I’m a little surprised Barack Obama’s policy pronouncement on Iran the other day isn’t a bigger deal. Especially among the netroots, I’ve noticed there’s been some fully-justified complaints that Obama has been afraid of taking bold policy positions, and has struggled to articulate new ideas that are both progressive and a break with political orthodoxy. […]
From time to time, advocates of one policy position or another will try to connect an unrelated matter to national security. For example, you might hear someone say immigration is a national-security issue because we don’t want terrorists sneaking across the border illegally. Or energy policy is a national-security issue because we don’t want to […]
In the most recent debate for Democratic presidential candidates, Tim Russert confronted Hillary Clinton on the issue of records from her husband’s White House. Russert argued, “[A]s you well know, President Clinton has asked the National Archives not to do anything until 2012” about records pertaining to communications between the Clintons. The senator noted that […]
Former President George H.W. Bush suggested this morning on Fox News that his family may still produce even more political candidates. Bush … said that he would like to see another generation of Bushes in public office. “I’ve got a grandson that would make a wonderfully able public servant if he ran, George P.,” said […]
Following up on yesterday’s item about the latest Newsweek poll, new data from the Washington Post/ABC News poll is also worth considering. Apparently, Americans aren’t terribly pleased with the status quo. One year out from the 2008 election, Americans are deeply pessimistic and eager for a change in direction from the agenda and priorities of […]
For several years, the Bush White House has said “stability” in the Middle East is a misguided foreign policy goal. The president’s vision demanded that transformative democracies spread throughout the region, and that maintaining stability does little more than tolerate dictatorships. It made for pleasant rhetoric, but the administration never really meant a word of […]
By any reasonable measure, Rudy Giuliani’s many scandalous associations should effectively end his presidential campaign, but it’s Bernie Kerik that should embarrass Giuliani to the point of humiliation. Today, the NYT offers a detailed, comprehensive look at the bizarre relationship between the former NYC mayor and his disgraced former police commissioner. The piece adds some […]
When push comes to shove, and the Republicans’ chips are down, it’s fascinating to see exactly what the GOP will do in desperation. The party is actually surprisingly consistent — left with no other choice, lean on the culture war. Just over the past few days, we’ve seen three rather startling examples. First, there’s Kentucky […]
One of the oddities of the presidential campaign this week has been the tit-for-tat between Joe Biden and Rudy Giuliani. Biden, struggling badly in the race, seems to have settled on hammering Giuliani as a new campaign strategy. Giuliani, ostensibly the GOP frontrunner, seems to believe every challenge deserves a rapid response. The result has […]
This week’s Democratic presidential candidate debate certainly captured the attention of the political world, but did it really shake up the race at all? Not according to a new poll just out from Newsweek. On Tuesday, at the eighth presidential debate among Democrats, front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton came under withering fire from her top rivals, […]