In the ArenaDebates
The Third Debate: Obama Wins on Style and Substance
President Obama won the foreign policy debate, cleanly and decisively, on both style and substance. It was as clear a victory as Mitt Romney’s in the first debate.
Klein's latest book is Politics Lost.
Joe Klein
Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. His weekly TIME column, "In the Arena," covers national and international affairs. In 2004 he won the National Headliner Award for best magazine column.
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In the ArenaDebates
In the ArenaDebates
The Hofstra Debate: No Clear Winner
I don’t know who “won” this debate. The President won on the substance. He was, obviously, far better–sharper, more energetic, more effective–than he was in the first debate. In the crucial first half-hour, he successfully …
In the ArenaLibya
Benghazi: The October Mirage
For the life of me, I can’t understand why the Republicans are harping so hard on the Benghazi security debacle–except, maybe, you know…politics. There is no reason, or evidence, that the request of a consulate–or even an embassy–for beefed up security would ever get anywhere near the President’s desk. It may have reached the lower …
In the ArenaDebates
The Vice-Presidential Debate: Biden in Command
This was a fine, fascinating, energetic debate. Joe Biden won — certainly on the substance, although he lost a bit on the body language. His frustrated smiles, head shakes, etc., etc., will become a Republican talking point and …
In the ArenaIn the Arena
Romney on Foreign Policy
A basic rule of thumb: Ignore foreign policy speeches by challengers in presidential elections. In most cases, they don’t know anything. They lack the detailed intelligence knowledge that a President has about a dicey situation like the civil war unfolding in Syria. Or they bend the truth in order to score points–Bill Clinton on China, …
In the ArenaIran
Push and Shove in Iran
While the rest of us are wondering what on earth happened to Barack Obama last night, the President’s Iran policy seems to be moving toward success. The international sanctions that he so laboriously put together are having a devastating effect on Iran’s economy. The currency is collapsing. And now, the bazaaris–Iran’s mythic and …
In the Arena2012 Election
Latest Column
I wrote this one for the print edition on Wednesday, before the debate. It’s about Tea Party bigmouth Joe Walsh’s reelection campaign.
In the ArenaDebates
Obama’s Debate Strategy: Unilateral Disarmament?
Well, I’m with all the other talking heads: Mitt Romney won this debate. Barack Obama lost it. I mean, he got his butt kicked. It was, in fact, one of the most inept performances I’ve ever seen by a sitting President. Romney — …
In the Arena2012 Election
Obama’s Swing State Success Explained
Ron Brownstein may be the best in the business at reading polls, and here he explains a conundrum that has puzzled a fair number of political observers: why the President seems to be doing so much better in swing states than among the general population. The answer is pretty simple:
In the Arena2012 Election
The Calm Before the Debate
Not much happening on today’s Sunday talk shows. Lots of debate spinning, of course — the first debate is always good for challengers, we’re told. (It wasn’t in 1996, when Bob Dole debated Bill Clinton — but hey, that was Clinton.) And lots of handwringing over the Obama Administration’s reputed obfuscation of the terrorist attack on …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Where Government Fails
This is outrageous. As I travel around the country, I frequently meet with veterans, or their family members, who have been stiffed, ignored or mistreated by the Veterans Administration. Paperwork is lost. Claims disappear. It takes months, sometimes years, to get a response. The treatment afforded a new generation of wounded warriors, …
In the ArenaIn the Arena
What Middle East Alternative?
Charles Krauthammer’s precipitous descent into partisan silliness proceeds apace. In this week’s column, he excoriates President Obama’s Arab Spring policy and suggests that Mitt Romney “go large” in opposing it. Ok…but what’s the alternative? In the past, when he was still a rigorous and creative thinker, Krauthammer might have …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Latest Column
The Middle East scenario no one wants to talk about.
