When it comes to U.S. policy in Iraq, we’ve thankfully seen some progress on the security front, but the administration’s so-called “surge” has fallen far short of its goals. The White House and the Maliki government established a series of benchmarks earlier this year, nearly all of which have gone unmet. Political reconciliation, ostensibly the […]
Last night, InsiderAdvantage, a Republican polling firm, raised quite a few eyebrows by releasing a new survey of Democrats in Iowa, which put John Edwards out in front with 30% support. Hillary Clinton was second with 26%, followed by Barack Obama with 24%. It was largely the opposite of all the recent data — practically […]
It’s hard to believe that a National Enquirer story about John Edwards’ “love child” is the lead political item on Memeorandum right now, but we’ve apparently reached a point in the campaign at which baseless nonsense deserves to be treated as a big deal. Mickey Kaus, the in-house blogger for the Washington Post-owned Slate, began […]
Mike Huckabee’s new TV ad features the Republican presidential hopeful telling voters that “what really matters” during the holiday season “is the celebration of the birth of Christ,” apparently a first for a presidential candidate in a TV commercial. The same ad features Huckabee speaking in front of what appears to be a floating cross […]
When it comes to the CIA’s destruction of video footage of U.S. torture of detainees, the White House, on the advice of counsel, has stopped commenting. About the only thing we’ve gotten from the Bush gang of late were vague comments from the president himself: “There’s a preliminary inquiry going on and I think you’ll […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * After the U.S. gave Turkey real-time intelligence in attacking PKK, the Turks are ready to pull back: “Turkey sent hundreds of troops about 1 1/2 miles into northern Iraq early Tuesday in an operation against Kurdish rebels but then withdrew them later in the day, Kurdish officials said. Jamal […]
There was an interesting exchange between Barack Obama and a young supporter at an event in Iowa yesterday. From Jonathan Stein’s transcript: Young girl: “I just want to say that every time I see a commercial of Mitt Romney on TV I want to throw up.” Barack Obama: “Haha. Okay. I feel you. What’s your […]
As a rule, I don’t see much point in re-litigating Trent Lott’s Strom Thurmond controversy — it was, after all, five years ago — but Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) insists, I’m happy to indulge him. If you’ve forgotten about the 2002 incident, Lott, who has a history of “racially insensitive” comments, appeared at a party […]
Crying has come a long way in politics. In 1972, Ed Muskie wept outside the offices of the New Hampshire Union Leader, and it was, at the time, a political disaster. Americans just weren’t ready to tolerate grown men in leadership positions emoting like this in public. But that was decades ago. Now, House Minority […]
It seems like quite a while ago, but earlier this year, Rudy Giuliani actually intended to be a force in the Iowa caucuses. He campaigned frequently in the state, held a lot of town-hall meetings, and through around June, actually lead in Iowa polls. Then, of course, Republicans got a good look at the guy, […]