Archive for December, 2007

Monday, December 31st, 2007

Iowa Predictions

What the hey…with polls showing both parties completely up for grabs in Iowa, I’ll put my two cents in with predictions.
Republicans:  Mitt Romney
Democrats: Hillary Clinton
Second will go to Huckabee and Edwards, respectively.  Big losers on the day will be Obama, with a tough-to-swallow third, and Fred Thompson, who will begin the slink off the stage […]

7 Comments » - Posted in Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Democratic Candidates, Republican Candidates, Hillary Clinton, Election 2008 by Mark

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Saturday, December 29th, 2007

Second Casualty of Pakistan Tragedy: Mike Huckabee?

There are many, many reasons I could never support the modern Democratic party - their embrace of the unions that are killing our public schools and auto industry, their protectionist nonsense, and their general warmth towards big government spending (this is not to ignore the big government spending of some modern Republicans, the present administration […]

56 Comments » - Posted in Election 2006, Mike Huckabee, Foreign Affairs, 2008 Polls by Mark

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Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Good News So Far For Longhorn Fans…

…as Texas has a 28-10 halftime lead over Arizona State in a Holiday Bowl that the Texas  coaches have taken very seriously indeed.  Horrible news today, though, with the murder of Benazir Bhutto.  I actually got a little teary-eyed when I saw the headline, as this served as a blunt reminder of just how brutal […]

11 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, Foreign Affairs, Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

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Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

One Week From Iowa

Back in business after an extended Christmas break (among my gifts - an HD DVD player with the 5-disc Blade Runner collection - how cool is that?).  Hard to believe, but Iowa is a scant seven days away now.
On the Republican side, the real suspense is two-fold - can Romney hold off a late-charging Huckabee, […]

5 Comments » - Posted in Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, Republican Candidates, 2008 News, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Saturday, December 22nd, 2007

Five Paths To A Merry Christmas

‘Tis the season to spend a lot of time with family (hope you’re able to do the same), so blogging will be minimal for the next few days.  Before I bid you a temporary farewell, I’ll leave you with Marc Ambinder’s piece on the five paths to the GOP nomination.
Hope you all have a Merry […]

No Comments » - Posted in Republican Candidates, Election 2008 by Mark

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Thursday, December 20th, 2007

The End Of Rudy?

You can’t swing a cat without hitting a Rudy free-fall story, but Jim Geraghty says “Not so fast”:
…Rudy will remain in okay shape until it’s a two man race, and that for him to win the nomination, he needs the last remaining Not Rudy candidate to be too bruised to triumph.
Iowa, for now, appears […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Republican Candidates, 2008 Polls, Election 2008 by Mark

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Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

I’m Not Endorsing Any Candidate…

…much as that will disappoint the campaign managers who were salivating over the coveted ‘D’08′ demographic (not to be confused with the coveted Homer Simpson ‘D’oh!’ demographic).  For lots of reasons, I think it’s much cleaner for an independent blogger to stay out of that game.
Nevertheless, I have made it plain to all my readers […]

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

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Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

TIME’s Person Of The Year

I’m shocked it’s not Al Gore, but the choice is an intriguing one…and the reasons he is the choice are quite unfortunate.  Who is it?
Read on…

9 Comments » - Posted in Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Monday, December 17th, 2007

Same As It Ever Was?

With all the excitement over the rise of Huckabee and Obama, the latest USA Today/Gallup numbers seem like a blast from the past, with Rudy and Clinton actually increasing their front-runner status over the prior polling period:
Republicans.
It’s Rudy Giuliani still in the lead — and a quartet of rivals all within striking range. Mike Huckabee’s […]

6 Comments » - Posted in Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, Republican Candidates, 2008 Polls, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Sunday, December 16th, 2007

Sharpton Cuts A Deal

Would it be too much for a person who goes by the honorific “Reverend” to understand the difference between perhaps strictly legal and definitely morally repugnant?
With a hidden FBI camera rolling inside a New York hotel suite in 2003, an unsuspecting Rev. Al Sharpton, Democratic candidate for president, spoke candidly.
Sharpton offered to help Philadelphia fund-raiser […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Donkeys by Mark

