Reading the presidential polls this year–particularly on the Republican side of the ledger–it looks almost as though there are two elections going on. Romney has a comfortable (and growing) lead in Iowa and New Hampshire, and yet he’s not getting much traction in the national polls. The latest Gallup Poll has Romney mired in the …
Warner Waffles on Webb
Senate Democrats have been dealt a major setback on the legislation that had been considered their best hope for changing the course of the Iraq War. John McCain, ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, has announced that he and the influential John Warner will be sponsoring a symbolic “sense of the Senate” amendment instead. …
In the ArenaUncategorized
And yet, On the Other Hand…
Matt Yglesias is totally right about this: Clinton’s position on an undivided Jerusalem is a dreadful pander and very much against (a) reality and (b) our long-term interests in the region.
In the ArenaUncategorized
I Love Mickey When He’s Picky
Mickey Kaus sidles to the defense of Drudge here. What neither Mickey nor Drudge seems to understand is that Clinton wasn’t proposing proof of health insurance as a requirement for work, but merely speculating on the sort of details that would be worked out in Congress.
Two other thoughts about this: First, the simplest way to …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Why Drudge is a Disgrace
I know this is old news, but this guy is shameless. The headline, with a photo of a three-quarters crazed Hillary, is HEALTH INSURANCE PROOF REQUIRED FOR WORK but the linked story says this:
At this point, we don’t have anything punitive that we have proposed,” the presidential candidate said in an interview with The Associated Press.
…
Well, so much for THAT endorsement…
This comes to us by way of Marc Ambinder:
“Thank you AFSCME!”
That was how New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson closed his speech to the SEIU membership in Washington today.
SEIU is many things, but it is not AFSCME — the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
AFSCME is, in many states, an SEIU rival.
Oops.
Daily Jumble: Heidi-and-Spencer Free Edition
Also just kind of news-free… Getting ready to head to NYC, and laundry hasn’t been done since, oh, Memorial Day. Please feel even more free than usual to use the comment section to suggest what we should be paying attention to.
• “We find it unfortunate that Mr. Romney misappropriated the image and good will of St. Vincent’s …
More on Health Care: The Obama Reply
The Barack Obama campaign takes issue with a couple of points I made in yesterday’s story. By e-mail comes this from ever-vigilant Obama spokesman Bill Burton:
I note that in your story that you write our plan isn’t universal
because it doesn’t include a mandate – a suggestion we fundamentally
reject. Our plan will cover everyone when
…
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
Ladies and gentlemen, Michael “the level of casualties is secondary” Ledeen went to a Toby Keith concert over the weekend, and it proved to him that, damnit, don’t listen to those phony troop-hating, America-surrendering leftists, TOBY KEITH FANS — that is, REAL AMERICANS — LOVE WAR. GRRRRR!
It’s great to get out of the Washington
…
Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Plan
She avoids the landmines that destroyed her plan in 1994, and puts forward one similar to that being offered by other leading Democratic candidates. That means the argument ahead will be not over who has the best idea for fixing health care, but rather, who can actually turn his or her proposal into reality. Here’s the story I wrote on …
BlackwaterGate
Our colleagues Adam Zagorin and Brian Bennett have a scoop up about the Blackwater story I mentioned in the Jumble:
TIME has obtained an incident report prepared by the U.S. government describing a fire fight Sunday in Baghdad in which at least eight Iraqis were reported killed and 13 wounded. The deadly incident occurred when a convoy
…
In the ArenaUncategorized
Smart About Petraeus
Steve Coll is one of the smartest, most discerning writers about the so-called War on Terrorism and he proves it again with this comment on the Petraeus testimony.
Freddie Friendless
I’ve written a piece discussing Fred Thompson’s mediocre launch as a full-fledged presidential candidate — and questioning the thrashing he’s received from the pens and tongues of some members of the conservative opinion elite. Thompson may be a bust in the end, but it’s a bit premature to write off a candidate who’s in second place and …