44: The Obama Presidency

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Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Iraq - The facts there have changed; the debate here, less so.

WHEN GEN. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker last testified before Congress in September, the military results of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq, though significant, were still so preliminary that much of the debate centered on whether they were real. When the two men appeared again... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

The Women's Vote

"Remember, Jeannette Rankin was elected before women could vote. So who says men don't vote for a woman?" --Sen. Hillary Clinton, speech in Missoula, Montana, April 6, 2008. It is always risky for a candidate to make a historical claim without checking their facts. Hillary Clinton was wrong back in... Sign in to see full entry.

Advisers to Obama and Clinton learn that it doesn't always pay to be right

YET ANOTHER Democratic adviser is in trouble for having more common sense that his candidate -- or at least, more than his candidate has the courage to admit having. First there was Austan Goolsbee, Sen. Barack Obama's economic adviser, who suggested to Canadian officials that a President Obama... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

China risks turning the Games into a showcase of repression.

AS CHINA'S COMMUNIST leadership conceived it, this year's Olympic Games were to mark the country's debut as a global power, with a booming economy and rapidly modernizing society. Instead, it's beginning to look as though the Games could become a showcase for violent repression, censorship and... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Obama: Great Speech, Won't Matter

I'm watching the American primaries from abroad, in Portugal. One thing that puzzles me is this: If Sen. Barack Obama's mother was white and his father was African, how come Sen. Obama is considered black instead of white, or mixed? Is the darker skin color so strong as to prevail in labeling... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Political speeches on the war's anniversary

THE FIFTH anniversary of the invasion of Iraq prompted a flurry of speeches from President Bush and the Democratic candidates who hope to inherit the White House next year. Sadly, what they had in common was their failure to grapple with hard realities -- beginning with the elusiveness of any clear... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Truth Telling on Iraq

Barack Obama " will, of course, not rely on some plan that he's crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. Senator. He will rely upon a plan -- an operational plan -- that he pulls together in consultation with people who are on the ground to whom he doesn't have daily access now...It would be... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, March 14, 2008

The Presidential Playing Field

One of the major disagreements between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) is which of the two can more effectively broaden the general election playing field. Clinton's campaign points to polling in Florida, Arkansas and Ohio that shows her running close to or ahead of Sen.... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The flameout of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer

THE EMPIRE State has been tossed into turmoil by the Emperors Club, a high-end prostitution ring that apparently counted New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) as a client. Mr. Spitzer's stunning betrayal of his family and his apparent disregard for the law and the moral code he advocated for himself and... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, March 10, 2008

The McCain case illustrates the need to update public campaign funding.

BACK WHEN his presidential campaign was running on fumes, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) applied to participate in the system to provide public matching funds to primary candidates who agree to abide by spending limits. The Federal Election Commission certified Mr. McCain's eligibility to receive the... Sign in to see full entry.

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