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Saturday, December 15th, 2007

As Iraq Fades, Huckabee and Obama Rise

Curious as to why the opening vote in Iowa on January 3rd may go to Obama and Huckabee rather than Hillary and Romney, as presumed for so long?  Peter Beinart says it’s because Iraq has settled down:
The reason Iraq is fading is simple: Not as many people are dying there. Fewer deaths mean fewer front-page […]

8 Comments » - Posted in Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, Iraq, Hillary Clinton, Republican Candidates, 2008 Polls, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Thursday, December 13th, 2007

Field Of Apologies

Huckabee apologizes to Romney for attacking his Mormonism…
Hillary apologizes to Obama for making his drug-using early life an issue (and forces out the advisor who brought it up)…
…and Major League Baseball should apologize to everyone in the country for the sham that their lax enforcement of drug policy has turned their record books into.  Basically, […]

16 Comments » - Posted in Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports, Hillary Clinton, Republican Candidates, 2008 News, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Wednesday, December 12th, 2007

Is The Smart Money Smart? (And Is There Enough of It?)

There is much debate over whether such political trading vehicles as Intrade have enough volume to constitute an accurate source of predictions, but for what it’s worth, the money is still on Hillary and Giuliani, surging Obamas and Huckabees notwithstanding (the Iowa Electronic Market, which has nothing to do with the Iowa primaries, has it […]

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

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Tuesday, December 11th, 2007

More On Huckabee

Yesterday, I shared my opinion that the surging Mike Huckabee might have a chance at the Republican nomination, due to his obvious appeal to the base, but would lose big in the general election because his appeal is limited to the base.  Today, a couple of stories have added to my apprehensions.  One is a new […]

8 Comments » - Posted in Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, 2008 News, Republican Candidates, 2008 Polls, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Monday, December 10th, 2007

The Huckabee Surge

Foreign policy has been much more exciting than political campaigns lately, so I’ve been pretty light on the ostensible purpose of this blog.  However, I would be negligent in my duties if I failed to note that while Giuliani has been struggling under the cloud of ’scandal’, Mike Huckabee has been skyrocketing.  Those looking for proof needn’t […]

9 Comments » - Posted in Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, Republican Candidates, 2008 Polls, Democratic Candidates by Mark

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Sunday, December 9th, 2007

Waterboarding A-OK When Bush Was Popular And No One Knew

More hypocrisy from Congressional Democrats:
In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual […]

13 Comments » - Posted in Donkeys, Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

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Saturday, December 8th, 2007

Want My Support For The War? You’ll Have To Pay For It

No wonder Democrats who are against the war are so upset with the current Democratic leadership…after repeatedly vowing to end the war, then repeatedly vowing not to fund the war without a date certain for withdrawal, the Democrats in the House and Senate are poised to pass a war funding bill with no timetables for […]

5 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Elephants, Donkeys, Iraq by Mark

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Thursday, December 6th, 2007

Why The Change On Iran? Some Details Emerge

Good piece from David Sanger in this morning’s NY Times on the events that led up to the changed NIE on Iran’s nuclear ambitions:
American intelligence agencies reversed their view about the status of Iran’s nuclear weapons program after they obtained notes last summer from the deliberations of Iranian military officials involved in the weapons development […]

37 Comments » - Posted in Iran, Radical Islam / GWOT, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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Wednesday, December 5th, 2007

You Can’t Have Your Cake…Etc., Etc.

As the impact of the Iran NIE sinks in, it is apparent that some folks are so set on absolving Iran that they ignore the ‘high certainty’ of the estimate that Iran DID, in fact, have a nuclear weapons program until 2003, and the ‘high certainty’ that they could start it back up pretty much […]

38 Comments » - Posted in Iran, Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

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Monday, December 3rd, 2007

Two Surprises

I must say, I am astonished that emerging tyrant Hugo Chavez is letting (for now, at least) a quite public rebuke of his rule stand:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez suffered an unprecedented defeat after voters on Sunday rejected a constitutional package of 69 reforms that included scrapping presidential term limits and declaring Venezuela a socialist state. […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Iran, Foreign Affairs by Mark

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