Morton Kondracke from CaglePost.com Columns by Morton Kondracke from CaglePost.com http://rss.caglepost.com/columns.aspx?name=Morton+Kondracke Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://rss-net.sf.net/ Obama Rides High At Five Months, But Clouds Gather The political verdict on President Barack Obama's first five months in office has to be "so far, so good," but it also must include trepidation about clouds on the horizon. For sure, he's popular. He's laid out a breathtakingly bold agenda that he ha... http://www.caglepost.com/article/e3e64042-5e48-4ff5-9728-f289f8b5fa20.html Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT Elections In Iran Make Nuclear Talks Harder President Barack Obama went easy on Iran in his big June 4 speech in Cairo so as not to become an issue in last weekend's elections. Some good it did. The ruling powers in Iran -- rigidly hostile to the United States and determined to develop nuclear... http://www.caglepost.com/article/c48dedb2-bb32-472f-98dd-9329c416f3e9.html Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT Medicare Drug Plan Ought To Be Model For Health Reform As they work on comprehensive health reform, Congress and President Barack Obama ought to look to the most successful model yet: the 2003 Medicare prescription drug law. Passed amid rancor and predictions of catastrophe, the law has proved to be an e... http://www.caglepost.com/article/765220a7-e30d-4b89-8fdb-ab31cc45375d.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT Obama Confronts Bush's Axis Of Evil -- Can He Do Better? The Obama administration is confronting what's left of the Axis of Evil this week, with the president in the Mideast talking about Iran and top aides in the Far East dealing with North Korea. The strategy in both cases is the same: Enlist "friends" l... http://www.caglepost.com/article/92b6e80d-9eea-4ab2-9985-7bd5cca18ee0.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT Congress Should Aid 'Good Death' Like My Mother's My mother died this month at age 95. This column is a tribute to her example of living -- and also a public-policy tribute to the manner of her death, in hospice care. Genevieve Kondracke was a tough, giving, self-reliant survivor of the Great Depres... http://www.caglepost.com/article/a5c13940-6fee-4a11-a1bd-1e47d9b129a4.html Thu, 28 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT Future Prosperity Depends On 'New Contract' For Kids President Barack Obama plans to tackle, one by one, the biggest problems threatening America's future prosperity, but he needs to fashion nothing less than "a new social contract between the generations." That means, said Brookings Institution schola... http://www.caglepost.com/article/b331b8ce-ddbc-4d8c-bee1-95372a0764c1.html Thu, 21 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT Hurting, Not Dead, GOP Is Working Up Alternative Ideas With as few as 20 percent of voters identifying themselves as Republicans in major polls, the GOP is in a bad way, for sure. But is it dead? No way. While former Vice President Dick Cheney and radio rabble-rouser Rush Limbaugh try to isolate the part... http://www.caglepost.com/article/965b1d7f-ed17-474b-936a-d5aac98c0e53.html Thu, 14 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT Democrats Should Reform Medicare, Not Universalize It If President Barack Obama really is a pragmatic problem-solver and not a liberal ideologue, he will stop pushing for a government-run insurance plan as part of health care reform. And Democrats in Congress, instead of trying to drive all Americans i... http://www.caglepost.com/article/acc5ce17-aaf6-454d-8857-06200ac78185.html Thu, 07 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT Obama Should Halt Democrats' 'Torture' Frenzy If President Barack Obama really meant what he told CIA officers on April 16 -- "this is a time for reflection, not retribution" -- then he needs to snuff out the witch-hunt atmosphere that his subsequent actions have created over the issue of "tortu... http://www.caglepost.com/article/5a83a6a4-0e1f-4edf-880b-164a37a563f6.html Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:00:00 GMT Obama, Duncan Need To Succeed On School Reform President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are dedicated school reformers, and two new reports show how urgent it is that they succeed. The reports, by McKinsey & Co. and the America's Promise Alliance, show anew that the failure of A... http://www.caglepost.com/article/10acb713-64a5-4e9b-9c85-2f2689118632.html Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:00:00 GMT U.S. Should Help Pakistan's Zardari Become A Maliki As the peril in Pakistan deepens, the United States has little choice but to bolster that country's weak democratic government to the max. