The Iraq Recession

By Kelse Moen

Yesterday, the Iraq War turned five years old. The past five years have left nearly four thousand Americans dead, as well as hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and have so far cost the American taxpayers over 5oo billion dollars. They also show a remarkable ebb and flow concerning the war in popular opinion. First there was the widespread flag-waving and French-bashing–a time when John Kerry needed to downplay his anti-war opinions for the sake of electability. This was followed by a steady erosion of support, culminating in 2006’s rout of the Beltway Republicans, when popular belief held a pro-war Republican would be unelectable in 2008. But now, with the economy headed into a recession, people are turning their focus primarily to economic concerns. This is great news for John McCain, the fiercest hawk in the race. But is it possible to separate war from economics? Can we, as it were, have our cake and eat it too?

Mitt Redux

By Kelse Moen

In my last post (below) I scoffed at the notion that John McCain would choose Mitt Romney as a running mate, noting that “a liberal northeasterner” who was “repeatedly repudiated” by the voters would add little value to the ticket. But in the days since, fueled by Fred Barnes’ article in the Weekly Standard and Romney’s statement of the obvious on Hannity & Colmes, a flurry of speculation has emerged over whether he will be McCain’s VP. I still stand by my original conclusion, but nevertheless, the week’s events warrant a deeper analysis of Romney’s VP potential.

McCain Needs a Wingman

By Kelse Moen

Forget NASCAR; endless speculation about John McCain’s running mate has become Republicans’ new sport of choice. The blogs and news media, who spent so many hours analyzing every slight permutation to the presidential election, had to realize that their fun would not last forever. Still, when John McCain clinched the Republican nomination, where were they to turn? Why, the second spot on the ticket, of course!

McCain’s Great Day

By Benjamin van der Horst

On Tuesday, John McCain clinched the Republican nomination for the White House.  After losing in 2000 and being considered politically dead last summer, it was probably a great feeling for him to finally seal the deal.  On Wednesday, he received the endorsement President Bush, the very man who beat him eight years ago.  While both of these things are great, McCain got even better news on Tuesday:

Hillary Clinton beat Obama in Ohio and Texas. 

Paul Dominates (His Primary)

By Kelse Moen

2008 is not a happy time to be a libertarian. In the age of huge government expenditures, warrantless wiretapping, an activist Supreme Court, and overseas adventurism, advocates of small government have little reason to be optimistic. So when it seemed that Ron Paul, the new hero of the libertarian movement, could be unseated from Congress by a pro-war Republican who called Paul’s record of voting against unconstitutional bills “felonious at best,” the obvious reply could only be: “of course.”

Conservatives for Obama?

By Kelse Moen

With the hot, passionate nights of the Republican primaries over, conservatives all across America are waking up the next morning and asking, “Oh God, what did I do?” First it was Ann Coulter who proclaimed on Hannity & Colmes that she would rather campaign for Hillary than vote for McCain. Libertarian-leaning Republican Andrew Sullivan has leant his unequivocal support to Obama and the anti-war conservative Justin Raimondo stopped just short of endorsing him in his own blog. Just the other day, a conservative Ohio radio host declared that he has “had it up to here” with John McCain and will never support him. And of course, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have been less than favorable.

The Other Side of John McCain

By Benjamin van der Horst

The New York Times is running a damming 2,800 word article about Senator John McCain’s his past ties with lobbyists in Thursday’s edition. Even though the McCain campaign has called it “tabloid journalism” it seems to be meticulously researched with four reporters on the byline and two additional researchers listed. Regardless of if the main implication of the article is true–that McCain had an affair with a lobbyist in 2000 and then tried to intervene on behalf of her clients–it shows a very different side of the crusader against lobbyists and special interests we have come to known.

Why Huckabee won’t quit

By Ben Clark 

Over the past few months, Mike Huckabee has been on an emotional rollercoaster. Once written off as dead for a lack of funds and poor showing in most polls, he made a comeback that eventually resulted in a victory in Iowa. Some went so far as to predict a Huckabee win propelled by decent poll showings in Michigan and South Carolina. Now, however, strapped for cash and plagued by the inability to bring in voters outside of his narrow Evangelical base of support, the Arkansas Governor can merely stand by and watch Republican figures coalesce around the presumed nominee.

Mitt Happens

By Ben Clark

Last Thursday, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney stunned an enthusiastic crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference when he announced that he was suspending his race for the Presidency. The news came in light of several remarkable victories for his two chief rivals, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Senator John McCain of Arizona, just two days earlier. Romney cited his support for the Iraq War, claiming that his presence in the race would serve only as a distraction and might threaten to tear the Republican base apart when needed most.

United We Will Stand

By Jeremy Barr

Although the race for the Democratic nomination has not been the friendliest contest, one thing is fairly certain: the Democratic Party will be able to unite behind its nominee. When it comes down to it, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama differ more on style than on policy, making it fairly easy for supporters of each candidate to come together once the nominee has been decided.

On the other side of the aisle, the Republican Party can look forward to months of infighting about its presumptive nominee, Senator John McCain. In the past weeks, many prominent conservative commentators have come out hard against the senator from Arizona, with one blond-haired, fire-breathing commentator even going so far to say that she would support Hillary Clinton in the general election if McCain is the Republican nominee.