Maliki, Obama, and the elusive ‘mistranslation’

Just as Barack Obama was poised to visit Iraq, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, unprompted, announced his belief that Obama’s withdrawal policy “would be the right time timeframe for a withdrawal,” and is “more realistic.” Maliki added that a McCain policy of “artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops” would “cause problems,” and concluded that Republican […]

Following Obama’s lead on foreign policy

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thinks Barack Obama has the right approach on counter-terrorism. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki thinks Obama has the right approach on Iraq. The Bush administration seems to think Obama has the right approach on Iran. And none other than John McCain thinks Obama has the right approach on Afghanistan. The conventional […]

What Obama’s ’50-state strategy’ will look like

Back when Rudy Giuliani was a presidential candidate, he used to knock his Senate rivals, in both parties, for never having “run” anything. People like John McCain and Barack Obama, Giuliani said, had been lawmakers, not executives. Now, as it turns out, the public didn’t much care, and voters in both parties for the first […]

Is Clinton being vetted after all?

Given that it’s mid-June, most of those being considered for the Democratic and Republican tickets know whether or not they’re under consideration. Both John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s VP search committees have been working for a while now, and both committees have contacted potential running mates to ask for background materials. So far, the only […]

Maybe McCain’s low media profile is a blessing in disguise

The McCain campaign and its supporters have been complaining quite a bit this week about the media directing so much attention to Barack Obama’s trip to the Middle East and Europe. As Republicans see it, John McCain deserves more time in the media spotlight. It’s not at all clear, though, precisely what it is Republicans […]

What if Maliki changed everything, but the media didn’t notice?

Following up on the last item, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, unprompted and by name, announced yesterday that Barack Obama’s troop-withdrawal policy is right, while John McCain is wrong about “artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops.” It’s the kind of development that fundamentally changes the geo-political landscape, and creates a seemingly-insurmountable hurdle for the […]

Maliki’s game-changer; GOP says, ‘We’re f**ked’

By any reasonable measure, the debate over U.S. policy towards Iraq changed in a fundamental way yesterday. Just as importantly, the presidential campaign has experienced a game-changing moment, from which John McCain may struggle to recover. Just as Barack Obama was poised to visit Iraq, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, unprompted, announced his belief that Obama’s […]

About that vote ‘against funding our troops’…

In the aggressive new McCain campaign ad, the Republican nominee hits Barack Obama on his votes against the Bush administration’s Iraq policy. “[Obama] voted against funding our troops,” the narrator says, with the words, “Against Troop Funding” appearing on screen, in all caps. “Positions that helped him win his nomination. Now Obama is changing to […]

Jukebox John changes his tune on emissions

John McCain was for national emissions standards before he was against them. (thanks to T.D. and R.P. for the tip) U.S. Sen. John McCain backtracked Friday on a pledge to set national auto emissions standards that would supersede those California and other states want to set. “I guess at the end of the day, I […]

Phil Gramm parts company with McCain — or does he?

After former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) explained his belief that he lives in a “nation of whiners,” because Americans are unsatisfied with the state of the economy, the McCain campaign scrambled to argue that Gramm’s opinion does not reflect that of the Republican presidential nominee. Soon after, we were told that Gramm would no longer […]