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has made serious governing mistakes, but he's firmly antiterrorist and mig... http://www.caglepost.com/article/cc2bad1f-bebe-474d-85ef-d30e83e71647.html Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:00:00 GMT The World Loves Obama, But Does He Get Respect? President Barack Obama is clearly liked overseas -- adored, in many quarters. But is he respected? Americans bathed in glowing press coverage of his trip evidently think so, judging by results in the latest CBS-New York Times poll. By 67 percent to ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/6bdbae5b-86e6-4022-8f78-85b3b6686f11.html Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:00:00 GMT A Three-Way Fix For Health Reform That Saves Money Before President Barack Obama and Congress overhaul the U.S. health care system at great expense -- and, as things look now, without a cost-control mechanism -- they ought to consider an alternative conceptual framework. It comes from Tom Cigarran, f... http://www.caglepost.com/article/66a77935-3818-4627-99ad-1c940e6b6b43.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:00:00 GMT Will Obama match Bush for fiscal irresponsibility? A month ago, reflecting on George W. Bush's near doubling of the national debt, budget hawk David Walker told me that Bush was "the most fiscally irresponsible president in American history." This week, reflecting on the possibility that Barack Obama... http://www.caglepost.com/article/b643d1e0-ee54-4edd-9b46-bae64d0a246e.html Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:00:00 GMT 'Post-Partisanship' Isn't Dead Yet -- But It's Very Close If you think bipartisanship is a fusty, goody-goody concept out of phase with today's urgent realities, consider the impending fallout from the American International Group bonus flap. The populist frenzy against AIG, channeled by Republicans against... http://www.caglepost.com/article/5ba13db6-8561-438a-8767-b92079607d4e.html Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:00:00 GMT Pakistan Should Be Obama's Leading Foreign Priority When the Obama administration settles on its "AfPak" strategy -- that is, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- top priority has to go to Pakistan. It's the most dangerous place on Earth: nuclear-armed, menaced by terrorists, economically in crisis and mired i... http://www.caglepost.com/article/71e61124-148e-426e-bec8-a6ab6bdd99d2.html Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:00:00 GMT Can Congress Pass All Obama Wants? Should it? President Barack Obama has laid out a breathtakingly bold agenda. The worry is that it's more than he, Congress and the American political system can possibly accomplish -- especially so fast. He did get Congress to pass an $800 billion economic stim... http://www.caglepost.com/article/1dd15efa-efab-4de6-a43a-66b6a71aee13.html Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:00:00 GMT Obama Has A Good Idea: A Bipartisan Health Summit A wave of paranoia ripped through the right and left wings earlier this month over health initiatives in the economic stimulus package. It was just a small demonstration of struggles to come. First, the right declared that two widely supported initia... http://www.caglepost.com/article/9bc1a3e6-b9c3-440c-b7a9-1f0185ec8cfc.html Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:00:00 GMT Obama Shouldn't Stick To 16-Month Iraq Pullout Plan President Barack Obama faces a moment of truth soon about Iraq: Does he keep his campaign promise to pull out all combat troops by next April or his other promise to "end the war responsibly"? According to a range of military experts, including some ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/f4be633e-87b8-407d-9b12-7cc84d6c6ff9.html Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:00:00 GMT Believe It Or Not, Rush Limbaugh Was Right On Stimulus I can't believe I'm writing this, but Rush Limbaugh actually has (or had) a good idea on the stimulus. Or at least the germ of one. On his radio show Jan. 26 and in the Wall Street Journal Jan. 29, America's arch-polarizer -- amazingly enough -- prop... http://www.caglepost.com/article/61ba3557-7270-4e05-b1db-34f939b72f11.html Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:00:00 GMT Stimulus Bargain Is Hard, But Debt Bargain Is Harder For several years, a bipartisan group of think-tank deficit hawks has been meeting regularly and issuing loud alarms about the nation's long-term debt crisis. On Jan. 22, in the wake of President Barrack Obama's pledges to address the crisis this mon... http://www.caglepost.com/article/9c823eef-73e5-46e2-9d8c-33c7e1844809.html Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:00:00 GMT Obama Can Do More To Be Post-Partisan, But Will The GOP Join? President Barack Obama is doing his best to change the tone of politics in Washington, but he's obviously got a long way to go to establish real post-partisanship. He has to keep trying, though, because, even if Republicans vote en masse against his ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/adb0425c-1d07-45b3-b023-5610a872dcc3.html Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT In Obama Era, National Service's Time Has Come On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the day before his swearing-in, President Barack Obama's