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Political Commentary

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February 18, 2008

Torts and Terrorism: An Inside Report by Robert D. Novak

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A closed-door caucus of House Democrats last Wednesday took a risky political course. By four to one, they instructed Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call President Bush's bluff on extending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to continue eavesdropping on suspected foreign terrorists. Rather than passing the bill with a minority of the House's Democratic majority, Pelosi obeyed her caucus and left town for a 12-day recess without renewing the government's eroding intelligence capability.

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February 17, 2008

Hillary Clinton Goofs Again: A Commentary by Dick Morris

Who was it that defined neurosis as repeating the same mistake again and again, and expecting a better outcome each time?

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February 16, 2008

Hillary's "McGovern" Problem: An Inside Report by Robert D. Novak

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Strategists for Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign believe it is imperative to identify her high-flying opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, with the "McGovern wing" of the Democratic Party -- but they want to keep their candidate's fingerprints off the attack.

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February 16, 2008

A Super Fight Down the Road: A Commentary by Michael Barone

It's appropriate that our two major political parties are depicted as different animals. Forty days and forty nights out from the Iowa caucuses, the elephant and the donkey seem very different indeed. The Republicans have been split on attitudinal lines, between varying strains of conservatism and moderation.

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February 15, 2008

The Heat in the Kitchen: A Commentary by Susan Estrich

My friends who are also Hillary's friends, many of them classmates and fellow Wellesley women, keep e-mailing me about their concerns, not so much with the campaign, but with the outright meanness and hostility the media seem to be heaping on our friend.

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February 14, 2008

Remaking New Orleans: An Inside Report by Robert D. Novak

NEW ORLEANS -- The imposing presence of Robert A. Cerasoli as the city's first inspector general is the clearest sign that Hurricane Katrina's changes wrought on New Orleans in 2005 were not limited to physical devastation. By declaring war on municipal corruption, Cerasoli has signaled that life in the Big Easy no longer will be so easy.

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February 14, 2008

Schemes We Have Seen: A Commentary by Froma Harrop

During the push to privatize Social Security, the idea's foes were accused of not trusting the American people to manage their own money. The naysayers prevailed, and aren't we glad.

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February 14, 2008

In Defense of Conservative Talk Radio: A Commentary by Michelle Malkin

The most anti-conservative rhetoric against conservative talk radio these days is coming from supposedly free-market conservatives. It's disgusting.

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February 14, 2008

What's Waiting for Obama: A Commentary by Joe Conason

For the next month or so, the conservative valentines will arrive every day at the headquarters of Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

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February 14, 2008

The Case for McCain: A Commentary by Lawrence Kudlow

Some things in life are quite simple. Here's one of them: Sen. John McCain is going to be our next president.

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February 13, 2008

Why Hillary Will Lose: A Commentary by Dick Morris

Hillary Clinton has blown an almost sure shot at the Democratic presidential nomination. Having surrendered the lead to Obama, she is not likely ever to regain it.

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February 13, 2008

Beware What You Wish For: A Commentary by Susan Estrich

A century ago, actually about 26 years ago, the powers in the Democratic Party decided it was time to take back control of the nominating process from the often derided crazies who had been leading the Party straight down the tubes with their choices of McGovern and Carter. Of course, Carter did win, but that was in 1976.

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February 12, 2008

Treating Nature-Deficit Disorder: A Commentary by Froma Harrop

Attendance has been falling at America's National Parks since 1987. Blame videophilia, says a Nature Conservancy report.

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February 11, 2008

Obama, the Democratic Nominee? Yes He Can!: A Commentary By Dick Morris & Eileen McGann

I believe that Barack Obama will defeat Hillary and win the Democratic nomination. I think that this weekend's victories in states as diverse as Washington State, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Maine illustrates his national appeal and demonstrates Hillary's inability to win in states without large immigrant and Latino populations.

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February 11, 2008

The Bradley Effect?: An Inside Report by Robert D. Novak

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Which Democrat really won Super Tuesday? Thanks to the Democratic Party's proportional representation, it is not easy to say a week later. Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama ran a virtual dead heat for delegates that day in 22 states clearly stacked in Obama's favor. But the way Obama lost California raises the specter of the dreaded Bradley Effect.

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February 9, 2008

The Verdict of Super Tuesday: A Commentary by Michael Barone

Well, Super Tuesday is over, and now we have two major party presidential nominees. That's the lead sentence I thought five weeks ago I'd be writing for this column. But the 33-day round of caucuses and primaries that seemed likely to produce decisions after 23 states voted on Super Tuesday have failed to deliver.

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February 9, 2008

McCain at CPAC: An Inside Report by Robert D. Novak

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sen. John McCain's managers, fearing an unfavorable reaction at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Thursday, wanted to precede his speech with a video of Ronald Reagan praising McCain.

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February 9, 2008

Barack's Road To Victory: A Commentary by Dick Morris

Is Hillary Clinton bi-coastal? Can she win in America's heartland? These questions surface in the wake of her victories in New York-New Jersey-Massachusetts and in California-Arizona and her defeats everywhere else except in her former native state of Arkansas and its two next-door neighbors, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

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February 8, 2008

Bernanke's Next Challenge: A Commentary by Lawrence Kudlow

Charlie Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, warned this week about the risks of inflation, overly aggressive interest-rate cuts and further damage being done to the Fed's credibility. I agree with Plosser.

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February 8, 2008

Between 'Inspiration' and Health Care: A Commentary by Froma Harrop

Why so many Americans want their president to be a personal motivator and religious guide vexes me. You do want a leader with dignity and self-control, but attending to the economy, national defense, foreign affairs, the environment and other aspects of the public's well being should be a full-time occupation.

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