Moderates vs. Partisans

The Washington Post's column, Department of Human Behavior, is often an interesting mix of academic research with journalistic readability. This week's column looks at how moderates and partisans see the 2008 election.

With America divided right down the middle for the third presidential election in a row, most people would not be surprised to hear that Democratic and Republican partisans perceive a widening gap between their presidential choices. In 2004, for example, die-hards in both parties felt that the choice between George W. Bush and John F. Kerry was much sharper on a host of issues than in any presidential contest going back to 1984.

But when political scientist Marc J. Hetherington quizzed moderates, he found to his surprise that he got the opposite answer. Compared with party loyalists, moderates saw far less difference between the candidates. If anything, moderates in 2004 saw the Republican and Democratic nominees as being more alike than in any election since 1988.

Obama's work in rural Virginia

Can Obama win rural Virginia voters? See this article from Peter Boyer of the New Yorker.

Virginia

Interesting polling data on Virginia and the presidential election from the WaPo. Spoiler alert: it's close!

Online documentary on Vietnam War

McCain, Obama, and Terrorism

Two interesting pieces by Jeffrey Goldberg:
1) Op-ed in the NYTimes about terrorism and the two American presidential candidates' strategies.
2) Article about John McCain and his foreign policy for The Atlantic.

Odierno: the new guy in charge in Iraq

Great introductory piece on Ray Odierno, the new general in charge of MNF-I (Multinational Forces - Iraq). By Colin Kahl.

Economic shockers

This is stunning:

Invoking extraordinary powers granted after the 1929 stock market crash, the government seized control of the insurance giant American International Group to preserve a crucial bulwark of the global financial system.

The move to lend the Wall Street giant up to $85 billion in exchange for nearly 80 percent of its stock effectively nationalizes one of the central institutions in the crisis that has swept through markets this month.

From the WaPo.

McCain and Obama health plans compared

From the WSJ:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's health-care plan would make only a small dent in the ranks of the uninsured, at best covering about five million more people, two new reports conclude.
Democratic nominee Barack Obama would cover more people -- eventually adding about 34 million, according to one of those reports, by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Barack Obama
Sen. Obama's plan would be costly, the center concluded: $1.6 trillion over 10 years. Sen. McCain's would cost nearly as much: $1.3 trillion over the same span.

Deja Vu all over again

It's beginning to look a lot like... 2000 and 2004. From the WaPo:

When the general election began a few months ago, Barack Obama's advisers talked optimistically about dramatically redrawing the electoral map. Their optimism remains, but as the campaign heads into its final 50 days, strategists for both parties say the election is likely to be decided on mostly familiar ground.

As in the past two campaigns, four big states -- Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Florida -- are expected to dominate the attention of the candidates. Democrats won the first two in both 2000 and 2004; Republicans won the other two both times.

Additionally, there will be battles in a group of smaller states now seen by the campaigns as most vulnerable to shifting sides. Five states that went for President Bush in 2004 are now high on the list of potential Obama states: Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia. Two states that went for Sen. John F. Kerry are top targets of McCain's campaign: Wisconsin and New Hampshire.

Must-read article HERE.

The Cheney Vice Presidency

The Washington Post has provided a fascinating inside look at how Dick Cheney operates in the White House. Last year the authors of the series on Cheney, titled "Angler," won Pulitzer Prizes. Now one of those authors wrote a bigger book on Cheney and his work in the White House. The Washington Post ran two excerpts from that book, and it is absolutely compelling reading.
Here's the WaPo site for the entire series, which links to all six articles.
Sunday's article (09-14-08).
Monday's article (09-15).

Here's a link to purchasing the book, Angler.

The portrait of Cheney that the WaPo offers is not exactly favorable to the Veep.

Here's a book offering a much more sympathetic biography of Cheney, by Weekly Standard contributor Stephen Hayes.

Here's a much more negative look at the Bush/Cheney White House by another Pulitzer Prize winning journalist.

Some troubles, and maybe solutions, overseas

Bolivia: Increasing violence in northern Bolivia.

Zimbabwe: An agreement of sorts?

Venezuela: That is one expensive suitcase!

Barack Bush, or George W. Obama?

From the WaPo:

Barack Obama contends that a John McCain presidency would amount to little more than President Bush's third term. But as it turns out, an Obama presidency might look a bit like Bush's second.

On a range of major foreign policy issues over the past year, Bush has pursued strategies and actions very much along the lines of what Sen. Obama has advocated during his presidential race, according to the Illinois Democrat's campaign and many diplomatic and security experts.

The administration has pushed ahead with high-level diplomatic negotiations with Iran and North Korea, agreed to a "time horizon" for a reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq and announced plans last week to shift troops and other resources from Iraq to Afghanistan. U.S. officials also confirmed last week that Bush has formally authorized cross-border raids into Pakistan without that government's approval -- an idea that Obama first endorsed, and was heavily criticized for, last year.

SNL, Sarah, and Hillary

A tidbit on Amy Poehler.

Three political fiction books that appear to be worth reading

I read Advise and Consent, but the other two also look interesting.
Read this from NPR.

Barracuda Fishing (articles on Gov. Palin)

Here are some recent articles on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, R (and nominee for VP).
Article links will be continually added to this list, and the newest links will appear at the bottom.

- WSJ has a great article on the complexity of her record. Conservative views, but more moderate governing style.

- Thorough piece on Palin from Time.

- Thorough piece on Palin from Newsweek.

- Thorough piece on Palin and her family life from the Washington Post.

- Slate has a fantastic quick-read fact sheet about the many rumors that have been unleashed about Palin. Some true, some not. The fact sheet has links to many of the most useful articles.

