McCain Has Yet to Win Over Key Conservatives - The Wall Street Journal

Image from WikipediaMcCain Has Yet to Win Over Key Conservatives - The Wall Street Journal
Excerpt:
"On the campaign trail last week, Sen. John McCain declared at least three times that the Republican Party is "united."

But is it?

Some prominent conservatives say they remain disenchanted with the party's likely nominee. Sen. McCain isn't doing enough to persuade them of his conservative credentials, they say, or win them over to his side. Although the sentiment among conservative leaders is that they will vote for Sen. McCain come November, they aren't thrilled about the prospect."

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Parsing the Endorsement Of Obama by Richardson - The Wall Street Journal

Parsing the Endorsement Of Obama by Richardson - The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120608296179754525.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Excerpt:
"A Democratic party effort to avert a prolonged and potentially damaging nomination fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could be jumpstarted today by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's endorsement of Mr. Obama.

Mr. Richardson plans to make the endorsement at a campaign rally with Mr. Obama today in Oregon and will call him a "once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world," the Associated Press reports. It is an important endorsement on at least three fronts. Mr. Richardson is an influential superdelegate for the party, whose declaration of support could draw the backing of other superdelegates needed to secure the nomination, since neither candidate seems likely to win it through delegates earned in the primaries and caucuses. He was a prominent second-tier candidate before the race narrowed to the two frontrunners, and as such has been courted by both campaigns since he dropped out. And he is the country's only Hispanic governor, and could thus help Sen. Obama with a key bloc of voters that has mostly leaned toward Sen. Clinton."

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Clinton's Calendar and Vince Foster - Wall Street Journal

Clinton's Calendar and Vince Foster - Wall Street Journal
Excerpt:
"Among the many things Hillary Clinton’s schedule sheds light on are her activities before, during and after major events in her husband’s presidential tenure — such as the death of Vince Foster.

Foster, a lawyer from Arkansas, was in the same kindergarten class as Bill Clinton and worked at the same law firm as Sen. Clinton. After President Clinton was elected in 1992, Foster joined the White House as deputy White House counsel and handled many of the Whitewater-related tax returns. In July 1993, he was found dead in a park in Virginia with a gunshot wound. After a three-year investigation by Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, Foster’s death was ruled a suicide, but many conspiracy theories persist suggesting he was murdered.

The former first lady’s schedules reveal that the last time she met formally with Foster was more than a month before his death, on June 8, 1993. The schedule reads “Briefing for ATLA”—formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, now the American Association for Justice—“w/ Vince Foster.” They met in Clinton’s office from 11 a.m. until noon, after which she had a private meeting. The details of that meeting were redacted from the schedule."

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NSA's Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data - The Wall Street Journal

NSA's Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data - The Wall Street Journal
Excerpt:
"Five years ago, Congress killed an experimental Pentagon antiterrorism program meant to vacuum up electronic data about people in the U.S. to search for suspicious patterns. Opponents called it too broad an intrusion on Americans' privacy, even after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

But the data-sifting effort didn't disappear. The National Security Agency, once confined to foreign surveillance, has been building essentially the same system."

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Clinton v. Obama: The Lawsuit - By THEODORE B. OLSON - The Wall Street Journal

Clinton v. Obama: The Lawsuit - By THEODORE B. OLSON - The Wall Street Journal
Excerpt:
"What splendid theater the Democratic Party presidential nominating process is shaping up to be. And they are just getting started. The real fun would be a convention deadlock denouement a few months from now, the prospect of which is already quickening the pulses of scores of Democratic lawyers who have been waiting more than seven years for an encore of their 2000 presidential-election performances."

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McCain's Veep Options - The Wall Street Journal

Excerpt:
"While congratulations are still premature, with Mitt Romney dropping out of the race yesterday it is now very likely that the Republican Party will nominate Sen. John McCain for president. If that happens, the GOP will, for the first time since 1976, select a candidate at odds with a large portion of its conservative members to be the standard bearer. At the same time, the party is more estranged from independent swing voters than it has been for decades."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120243266768552299.html

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Bhutto's Supporters Reject Report by Scotland Yard - Wall Street Journal

Bhutto's Supporters Reject Report by Scotland Yard - Wall Street Journal
Excerpt:
"Supporters of Benazir Bhutto reiterated their call for an independent international investigation into the death of the former Pakistani prime minister after a Scotland Yard probe reaffirmed the government's original contention that she died of a head injury."

