit Thursday released a significant decision, holding that the government of Saudi Arabia and its ruling princes, could not be sued over their financial donations to Islamic charities that allegedly funded and fueled al Qaeda. The Saudi government were defendants in multiple suits. The panel found the country was protected by the Foreign [...]

DOUBLETAKE: No. 2 is the new No. 1

Welcome to Doubletake, your daily spin on the headlines by Tribune correspondents Jim Tankersley and Jim Oliphant. Download our cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on itunes.

Jim Oliphant: I am beside myself . . . which isnt easy, by the way

Jim Tankersley: Why?
Oliphant: I go down to the mailbox, pull out the new edition of Sports Illustrated and [...]

DOUBLETAKE: World Gone Wrong

Good morning. Welcome to Doubletake, your daily spin on the headlines brought to you by Tribune correspondents Jim Oliphant and Jim Tankersley. While our genius is largely ignored in America, we are HUGE in Belgium.
Jim Tankersley: Hello there. Actual news this morning! Cease-fire in Georgia! Mark Warner to keynote the Democratic National Convention . . . 
Jim Oliphant: And, [...]