In the ArenaUncategorized
Kudos to Jay for exposing the Romney blather–a disappointment, given the fact that he did pass universal health insurance in Massachusetts. But I’m not that impressed by the $6.5 million he raised, either. Money is a vastly overrated indicator of political credibility. Remember Howard Dean’s $40 million? Politicians raise money so they …
I am told that the presidential pecs contest (begun by Barack Obama against Wolverine) has another contender. Sources say that Romney — whatever he lacks in “issues” department — has a fine chest of hair.
Asked for confirmation, an adviser close to the Romney camp would only say:
OUT: Manscaping
IN: Mittscaping
Let me interrupt Joe and Ana’s debate over whether the public will blame the Democrats if Iraq goes to hell to draw your attention to one of the bright lights of the Republican Party, Mitt Romney, the erstwhile Massachusetts governor who wants to be the consensus choice of conservatives for president in 2008. Romney held a blow-out …
Joe says:
Just because they’re right about Iraq, and about this escalation, it doesn’t mean they won’t be blamed by the public if the result of an American withdrawal is lethal chaos in the region and $200 per barrel oil.
Let me try to think this through: You think polling about things like the war is “notoriously unreliable,” but
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In the ArenaUncategorized
Oh, Ana, I disagree–and my disagreement is about substance rather than positioning. First of all, polls about complicated, emotional issues like the war in Iraq are unreliable. Most people have confused feelings–frustration, patriotism, anger–that simply can’t be quantified. I’d hate to see the results of a poll that asked: “Should we …
There’s been a lot of discussion (here and elsewhere) about how Congress will “handle” Bush’s plan for a surge/escalation in Iraq, especially given the unpopularity of the scheme among the public at large (only 31 percent like it). Pundits like Joe “Cranky” Klein (love you, Joe!), seem to argue that Democrats who are against escalation …
First Osama bin Ladin, now this…
I think the Note has finally found its intellectual level:
A is for al Qaeda, which remains the problem (still).
B is for Bush, the biggest speech of his life (again).
C is for “cut and run,” which one doesn’t hear much any more.
D is for David Rogers, Dow Jonesing for Rep. Murtha’s secret plan to end the war.
E is for endgame,
…
In the ArenaUncategorized
Excellent piece in the Wall Street Journal today about the possibility of a regional war in the middle east. Those of us who favor a withdrawal from Iraq should be doing some hard thinking about how to deal with these consequences.–Joe Klein
I probably shouldn’t be wading in between Joe and his fans here, but I’ll be listening Wednesday night to see what the President says to address the political problem in Iraq. Strikes me that when David Brooks starts sounding like Joe Biden on the need for some kind of decentralization that would recognize the deep ethnic divisions in …
In the ArenaUncategorized
I love it! First day of Swampitude and the left-wing blogosphere–which is overpopulated by illiberal leftists and reactionary progressives–is already attacking me: 24 mostly mingy comments about my Left Behind post, many of which seem to be steaming off a post by Greg Sargent, who writes a blog called The Horse’s…Mouth.
The illiberal …
Health care was an issue you didn’t hear much about during the campaign last year. But with medical costs soaring and the number of uninsured growing, it remains near the top of voters’ concerns, and once again, it appears that the states may have to step in where Washington refuses to.
The Republican Governor of the biggest state in …
It’s a political truism that if you turn up the volume loud enough, the extremes of the left and right sound almost exactly alike. I am reminded of this weekly, when I get updates from both the conservative media watchers at the Media Research Center and the liberal watchdogs at Media Matters. This past week, Media Matters exercised the …
