2008 US Presidential Election.

CONCORD, N.H. - When it comes to the Iraq war, apparently there is more than one right answer.

Among rank-and-file Democrats in early voting states like New Hampshire and Iowa, anti-war passion is so strong that it’s difficult for their party’s presidential candidates to oppose the war too forcefully. On the other hand, candidates don’t want to go too far and risk losing swing voters critical to winning the general election.

At the same time, Republican hopefuls campaigning in these same states must tread delicately if they are to distance themselves from President Bush’s prosecution of an increasingly unpopular war without offending core GOP voters, many of whom continue to support Bush and the conflict.

Yahoo! News

Hillary Clinton Is Going To End The War And Give Health Insurance To Everyone

Right Voices

A long-awaited Senate showdown on the war in Iraq was shut down before it even started yesterday, when nearly all Republicans voted to stop the Senate from considering a resolution opposing President Bush’s plan to send 21,500 additional combat troops into battle.

A day of posturing, finger-pointing and backroom wrangling came to nothing when Democratic and Republican leaders could not reach agreement on which nonbinding resolutions would be debated and allowed to come to a vote. The Senate’s 49 to 47 vote last night to proceed to debate on Bush’s new war policy fell 11 votes short of the 60 needed to break the logjam. Just two Republicans, Norm Coleman (Minn.) and Susan Collins (Maine), voted with the Democrats to proceed with the debate. Both are considered among the most vulnerable senators standing for reelection in 2008.

Washington Post

In the nearly three weeks since Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) made his unofficial debut as a presidential candidate, his senior advisers have been holed up in a temporary office on Connecticut Avenue NW, feverishly working to translate the huge excitement about his candidacy into a political strategy.

For all the buzz about his running, Obama did not enter the race with the conventional weapons of a presidential candidate — a deep database of donors, a tactical road map for winning primaries or even a sign marking the entrance to his ad hoc campaign headquarters. Obama is only now starting to build a political infrastructure that matches his growing support.

Washington Post

Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani jumped into the 2008 presidential race yesterday, filing a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission and declaring on national television last night, “I’m in this to win.”

Giuliani’s actions were aimed at erasing any lingering doubts about whether he would enter the 2008 campaign and came after an intensive month of activity in which he has stepped up his political travels, broadened his political team and expanded his fundraising operation. A formal announcement will come later, Giuliani said.

Washington Post

If you followed the 2006 elections, you witnessed a few “ceilings” fall.
If you watch the 2008 presidential election, you’ll hopefully see what’s left of the “marble ceiling” crash to the ground.

As Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House in United States history, so proudly proclaimed after the Democratic majority took over, “for our daughters and our granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling.”

The United States is unmatched in political inequality in terms of racial and gender under-representation. According to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the United States ranks 66th worldwide in terms of women holding office in the national legislature, just ahead of the country of Turkmenistan. Some countries that have greater representation include brand-new democracies such as the esteemed governments of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The State News

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 — With its military spending increases, reductions in popular domestic programs and calls to extend tax cuts, President Bush’s $2.9 trillion budget for 2008 drew fire from Democrats the minute it landed on Monday.

But while Democratic critics may wish to challenge the administration’s blueprint, political and fiscal constraints will make it hard for them to assert their own priorities.

In theory, the budget presents the Democrats their first real opportunity to rewrite the administration’s policies, especially on tax cuts, that they have been attacking for six years.

New York Times

Each night, NBC Nightly News takes viewers to the heart of a breaking news story, whether it is in depth international reporting, extensive domestic coverage or comprehensive political reporting. Led by anchor and managing editor Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News provides viewers a better way to get close to a story and receive the day’s most important national and international news. This Widget pulls directly from the NBC Nightly News RSS feed.

NBC Nightly News Widgets

MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” takes a fast paced look at the top five news stories of the day, from politics to pop culture, from mainstream to oddball. This Widget pulls directly from the Countdown RSS feed and will keep you up-to-date with the most compelling hour in cable news.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann widgets

Excitement spread like wildfire last week across the libertarian web: Ron Paul has entered the presidential race! Even the mainstream press took notice. As we’ll see in the interview with Rep. Paul (R-Texas) below, the excitement may have been premature.

The reason for the excitement is understandable: Ron Paul has been the most consistent successful politician advocating the limited-government principles that he sees embedded in the Constitution. Part of his appeal, to a voting base that we can safely presume isn’t as libertarian as Paul is himself, is that of the very rare politician following his own conscience and mind with steadfast integrity. Indeed, Paul is not afraid of aggravating even parts of his libertarian constituency when he thinks it’s the right thing to do, as on immigration (where he’s against amnesty and birthright citizenship, and for increased border control) and his vote this month in favor of prescription drug negotiation.

reason

I haven’t had the chance to truly parse John Edwards’ universal health care plan, (PDF) except to note that its yearly pricetag is less than half the $235 billion “supplemental” that George Bush tacked on to his budget to fund the Iraq war.

The details are less important than the framing of the issue: For less money than we’re currently spending to lose the Iraq war, we could cover every uninsured man, woman and child in America.

We’re waging war in a foreign land without wrecking our economy. Clearly we could provide quality health care for every one of our countrymen and still be prosperous.

RollingStone National Affairs