Tag: Jim Newton

Dear Editor,

Conrad Brean is a spin doctor for an American president in the 1997 movie Wag the Dog. Brean teams with Hollywood producer Stanley Motss to manufacture a war in Albania to distract voters from a sexual scandal involving the president. The election is in two weeks.

Brean works best under pressure and always speaks in generalities: “Why (war with) Albania? Why not?” Asked about this alleged Albanian crisis, Brean scoffs, “Well, I’m working on that.”

We hear so many numbers that we forget how large single digits can be —especially when followed by a percent sign. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has left the 2024 presidential race, but his polling numbers could still cause havoc on Election Day. Those votes could be channeled to Donald Trump. If you weren’t voting for Kennedy anyway, his recent “Bear-in-central-park” story might register as nothing more than a chuckle. If you’re a Trump supporter, Kennedy’s exit is likely good news, but future rogue third-party hopefuls remain capable of complicating both Democratic and Republican plans. If Harris-Walz wins in November but struggles