Decision ‘08 » 2007

Archive for January, 2007

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

Behind The Kerry Withdrawal…

…was a lack of fundraising success, according to this article by Roger Simon:
As John Kerry just found out, $13 million is sometimes not enough.
That amount, which the senator from Massachusetts still had on hand after running for the presidency four years ago as the Democratic nominee, is only a fraction of what a presidential candidate […]

No Comments » - Posted in Rudy Giuliani, John Kerry, Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Democratic Candidates, Republican Candidates, Election 2008 by Mark

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

A Good Way To Pick A Fight

Recommend this to your liberal friends:
It’s tempting to say that Arthur Brooks, in his definitive new book on American charitable giving, has shown that there is nothing oxymoronic about the term “compassionate conservative.” That, at least, is the conclusion that critics have drawn from Brooks’s demonstration that conservatives, despite the myth that they lack compassion, […]

No Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, Elephants, Donkeys by Mark

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

More 2008 Polling

This time from TIME:
Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner to win the Democratic party’s nomination for President in 2008, but the Republican race will be a close contest between Senator John McCain and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani — with McCain edging Giuliani by a three- to four-point margin. And a presidential face-off between […]

17 Comments » - Posted in Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Republican Candidates, 2008 Polls, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

Is Rudy A Conservative?

Yes, says Steven Malanga:
…[T]oday ex–New York mayor Rudy Giuliani sits at or near the top of virtually every poll of potential 2008 presidential candidates. Already, Giuliani’s popularity has set off a “stop Rudy” movement among cultural conservatives, who object to his three marriages and his support for abortion rights, gay unions, and curbs on gun […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Rudy Giuliani, Republican Candidates, Election 2008 by Mark

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

Difficult Does Not Mean Impossible…

…and pessimism tends to be self-fulfilling. God knows I’ve had my share of doubts and pessimism about Iraq, but it’s reaching levels that go beyond what the facts warrant. Daniel Henninger, writing in the Wall Street Journal, looks at the current culture of rampant pessimism, and goes digging for causes:
Its causes are multiple, but here […]

17 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Donkeys, Iraq by Mark

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

Right On The Money

I meant to highlight this Ruth Marcus editorial earlier because it’s spot-on:
If George W. Bush proposes something, it must be bad. Such is the knee-jerk state of partisan suspiciousness that when the president actually endorses a tax increase — a tax increase that would primarily hit the well-off, no less — Democrats still howl.
Such is […]

9 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, POTUS, Donkeys by Mark

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

The Absolute Nadir Of Popular Culture

I’ve looked into the abyss, and I am beyond the fear of death: I was forced this afternoon, while getting a tire put on my car, to watch three consecutive episodes of “Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out” on MTV2, an execreble self-styled ‘hip-hop comedy improv’ that had me wanting to burn down the building […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

The Myth Of ‘Bipartisan’ War Opposition

Opponents of the Iraq War are quite fond of pointing to lone Republicans standing in opposition to our policy in Iraq as proof that Bush faces ‘bipartisan’ opposition to his plans. This is no more accurate than pointing to Joe Lieberman as proof the Democrats support the war.
As an example, one need look no further […]

13 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Elephants, Donkeys, Iraq, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

My Heart Has Been Broken Into Teeny Little Pieces

The 2008 race just lost its crown jester:
In these days when everyone and their brother seems to be running for president, someone today decided that he was not: Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who lost to President Bush in 2004.
The news was relayed by a Democratic official in anticipation of an announcement later […]

No Comments » - Posted in John Kerry, 2008 News, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

Time Is Running Out To Stop Nuclear Iran

This report in the Telegraph, quoting a ’senior European defense official’, is jump-out-of-your-seat alarming:

North Korea is helping Iran to prepare an underground nuclear test similar to the one Pyongyang carried out last year.
Under the terms of a new understanding between the two countries, the North Koreans have agreed to share all the data and information […]

