An audio-only ‘Cast with Pollster.com‘s Mark Blumenthal, getting into some detail about what makes Iowa polls so unreliable.

00:34 Mitt says, “I’m not in favor of privatizing Social Security or making cuts.” 1:03 Mitt says, “You call it privatization, I call it a private account.” “You see, I’m only telling you what you want to hear,” Mitt continued, “Why is that so hard to understand?”

Ana suggests the media have inflated the Obama-on-the-attack story line. No question they/we have. And she’s right that calling out Clinton for deliberate opacity on entitlement reform is hardly a vicious personal attack. But let’s not forget that the inflation began with Obama himself, who sat down for a New York Times interview in order, [...]

Thoughts on waterboarding, by someone who has experienced it: The waterboard must go back to the realm of SERE training our operators, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. We must now double our efforts to prepare for its inevitable and uncontrolled use of by our future enemies. Until recently, only a few countries considered it effective. [...]

The Clinton campaign was quietly ecstatic over the news this weekend that Barack Obama would “start confronting Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton more directly.” They interpret almost any even vaguely negative remark on Obama’s part as an opportunity to portray the young senator as a hypocrite for failing to keep his promise to hew to a [...]

David Vitter sticks by his partner in crime: The Senate last week voted on the nomination of Henrietta Holsman Fore to head USAID. She replaces Randall Tobias, who resigned after his name was linked to the D.C. Madam’s escort service. The sole GOP vote against Tobias’s replacement? Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), whose number also appeared [...]

Some folks are very excited about the new University of Iowa poll that shows, among the Dems, Clinton pulling away in a state that’s been hard for her, and among the Republicans, shows Huckabee finally cracking the top tier. Woo-hooo! But maybe we should calm down. The U of I poll suffers from the Olestra [...]