inaugural committee stimulated a more-than doubling of volunteer activity around the country. It was a demonstration of a major development that's likely to unfol... http://www.caglepost.com/article/171ebe3c-2731-4544-8737-e44ec7313639.html Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT Kirk: Obama Should Spray The Taliban's Poppies President Barack Obama should wage an aggressive "Colombia-style" offensive against opium production in Afghanistan, Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., contends after returning from military service in the war zone. Particularly, he said, Obama should reverse B... http://www.caglepost.com/article/8bf7cb16-58da-48b1-a6af-6b2adea6f690.html Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT Reform Is Coming On Immigration, But Problems Remain Given last year's election results, major immigration reform ought to pass in 2009 -- but first, the incoming Obama administration has to decide what to do about some draconian policies put into place by the Bush administration. After failing to pass... http://www.caglepost.com/article/31bedf85-28df-40ef-8b24-457cb591e254.html Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT 'Hunk' Obama Can Help Nation Fight Obesity Epidemic President-elect Obama has plenty of serious problems on his agenda, but here's another worthy one: a war on obesity. The reason is: fatness is killing Americans by the millions. It's driving up health costs and damaging the national economy. It's als... http://www.caglepost.com/article/eb4d7021-0ad0-4bc1-97e0-151f5b967741.html Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT Obama Should Say 'No' To 'War Crimes' Probes Of Bush Team For the sake of national security and national unity, President-elect Barack Obama should put a stop to efforts to investigate or prosecute Bush administration officials for anti-terror "war crimes." The motive behind such efforts is not -- as claime... http://www.caglepost.com/article/3da6fe7c-4e6b-48a0-8a7a-8336a4e51f33.html Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT Best Auto Plan: Bankruptcy Terms Minus Bankruptcy A majority of Americans oppose an auto bailout, but you can be sure that they will be even unhappier if an auto collapse deepens the already-deepening Great Recession. Even if most congressional Republicans are determined to have the Detroit auto com... http://www.caglepost.com/article/3e51c0ca-9346-49ce-9118-b97723da6ac1.html Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT Everyone Will Have Health Insurance -- But It Will Be Costly The good news is that, now that Democrats have won total control of the government, all Americans are likely to have health insurance. The bad news is that the ranks of the uninsured, previously about 46 million, probably will swell by another 5 mill... http://www.caglepost.com/article/c58dbc6e-c77f-422e-a141-699977245097.html Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT Obama Should Keep Bush's Commander In Global 'War Of Ideas' To fight terrorism of the kind that brutalized Mumbai, India, President-elect Barack Obama should retain James Glassman, the Bush administration's commander in the "war of ideas" against extremism. In just six months in office, Glassman has invigorat... http://www.caglepost.com/article/98e0af65-0caf-4a5c-9f01-31fed677737d.html Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT Will Obama Opt For Pragmatism In Energy Policy? President-elect Barack Obama is proving to be remarkably pragmatic and centrist as he tackles the global economic crisis. Big tests are yet to come on energy, however. Will Obama tilt toward fossil-phobic environmentalists who heavily influence the D... http://www.caglepost.com/article/095558c0-81ad-44ca-a376-6ce515e3f353.html Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:00:00 GMT First StepTo GOP Recovery: Fire Rush Limbaugh How can the Republican Party rebound? The first step would be to quit letting Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham set its agenda. A second step would be for Congressional Republicans to actually try to help President-elect Barack Obama suc... http://www.caglepost.com/article/c4c50a42-c868-484d-8483-ffd3a2acde95.html Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:00:00 GMT 'Keynsian Moment' Needed To Fight 'Great Recession' No one's yet named the economic crisis we're in. It's developed beyond the financial markets, so "the Panic of '08" won't do. Optimistically, I suggest "the Great Recession." That's optimistic because, while this recession is likely to be the longest... http://www.caglepost.com/article/ff75864c-6485-4f40-aa56-fb4f3cb99970.html Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:00:00 GMT Obama Needs Help In Keeping Promise To Unify Country New presidents habitually -- and often mistakenly -- try to do the exact opposite of what their predecessor did. But after George Bush's record as "the Great Polarizer," President-elect Barack Obama definitely should seek to be "the Great