No Comments » - Posted in Iran, North Korea, Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

Hillary Still Has Some Work Left To Do

Iowa is not enamored of the frontrunner, according to the latest Strategic Visions poll:
John Edwards 25%
Barack Obama 17%
Tom Vilsack 16%
Hillary Clinton 15%
Wow, Vilsack running ahead? That’s lame…but guess who is leading the Republicans? Yep, you knew it already:
Rudy Giuliani 25%
John McCain 21%
Newt Gingrich 13%
Mitt Romney 8%
Gingrich ahead of Romney? Doesn’t bode well for his candidacy, either…but […]

13 Comments » - Posted in Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Newt Gingrich, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Republican Candidates, 2008 Polls, Hillary Clinton, Democratic Candidates by Mark

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

The Libby Trial: Scapegoats Abound

The big story of the Libby trial, finally underway, is that Libby’s defense team is claiming he was sacrificed to save Karl Rove:
…[N]o sooner did he start his opening statement Tuesday morning than defense lawyer Ted Wells shocked the courtroom and all but tossed the “pardon strategy” out the window. Seeking to rebut Fitzgerald’s contention […]

No Comments » - Posted in PlameGate by Mark

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

SOTU Impressions

Well, because my expectatations were low, perhaps, I thought he did pretty well. I think the President performs better in front of audiences, frankly. He laid out the case for Iraq better tonight than he did in his much anticipated Iraq policy speech.
I must say, though, that I found the Democratic response troubling in one […]

2 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Donkeys, Iraq, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

SOTU Excerpt

In an apparent case of mistaken identity (they must be confusing me with someone with a sizable audience - though my audience does make up in class, intelligence, and great looks what it lacks in numbers), I am on the mailing list to receive updates from the White House Press Room. Here’s a sneak peak […]

1 Comment » - Posted in POTUS, Radical Islam / GWOT, Foreign Affairs by Mark

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

Don’t Tease Me Like That!

Can it be? Can John Kerry truly still be pondering a 2008 run? Apparently:
With the 2008 Democratic presidential field taking shape fast, Senator John F. Kerry still hasn’t decided whether to join the race, and maintains that the early announcements from other candidates won’t push him to act in haste , according to Kerry aides […]

8 Comments » - Posted in John Kerry, Democratic Candidates, Election 2008 by Mark

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

It’s The Energy Policy, Stupid?

Most of the pre-game speculation on tonight’s SOTU address has focused on energy policy. Typical is this piece from the Associated Press:
In his first State of the Union address to a Democratic-controlled Congress, President Bush is calling for Americans to slash gasoline consumption by up to 20 percent by 2017.
Bush envisions the goal being achieved […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Iran, Domestic Affairs, POTUS, Iraq, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

Oscar Notes

The big headline everywhere is that Dreamgirls got 8 nominations, but is not up for Best Picture - but the real headline should be that a Spanish-language film with a Mexican director and a relatively modest production budget of $19 million got six - I’m talking about Pan’s Labyrinth (reviewed here by yours truly). The truly excellent […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

When RINOs Ingest Psychedelics…

…the results may look something like this wonderful edition of the RINO Sightings at Classical Values (I haven’t participated in a while, but we’re trying to get things off the ground again, so pay it a visit, won’t you?)…

No Comments » - Posted in RINOs / Chillers by Mark

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

What Changed?

The line item veto - good then, but not now?
The Senate is moving toward its first vote in more than a decade on the line-item veto, and it’s remarkable how much has changed – particularly the positions of many of the major players.
At issue is a watered-down GOP measure that would allow a president […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, Donkeys by Mark

Monday, January 22nd, 2007

More On The Obama ‘Madrassa’ Smear

CNN put its money where its mouth was and visited the scene:
Allegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a “madrassa” are not accurate, according to CNN reporting.
Insight Magazine, which is owned by the same company as The Washington Times, reported on its Web site last week that associates […]