We Really Need a Clinton-Obama Hybrid

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John Zogby just sent out his latest daily tracking poll, and the headline is that Clinton and Romney are slipping and Ron Paul is gaining. Between 30 December and 2 January — on the Dem Side — Hillary Clinton garnered 24%, Obama 31%, Edwards 27%, Richardson 7%, Biden 5%, Dodd 1%, Kucinich 0-1%, Dems 5%….

Comparing Obama and Kennedy

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Ted Widmer — one of the most insightful historians of early American political history and Director of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University as well as a Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation — has written a piece that whether one agrees or not with it provides much rich detail on…

Economists for “Progressive American Values” and John Edwards

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This is an interesting and worthwhile story to post on the eve of the Iowa Caucus. Two weeks ago, David Leonhardt wrote a piece on John Edwards’ economic policy that implied that it ran a bit thin since only one significant economist had signed on — and that was UT Austin’s James K.

From the Iowa Frontlines

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Matt Stoller (pictured above in the funky hat) sends in this interesting blog post after meeting Mitt Romney, who commended George W. Bush for getting America off oil — and then lamenting that oil had hit $100/barrel today. Stoller snaps a pic of TIME‘s Joe Klein who may also report the gaffe.

Next-Gen Taliban: Bhutto’s Death & Cracks in Pakistan’s Islamist Camp

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Nicholas Schmidle, who is sort of like the Pakistan/Afghanistan equivalent of a blond-haired, roving Lawrence of Arabia, has written a fascinating, detailed account of some of the emerging conflicts between various Taliban leaders and Pakistan’s Islamic fundamentalist leaders.

Hillary Clinton Pushes Elbow Grease — Not Glitz

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Michael Schiffer is guest-blogging for The Washington Note this week from Iowa. While he is attending many different political events in the state and offering commentary, he is transparent about the fact that he is campaigning on the side for Senator Barack Obama.