Unifier." J... http://www.caglepost.com/article/2e61f722-981d-46db-89c5-b900d083cfb6.html Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:00:00 GMT President Obama: We Still Don't Know Who He Really Is Barring a phenomenal last-minute surge to John McCain, Barack Obama is our next president. The question is: Who is Barack Obama? After 22 months that he's been campaigning, after thousands of speeches, dozens of debates and reams of position papers, ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/5e1c373b-e5ee-424f-9325-6cc623367299.html Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT McCain's Slim Hopes Ride On Obama's 'Poor Closer' Record Is it "over"? Well, all the indicators -- from polls to money to troops on the ground -- suggest an Obama victory. But it's not quite "over" yet. John McCain's slim hopes for an upset rest primarily on the fact that in several crucial battleground st... http://www.caglepost.com/article/d66679b0-5ca4-4f93-a034-3fb0a7955e65.html Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT Strategic Pakistan Steps Up Terror Fight, Needs Aid Along with a deep recession, President Bush is bequeathing his successor a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan -- but there are positive signs across the border in Pakistan. Pakistan's new civilian government and military high command are at last ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/41a7d68f-c59f-4ff9-86d7-93873722b054.html Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT McCain, Obama Again Dodged Priority Questions Even though questions about spending and tax priorities and "too much debt" were asked again at Tuesday night's presidential debate, John McCain and Barack Obama once again failed to answer them. In fact, they both perpetuated the fantasy that they c... http://www.caglepost.com/article/3fba4fcc-2bd5-42b8-96f0-7f051d169d70.html Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT If Rescue Passes, Here's Who Gets Credit And Blame Staring into the abyss of economic ruin -- to be followed quickly by political ruin -- America's political leaders are struggling to come together on a financial rescue package. With President Bush seemingly unable to convince anyone of anything, Sen... http://www.caglepost.com/article/15a14cda-6893-4205-b39e-ce20c9b21936.html Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT Bush's Second Term Is Better Than First -- Credit Josh Bolten Just when the improving situation in Iraq was changing President Bush's legacy for the better, the potential meltdown of the economy is putting it back in doubt. If Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's huge financial rescue package -- or some modified ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/aa0fcaf7-2d0d-4f1a-ad99-48547fc3b50f.html Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT No More 'Lipstick' -- With Financial Crisis, Politics Gets Serious It's sad that it has taken a Wall Street meltdown to do it, but at last the presidential campaign is off trivialities -- as in "lipstick on a pig" -- and is focused on America's dire economic problems. It's hard to believe the economic issue won't fa... http://www.caglepost.com/article/c13fed6e-d296-41c8-a8ea-20626ca736c7.html Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT Congress Must Act On Energy, Health IT To Ease Public Anger While Barack Obama and John McCain are promising to end partisan bickering and get problems solved, their allies in Congress are back to the same old warring ways that voters hate. It appears all too likely that Congress will deadlock once again on m... http://www.caglepost.com/article/bd13506a-6c3b-4236-9251-c5daf8e96ddc.html Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT Which Ticket Really Will Deliver Change Voters Want? The man without a party, Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., came to the Republican National Convention and raised perhaps the key issue of the 2008 campaign when he declared "the McCain/Palin ticket is the real ticket for change this year." "Change" is th... http://www.caglepost.com/article/a6d1cd3f-58ed-425f-8723-1ef2d5876714.html Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT Obama Camp Claims Its 'Ground Game' Will Beat Bush's of '04 Like President Bush, the high command of Barack Obama's presidential campaign claims to pay no attention to unfavorable national polls, asserting that what counts is its aggressive "ground game" in 18 key battleground states. Key Obama advisers say t... http://www.caglepost.com/article/27570814-62b1-4478-87be-ff202e331e66.