We’ve noted several times of late that the Republican coalition, particularly in Washington, is slowly splintering over the war in Iraq. Particularly those who are concerned about their short-term futures are suddenly discovering that standing with Bush is a losing proposition. Whereas the president demanded and could depend on unflinching support for his policies from […]
After the president used his first-ever veto to block federal funding on stem-cell research, the issue lost some of its political saliency. Nevertheless, the broader debate remains as important as ever — the public approved several statewide measures on the research, Dems included funding as part of their 100 Hour agenda, and polls continue to […]
Readers no doubt heard about the series of attacks in Iraq over the weekend that led to 27 U.S. deaths on Saturday, the third-deadliest day for United States forces since the war here began nearly four years ago. But if you haven’t seen the details about how the attacks unfolded, they’re worth reading. New details […]
In October, then-Senate Armed Forces Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) said, “In two or three months, if this thing hasn’t come to fruition and if this level of violence is not under control … I think it’s the responsibility of our government, internally, to determine: Is there a change of course that we should take? […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Though the news was easily overshadowed by Sen. Clinton’s announcement, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) announced over the weekend that he will seek the GOP presidential nomination. It sounded as if James Dobson […]
The president sat down for a lengthy interview with USA Today’s White House reporter David Jackson, the transcript of which was published today, which covered some pretty familiar ground. It was interesting, however, to see that the president has no expectations about leaving Iraq anytime soom. Q: Now I’ve often heard you say during the […]
As Slate’s Fred Kaplan explained a while back, a [tag]National Intelligence Estimate[/tag] ([tag]NIE[/tag]) “is not an ordinary report. It marks the one occasion when the Central Intelligence Agency warrants its name, acting as a central entity that pulls together the assessments of all the myriad intelligence departments, noting where they agree and where they differ.” […]
When it comes to the 2008 presidential race, polling is so premature, it’s almost better to ignore it. Indeed, as my friend Anonymous Liberal explained in a great guest post here in November, at this point in the 2004 presidential race, the leading Democratic contenders were Joe Lieberman and Dick Gephardt. As I recall, they […]
The new public relations offensive in support of Bush’s Iraq Escalation 5.0 policy has included a disturbing amount of attacks on dissent. Dick Cheney got the ball rolling last week, telling Fox News that Congress would be “undercutting the troops” if lawmakers criticize Bush’s policy. Tony Snow went even further, suggesting criticism may lend comfort […]