Category: The Dish

The argument seems to me to be over. On the simple basis of electability, Obama is far ahead of Clinton in facing off against eith Giuliani or Huckabee:

The poll shows Mr. Obama leading Mr. Giuliani (49 – 40) by a larger margin than Mrs. Clinton does (46 – 43) — a change from early November, when the data suggested they would both fare about the same against him. Against Mr. Huckabee, Mr. Obama leads by 48% to 36%, while Mrs. Clinton has a narrow 46% to 44% edge.

Her argument is now her likability? Or her experience as First Lady and in the Senate up against a community organizer, state legislator and first term US Senator? And she is almost a couple of decades older, of course. I really fail to see why she has any traction at all at this point. Sure, she’s very smart and very political. But if she hadn’t been married to a former president, I think she’d be regarded as a run-of-the-mill candidate in this race, solely interesting because of her gender: in the Chris Dodd mold without the sense of honor.

The new leader of the British Liberal Democrats:

New Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has answered "no" when asked on BBC radio if he believed in God. The rapid-fire question and answer format on 5 Live meant the 40-year-old did not have the chance to elaborate.

He’s bringing up his kids as Catholics though – his wife is one of us.

A blogger responds to this:

So what would be a victory then? Maybe it would be something like weakening terror groups like Al-Qaida so badly that they cannot mount another major attack, and its few surviving elements remain in hiding and on the run. Which is, in fact, exactly what has happened. When Mr. Sullivan states "We have not stymied Islamist terror" I wonder if he would like to point out any attacks like the Cole bombing, Embassy bombings, or 9/11 that have occurred since the war on terror started.

Madrid, London, Bali and all over Iraq. But read the post.

Try caring.

His bottom line: not angry or partisan enough.

Seven year old Timo Borchardt eats a goose leg at the 13th annual Christmas Celebration for the Homeless at the Estrel convention center December 19, 2007 in Berlin, Germany. German singer Frank Zander founded the event, which offers an evening of performances, Christmas goose dinner and Christmas gifts for the German capital’s many homeless. Approximately 2,000 homeless and poor people attend the event. By Carsten Koall/Getty Images.

Not so gay.

The US appears to be bringing the people of the country together:

Iraqis of all sectarian and ethnic groups believe that the U.S. military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them, and see the departure of "occupying forces" as the key to national reconciliation, according to focus groups conducted for the U.S. military last month.

That is good news, according to a military analysis of the results. At the very least, analysts optimistically concluded, the findings indicate that Iraqis hold some "shared beliefs" that may eventually allow them to surmount the divisions that have led to a civil war.

So we can leave now?

Brent Budowski on the CIA torture tape destruction.

You know: the one that shows Edwards leap-frogging ahead of Clinton and Obama. Read Mark Blumenthal. The devil is in the cross-tabs.