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT Bush Bets Pakistan Will Become South Korea, Not Iran Even before Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's resignation on Aug. 18, President Bush cut loose his old ally in hopes that Pakistan will end up a stable democratic ally like South Korea or the Philippines. But Pakistan also could go the way of Ir... http://www.caglepost.com/article/15b6fb26-45e6-4aa1-88c1-6399fe9088b8.html Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT McCain Is Right To 'Go Negative' -- But Needs Positive Contrary to all the flak he's taking for it, Sen. John McCain has every right to "go negative" on Sen. Barack Obama -- but he'd better firm up his positive message, too. McCain has been making a case that lower corporate taxes will create "jobs for A... http://www.caglepost.com/article/ccff7b1a-74fe-4ede-84bc-e7766e9e86aa.html Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT Do Democrats Want Obama To Be Another 'War President'? Barack Obama clearly did not get a "bump" -- or a "dump" -- from his overseas trip. What his supporters may not have focused on is that he means to be, like George Bush, another American wartime president. "This is the moment when we must renew our r... http://www.caglepost.com/article/6f0d9bfa-fca2-4115-bcb0-9779f6a82517.html Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT Pakistan's Democracy Deserves Full Support, Not Double Messages After lavishing praise, political support and military aid on Pakistani military dictator Pervez Musharraf for seven years, the Bush administration is curiously ambiguous in its attitude toward the country's 4-month-old democratic government. In publ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/330d801e-1de3-474f-9a7e-7a1f11011d2b.html Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT Obama Makes Gains Among Workers Hurt By Bush Economics A new book designed to show Republicans how to win the working-class vote actually makes a strong case that Sen. Barack Obama will carry it. Much-discussed and deservedly praised, "Grand New Party" by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam paints a grim pictu... http://www.caglepost.com/article/629aad34-bfaa-47fc-8b2d-05e25793e6ad.html Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT Obama Errs On Iraq, McCain On Economy, To Placate Party Bases The economic news is so bad that it's no wonder Sen. Barack Obama is leading the presidential race. But he is giving political gifts to Sen. John McCain on Iraq policy. Every voter understands the simple principle that you don't make up your mind abo... http://www.caglepost.com/article/9aaa321b-7b2a-466a-b7a3-ab7f64d21a03.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT Obama's Changes Raise Issue: Can You Believe In Him? Maybe the biggest question of the 2008 presidential campaign is "Who is Sen. Barack Obama really?" Of late, the mystery is deepening. It's customary for presidential candidates to move to the center for the general election after they've pandered to ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/a02a204c-f2d2-4484-9500-9ff791249eba.html Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT Who's To Blame For $4 Gas? Both Democrats And GOP What's the cause of $4 for a gallon of gasoline? To listen to Democrats in Congress and on the campaign trail -- and also some Republicans -- the answer is "price gouging," "speculation," "oil companies" or "the failed policies of George Bush and Dic... http://www.caglepost.com/article/c2b633da-6e71-4818-9699-7351c78fe2e2.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT States Tackle Health, Energy, Climate -- Why Can't Washington? As the National Governors Association gets ready to celebrate its 100th anniversary, the states are once again stepping up to serious problems that the partisanship-possessed federal government can't or won't face. Whether it's health care reform, cl... http://www.caglepost.com/article/77ffbfa9-e55c-42f2-b024-7d712bf7de06.html Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:00:00 GMT Obama, McCain Can Help Advance Energy, Competitiveness Now John McCain and Barack Obama unveiled impressive plans this week on energy and competitiveness policy, but they need to act now to save federal energy research from collapsing. Specifically, McCain should call the White House and Obama should call De... http://www.caglepost.com/article/58f93bab-8e9b-4bff-91ac-d4a7ec439b43.html Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:00:00 GMT Obama Won't Agree to 10 Town Halls With McCain. Why? Sen. John McCain recently received an answer from Sen. Barack Obama on his proposal for 10 town hall-style debates: not going to happen. That's too bad -- and, the fewer there are, the more Obama should suffer for it politically. The town halls not o... http://www.caglepost.com/article/4da8461f-c274-4527-9fbd-720ef4a1514d.html Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:00:00 GMT McCain Needs 'Vision' To Beat Historic Odds Favoring Obama In '08 A new scholarly analysis confirms that Sen. John McCain has to perform miracles to win the 2008 election. So far, he is far short of doing that. McCain's speech in Louisiana Tuesday night fell embarrassingly short of matching Sen. Barack Obama' eloqu... http://www.caglepost.com/article/b8f710e6-c212-4490-bd98-633ecc875018.html Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:00:00 GMT 'Assassination' Flap Is The Latest Media 'Aha!' Moment This ought to be the last word on the flap over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's, D-N.Y., use of the word "assassination": ridiculous! Or, if