Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney


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October 06, 2009

The Takedown of Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey, who "blazed to fame in 1994 as the person who drove a stake through the heart of Hillarycare, with a detailed (and, as it turned out, false) takedown of the plan" in the New Republic is once again the focus of the magazine.

"Fifteen years later, she has reemerged for an encore, penning op-eds and making the TV and radio rounds to issue apocalyptic warnings about the horrors lurking in the fine print of Obamacare. Pick an inflammatory, misleading rumor that has sprung up in this debate, and chances are McCaughey had a hand in springing it... Confronted with conflicting information, she plows ahead with her unique interpretation of reality, leaving critics on both the left and the right nonplussed. One's only options, they say, are to ignore her and hope that she fades away -- or to go negative in the hope of discrediting her."

However, in a must-watch appearance earlier today on MSNBC, she had a particularly tough time trying to defend her criticisms of the Obama plan.

Ben Smith: "As McCaughey's presence on MSNBC suggests, she's in the process of becomng an asset to the left, as her appearances seem to spur debate mostly about her -- and by extension her allies -- credibility."

Here's the clip from MSNBC:

Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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-- Dotty Lynch, CBS News political consultant

"Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don't want to kick."

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-- Dick Morris, political consultant

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