One of the under-noticed results from Iowa was that all three Democratic candidates received more votes than Mike Huckabee, the Republican winner. Almost as many people voted for Barack Obama as voted for all the Republicans put together.
And today, after two weeks of terrible press, Obama more than doubled Clinton’s total, and won more votes [...]

Everyone agrees that cable news sucks, and that the political coverage from CNN, et al. is laughably bad. Usually, people blame this on the media’s overemphasis on horse race coverage. I don’t think that’s right.
At least, I don’t object to horse race coverage. I like it. And I imagine that a significant percentage of people [...]

Is it merely a coincidence that news anchors — Brian Williams tonight, Jim Lehrer or Gwen Ifill pretty much all the time — are vastly better at asking questions that are reasonably tangential to things people want to hear about, than are political journalists like Tim Russert and Chris Matthews?
For one, Russert et al. [...]

Andrew Sullivan quotes a reader’s email:
I’m starting to get the impression that the Clinton camp is trying to lure Obama into playing the race card. The obvious tactics of calling him kid and everything seem to me like a race-bait tactic. First, get Bill to belittle Obama in what can be seen by some (but [...]

Obama is in good shape to win New Hampshire, and after that, South Carolina. But is there any evidence whatsoever for the idea that black people won’t vote for black candidates until white people vote for them first?
This vaguely insulting theory has been proffered by a number of pundits in the last few days, seeking [...]

I must admit that I prefer this image of America overseas:

to this one.

The (apparently untrue) rumors that Bill Richardson and Joe Biden are asking their supporters to caucus for Barack Obama are, with the help of a gullible media, doing a pretty good job creating the impression of an last-minute Obama surge.
And taking a page from LBJ, the rumors are forcing other candidates to spend Election [...]

Obviously, a party that is run on behalf of rich people is going to be less sympathetic to unions and collective bargaining than a party that is on the side of the middle class. And obviously, those little shows of support for American labor — buying signs and buttons from union shops, and so forth [...]

How much can be read into this anecdote about the Clintons campaigning together in Des Moines yesterday:
On the way out of the store, a woman asked Bill to sign a greenback. Bill obliged, while pointing out “this isn’t legal” to the amusement of folks standing nearby.
A few minutes later, the same request was made to [...]

Nate argues:
Why Huckabee is surging in Iowa is that while he takes very socially conservative stances, he also brings an economic populist message.
The problem with this is that Mike Huckabee isn’t an economic populist. His economic proposals consist of a plan to abolish the IRS, “to completely eliminate all federal income and payroll taxes”, and [...]

Maybe Rudy Giuliani could also run for president of the Alabama football team.

Fred Thompson was making sense on MTP this morning, pointing out in answer to a question about overthrowing the government of Pakistan that:
Well, when you say we allow the head of a country to stay the head of a country, you know, that’s, that’s, that’s kind of a mouthful. I don’t think we ought to [...]

The debate last night, which promised and delivered more fireworks than previous iterations, clarified some of my thoughts about the primary.
Debates are probably the wrong forum in which to launch attacks or harsh criticisms. Your opponent will have a chance to respond, immediately blunting the impact of your charge. More than that, it simply looks [...]

John McCain, after arguing in favor of an unlimited commitment to Iraq, wants to win hearts and minds in the Arab world:
As president, I will employ every economic, diplomatic, political, legal, and ideological tool at our disposal to aid moderate Muslims — women’s rights campaigners, labor leaders, lawyers, journalists, teachers, tolerant imams, and many others [...]

Franklin Roosevelt is universally considered by historians as the greatest president of the 20th century. He won four landslide victories, saved a nation from depression, and won a world war. But hilariously, if you work for Forbes, you might think it a real black mark against Barack Obama that he “steals a page from FDR”.
Roosevelt, [...]