- Time magazine ran a useful piece on Palin's time as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Where's Wasilla? Map HERE. Population facts on Wasilla from the Census Bureau.

- Interesting article from NYTimes on Palin's time as governor.

- Washington Post on the complicated reform performance of Palin on health care.

- More from the WaPo.

- Washington Times (AP).

- McClatchy has a number of articles on a variety of the Palin matters floating through the media-political world:
- Banning of books as mayor?
- Earmarks.
- Leadership of Alaska National Guard.

- Air National Guard article from the LA Times.

- Palin v. McCain on sex-ed.

- As mayor, Paylin may not have handled one issue particularly well. WSJ Here.

- 09/10/08: Interesting op-ed on Palin: Far more politically savvy than most people originally recognized. UK's Telegraph.

- 09/13/08: Long article from the New Yorker.

- 09/13/08: On hiring friends for state positions. NYTimes.

- 09/13/08: In losing race for Lt.Gov., something to learn about Palin. From Politico.

- 09/14/08: Palin as mayor of Wasilla. From the WaPo.

Iraq

Great op-ed by John Nagl, a COIN expert and Iraq veteran. Things are looking up in Iraq.

Vice presidents and heads of state

The WSJ has an interesting piece on vice presidents and their meetings with foreign heads of states. Sadly for Palin, the last VP who had not met with foreign heads of states was Spiro Agnew.

No age limits

An 80 year old man who lives alone in the Boston area is fighting the good non-violent fight. See the WSJ.

Hugo

Tensions rise between the US and Venezuela. See the WSJ.

Political movies for the fall

First, for conservatives, there is "An American Carol." Mockery of Michael Moore looks like it will be funny.
Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3308060697/
Movie info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190617/

Second, for liberals, there is "W." Mockery of President George W. Bush also looks like it might be funny.
Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi81592601/
Movie info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175491/

Third, and probably most seriously, is "Frost/Nixon," (directed by Ron Howard) which was about Nixon's famous post-presidency interview with David Frost, and what went into making that interview possible. (Probably hard work and money.)
Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2519466009/
Movie info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0870111/

Well worth checking out.

Reese at 18 months

Afghanistan and Pakistan

Dexter Filkins from the NYTimes Mag has a must read, and long, article: HERE.

Excellent article from the WaPo on dealing with the complexities of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and military forays into Pak to try to catch Bin Laden.

From the Atlantic: HERE.

From Robert Kaplan at the Atlantic: HERE.

Kim Jong Very Ill

From McClatchy:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il failed to appear Tuesday at a military parade marking the nuclear-armed communist state's 60th anniversary, and a U.S. intelligence official said Kim appeared to be seriously ill and might have had a stroke.

You sank my electronic battleship!

The US military is always thinking! LA Times on a cyber offense:

Igniting a provocative new debate, senior military officials are pushing the Pentagon to go on the offensive in cyberspace by developing the ability to attack other nations' computer systems, rather than concentrating on defending America's electronic security.

Under the most sweeping proposals, military experts would acquire the know-how to commandeer the unmanned aerial drones of adversaries, disable enemy warplanes in mid-flight and cut off electricity at precise moments to strategic locations, such as military installations, while sparing humanitarian facilities, such as hospitals.

Pak man

Pakistan elects a new president. Blurb from WaPo: Pakistan's lawmakers on Saturday elected Asif Ali Zardari, widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, to take over the country's presidency amid political and economic turmoil and fears of a strengthening Taliban insurgency.

Dexter Filkins writes extensively about the Taliban in Pakistan. See the NYTimes Magazine.

The lines are drawn, or redrawn

Great article on the strategies of both the McCain and Obama campaigns to win the states each needs to wrap of the November 4 election.
From the NYTimes.

Just a clip:

Fresh from the Republican convention, Senator John McCain’s campaign sees evidence that his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is energizing conservatives in the battleground of Ohio while improving its chances in Pennsylvania and several Western states that Senator Barack Obama has been counting on.

Mr. Obama’s campaign intends to focus heavily on the economy, especially in light of the mounting job losses, and to keep up the effort to tie the McCain-Palin ticket to the policies of President Bush. It is banking on holding all the states Senator John Kerry won in 2004 and picking up the additional electoral votes it needs by flipping some combination of Ohio, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa and Virginia into the Democratic column.

With just over eight weeks left until Election Day, the two sides are settling into an unusually broad set of state-by-state face-offs, with an increased focus on turning out supporters and tough decisions looming about where to invest time and money for new advertisements.

Become a better writer

Here's a great article about one of the greatest books for anyone who wants to write (or is at least required to, like college students). See Yardley's gem of an article on the Elements of Style, but Strunk and White.

Here's the actual book at Amazon.

What if McCain DOES win?

If McCain wins the presidency, and he is confronted with stronger Democratic control of Congress, there are a few issues he can still push through Congress if he is savvy. Read the WSJ here.

Go Blue - or Red?!?

Important article on a potentially important state battle in the 2008 presidential election.
WSJ here.

Party on?

Great article from the Wall Street Journal about the decline of political parties and rise of close elections.

Recent Iraq articles

Must reads:
- Steve Coll of the New Yorker offers one of the best new articles about Petraeus and the surge. Top notch. HERE.
- Michael Gordon of the New York Times on Administration and military debates on instituting the Surge: HERE.
- Michael Gordon on the successes in Iraq in controlling the fighting between Sunnis and Shias, and the ongoing difficulties of dealing with the Shia community.
- Stephen Biddle, Michael E. O'Hanlon, and Kenneth M. Pollack of Foreign Affairs offer a thorough analysis on the current state of Iraq and how much progress has occurred there. Worthy of note that all three lean (perhaps slightly) to the left. HERE.