two words are necessary, how about: Enough already! Clinton is being hammered not for anything she actually did... http://www.caglepost.com/article/ae1a0168-cd32-4b09-91dc-b12db1ae034f.html Thu, 29 May 2008 07:00:00 GMT Can GOP Reform To Avoid 'Kennedy Scenario' For 2008? Everyone in and around American politics is pulling for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., on a personal level. But Republicans have to work very hard to avoid the fulfillment of his political dream. In an interview in March, Kennedy talked about the diff... http://www.caglepost.com/article/9b9bee3e-799f-4d5f-865f-a97eb5cd0948.html Thu, 22 May 2008 07:00:00 GMT To Get Priorities Right, Walker Should Be Next Vice President "What kind of America are we going to leave to our kids?" The question is the biggest cliche in American politics -- and the least seriously addressed major issue. Because, in fact, the now-retiring baby boom generation is passing on to its children ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/52026232-1b87-4b2d-9025-4a2dc0fe5f53.html Thu, 15 May 2008 07:00:00 GMT In Visit To Israel, Bush Can Prevent A War With Iran When President Bush visits Israel next week, he should offer to bring that ally fully into the U.S. missile defense network -- a step that might forestall an Israeli attack on Iran this year. Two of the most strategically minded members of Congress I... http://www.caglepost.com/article/d36db6b6-85aa-415f-b627-4feb7f4362a5.html Thu, 08 May 2008 07:00:00 GMT Clinton Can't Win Popular Vote Race Without A Miracle Unless the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has caused Barack Obama more damage than is evident, it's impossible to see how the senator can lose the popular vote, the delegate race or the Democratic nomination to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Specifically, I've c... http://www.caglepost.com/article/9f6a2281-d290-473e-b300-2ce31a4153a9.html Fri, 02 May 2008 07:00:00 GMT Obama Is Wounded, But Clinton Must Prove He Can't Win The best political joke of 2008 was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's, R-Ky., at the Washington Press Club Foundation's dinner in February -- about how the Democratic race featured Hillary Rodham Clinton, a New York senator born in Illinois, a... http://www.caglepost.com/article/e1386e71-24ab-47ae-bb12-ea17d2c08650.html Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:00:00 GMT How will McCain Handle 'Are you Better Off' Issue? Sen. John McCain has made a good start showing he understands economics, but he still has to cope with the killer question: "Are you better off now than you were eight years ago?" In a debate at The George Washington University on Feb. 25, a team of ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/a7a9a081-b0e2-4e62-8694-a7744293a187.html Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:00:00 GMT Obama Wins 'Petraeus Primary' For Best Use of Senate Iraq Hearing Judging by his agile performance at Tuesday's Iraq hearings, Sen. Barack Obama now is opting for the famous George Aiken formula from Vietnam days: Declare victory and get out. Or, rather, as an update on the late Vermont Republican's 1966 idea, Obam... http://www.caglepost.com/article/7ccbeaed-a4a0-451a-8e40-a9fe5643a7a5.html Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:00:00 GMT Nation Deserves Candidate Debates On Failing Public Schools How many wake-up calls does America need before we make our failing public schools fit for the competitive challenges of the 21st century? This month marks the 25th anniversary of the first loud gong -- the 1983 report "A Nation at Risk," which famou... http://www.caglepost.com/article/46728c0c-fb20-467c-8cba-f9f1fbcd42a2.html Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:00:00 GMT Stupid Actions Spoil Candidates' Claims of Shift To 'Smart Power' The three presidential candidates and much of the U.S. foreign policy establishment all favor presenting a "kinder, gentler" face to the world than President Bush's, but both parties have opened big holes in their appeal. For the Democrats, it's unio... http://www.caglepost.com/article/5be6df61-2a18-4194-b2ed-6e596d04deb2.html Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:00:00 GMT Obama's Pastor -- And Populism -- Foster Disunity Sen. Barack Obama is absolutely right, as he said in his Philadelphia speech on Tuesday, that Americans are "hungry" for his "message of unity." But his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright -- and not only that, but his whole liberal-populist a... http://www.caglepost.com/article/48ddba8f-4e18-4663-a07b-a0fc504bc576.html Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:00:00 GMT Democrats Won't Fracture -- Just Give Ammo To McCain The rough treatment Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is giving Sen. Barack Obama may be good, real-world training if he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee and gets elected, but in the meantime she's helping Republican Sen. John McCain. She may