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By JOHN R. BOLTON - Our Politicized Intelligence Services - Commentary - The Wall Street Journal

Excerpt:
"Today, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee (and Thursday on the House side) to give the intelligence community's annual global threat analysis. These hearings are always significant, but the stakes are especially high now because of the recent National Intelligence Estimate on Iran."

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By KARL ROVE - The New Rules of Politics - The Wall Street Journal

By KARL ROVE - The New Rules of Politics - The Wall Street Journal
Excerpt:
"The big bounce is gone....

Television ads don't matter as much as they used to....

Technology allows a candidate to raise money quickly and inexpensively....

Debates are a great way to come on late and make up for a lack of resources and endorsements."
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120173791597330347.html

Alex: What if we could somehow take the ruthlessness out of some of "the brains" in the world, reduce it to mere principled dedication (what would that look like?)

We'll see over time how much (or little) Karl Rove has learned from his experiences.

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Romney's Wallet Keeps Him in the Race - Wall Street Journal

Romney's Wallet Keeps Him in the Race - Wall Street Journal
Excerpt:
"Mitt Romney lost three of the first five big Republican contests and lags behind in most major state and national polls. Yet he is still widely seen as a credible contender for the nomination thanks mainly to one trait: his wallet.

A senior aide to Mr. Romney says the millionaire investor plans to spend as much as $40 million in the campaign. Mr. Romney spent $17.4 million of his own money on his campaign through the third quarter of last year, according to the Federal Election Commission."

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Obama's Clinton Education - Wall Street Journal

Obama's Clinton Education - Wall Street Journal
Excerpt:
"One of our favorite Bill Clinton anecdotes involves a confrontation he had with Bob Dole in the Oval Office after the 1996 election. Mr. Dole protested Mr. Clinton's attack ads claiming the Republican wanted to harm Medicare, but the President merely smiled that Bubba grin and said, "You gotta do what you gotta do."

We're reminded of that story listening to Barack Obama protest his treatment by the now ex-President Clinton on behalf of his wanna-be-President wife. "You know the former President, who I think all of us have a lot of regard for, has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling," Mr. Obama told a TV interviewer. "He continues to make statements that are not supported by the facts -- whether it's about my record of opposition to the war in Iraq or our approach to organizing in Las Vegas."

Now he knows how the rest of us feel."

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Wall Street Journal - Clinton's Historic Surprise

Wall Street Journal - Clinton's Historic Surprise
Excerpt:
"Judging by the pre-vote polls and prediction markets, the Democratic primary in New Hampshire created one of the most surprising upsets in U.S. political history.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was favored in the final pre-election poll of all 12 pollsters who surveyed voters since his surprise victory in Iowa, and was the unanimous favorite among television pundits. The only real question to be resolved appeared to be the size of Mr. Obama's majority.

His loss to New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was equally embarrassing for prediction markets, such as the WSJ Political Market. Election-eve trading had suggested that Sen. Obama had a 92% chance to win in New Hampshire, while Sen. Clinton rated only a 7% chance."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119985909065777677.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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Fund-Raiser Flips From Obama to Clinton - Wall Street Journal

Fund-Raiser Flips From Obama to Clinton - Wall Street Journal

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Giuliani Visit to London Aims to Bolster Credentials - Wall Street Journal

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BY DICK CHENEY - The Real Bush Record - Alan Greenspan discounts our fiscal success story.

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By John McCain and Joe Lieberman - Listening to Petraeus - The President had the courage to change course on Iraq. Does Congress?

Excerpt:
"Today, Gen. David Petraeus--commander of our forces in Iraq--returns to Washington to report on the war in Iraq and the new counterinsurgency strategy he has been implementing there. We hope that opponents of the war in Congress will listen carefully to the evidence that the U.S. military is at last making real and significant progress in its offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq."

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010585

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The Strategic Nature of Ron Paul's Earmarks - The Wall Street Journal

Excerpt:
"Ron Paul has indeed been responsible for several legislative earmarks intended to fund government activity inconsistent with his libertarian philosophy. At face value, his actions seem hypocritical; however, there is an important mitigating factor which your editorial ("Ron Paul's Earmarks," Aug. 6) failed to mention: Mr. Paul proceeds to vote against the passage of the earmarked bills.

In other words, Mr. Paul opposes the type of legislation that allows for the inclusion of these earmarks, yet acknowledges that in the face of a federal government sadly keen on spending, his district deserves the same treatment as others. Considering that extra earmarks do not increase federal spending, he owes this to his constituents.

Evan Pittman
Atlanta"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118740056245201632.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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