The latest Weekly Standard opens with a remarkable editorial on Libya, offering some of the kindest words about the Obama administration you’ll ever read in the conservative media. It’s true that the Robert Kagan piece casts the fall of the Gaddafi regime as a triumph for “the United States and NATO.” And it isn’t until its seventh …
Barack Obama
In the ArenaMideast
Obama on Assad
I’m sorry, but I just don’t get this. I thought it was a bad idea when Obama said that Qaddafi “must go.” (You may have noticed: Qaddafi hasn’t.) And I don’t suspect that the Assads–Syria’s version of the Corleones–are going anywhere soon. To “call” for Assad to go enables Obama’s opponents to say, “Why didn’t he do that a long time …
In the Midwest, Obama Grapples for an Economic Fix and a Political Narrative
Barack Obama hit the road Monday for his three-day Midwestern bus tour toting an array of political baggage: a downgraded national credit rating, a faltering economy, a stretch of wild market vicissitudes, an approval rating that …
Not Killing Romney: The Difference Between Negativity and Incivility
[youtube=http://youtu.be/IyXgykhsCqk]
The Romney campaign, once again, proves Wednesday morning that it is the most effective and disciplined of the GOP operations this year with a rapid-response web spot, and fundraising appeal, attacking President Obama for being a civility hypocrite. Take a look at the spot.
Note the, um, …
Don’t Be Distracted: The Top Four Red Herrings of the Debt Debate
The day-to-day of Washington political debate is often little more than misdirection. All sides craft messages aimed at attracting the sympathies of select groups of voters, even if the soundbites have little or nothing to do with what is actually happening. These red herrings make headlines, but they poorly reflect policy or political …
With Debt Talks Stalled, Democrats Try to Divide and Conquer the GOP
A day after a testy exchange between Barack Obama and Eric Cantor capped debt-limit negotiations at the White House, Democrats launched a coordinated attack against the House Majority Leader, portraying him as a primary obstacle …
Debt-Limit Divide Deepens as Talks Approach the Brink
As the U.S. hurtles toward a potential debt-limit default that would shake the fragile economy, the chasm between the two parties widened on Tuesday, as Republican opposition to tax increases calcified and Democrats bristled at …
Has Nancy Pelosi Been Marginalized in the Debt Debate?
At Thursday’s White House meeting between President Obama and congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner laid out in stark terms the awful economic repercussions of allowing the debt ceiling to lapse. Everyone in …
Nine Epically Wrong Politician History Flubs
These White House contenders give historical fiction a whole new meaning. TIME breaks down nine egregious examples of the type of revisionist flub you can expect in 2012
Should Obama Defend the Recovery at All?
Stanley Greenberg, the Democratic pollster who helped elect President Bill Clinton, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and Israel’s Ehud Barak, says all of his clients have had the same, sometimes terrible, instinct: “They want to …
Political Pictures of the Week, June 19 – June 25
TIME’s Photo Editors bring you the best political pictures of the past week.
Debt-Ceiling Kabuki
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and No. 2 Senate Republican Jon Kyl want you to know they are taking a principled stand. They are against raising taxes. They will not recommend to their conferences that taxes be raised. They …
Petraeus and Obama
Mark Benjamin landed a good zing on General David Petraeus yesterday by flagging the 450-word cloud that resulted when the general was asked during Senate testimony whether he supports Obama’s troop-withdrawal decision. It was …