we... http://www.caglepost.com/article/13544203-9fe3-42ee-af23-710708728fb0.html Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:00:00 GMT Sorry To Say, Race Is Back As Factor In Democratic Contest A major Ohio political leader recently told me: "Obama will never carry Ohio. Some people call it the Bradley effect, but how do you think the guys who work at the GM plant in Youngstown are going to vote? For a black? I don't think so." I didn't bel... http://www.caglepost.com/article/f410af7a-9379-4a10-9361-f4c97aee4aa6.html Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:00:00 GMT 'Experience' Issue Won't Beat Obama -- McCain Needs 'Vision' While some polls show that Sen. John McCain is running even with Sen. Barack Obama in general election match-ups, the Republican has to be considered the underdog -- and will need a compelling positive vision for America to catch up. McCain needs to ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/939167ac-2804-45bf-aa43-70df0e0ac635.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT Clinton Needs More Than New Personnel To Stop Obama Surge Wisconsin was the first big test of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's new campaign high command, though perhaps not a fair one. Regardless, it failed and has just two weeks to figure out how to stop Sen. Barack Obama's relentless surge toward the Democra... http://www.caglepost.com/article/59bcc191-6d9d-4acb-a166-73770596713e.html Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT Forget Wisconsin -- Next Week's Big Election is in Pakistan The second-most important election of the year for Americans is scheduled to occur next Monday in Pakistan, determining whether that nuclear-armed and terrorist-infested nation moves toward democracy or chaos. Two recent polls indicate that support f... http://www.caglepost.com/article/3480e2cd-f909-4e4a-b3b4-44b9c0f3443e.html Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT McCain's Challenge: Democrats Hugely Outvoting GOP After Super Tuesday, Sen. John McCain has every right to declare himself the Republican presidential front-runner, but he has miles to go in getting himself and his party in shape to face his Democratic opponent. One measure of his task is that mo... http://www.caglepost.com/article/04ca04cf-e44c-4a73-b4cf-6959a8bed3f0.html Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT Bush Insists U.S. is Stronger Since He Took Office Despite dismal national and international poll ratings, a hostile Congress and a sagging economy, President Bush enters his last year in office expressing total confidence that he's been doing the right things. He told me in an Oval Office intervi... http://www.caglepost.com/article/a197a3e9-48eb-4994-9f2a-7bed5b89418c.html Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT To Avoid Further Losses, Republicans Need 'Rebranding' As Congressional Republicans try to "rebrand" themselves for the 2008 elections, the House Suburban Caucus is back with proposals designed to protect some of the most vulnerable GOP members. The agenda includes establishment of federal "401 Kids" ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/c5c42128-5537-4aa2-bb65-260eea3b437f.html Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT Will Democrats Ever Acknowledge Progress in Iraq? It was simply ridiculous for Democrats to fight about race, but it's more serious that they won't disagree about Iraq. None of the Democratic presidential candidates -- or Congressional leaders -- will acknowledge that the troop surge in Iraq crea... http://www.caglepost.com/article/45ec1a9b-ab53-43e0-88a9-8ef7073d595b.html Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT Obama: The Next Kennedy or Carter? MANCHESTER, N.H. -- A door-to-door canvasser here for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., told me all during the weekend before Tuesday's primary that his team was encountering independent voters torn between Clinton and Republican Sen. John McCain ... http://www.caglepost.com/article/d388cd63-80fa-45f0-b137-12fa568a1e64.html Fri, 11 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT Moderate Graybeards Need A Top-10 Agenda. Here's One While the political world is fixated this weekend on what the Iowa caucus results mean for New Hampshire, something really useful could be unfolding at the University of Oklahoma. That's where a bipartisan group of moderate ex-politicians is gatheri... http://www.caglepost.com/article/ae1c42cd-9f69-4c6a-bc1b-e768c91e270d.html Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT Democrats' hatred of Bush endangers war against terror Every few days, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nevada) puts out the "Bin Laden Tick Tock," jabbing President Bush for his failure to capture the terrorist leader six years after 9/11. At the same time, though, Democrats seem determined to curt... http://www.caglepost.com/article/8b50fd61-33e0-4277-b500-f3f5aa0668ca.html Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:00:00 GMT

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