Meet the Only Two Candidates Worse Than Bush and Cheney

Rudy or Hillary: Pick Your Poison
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

In new books writers as disparate as Naomi Wolf and Pat Buchanan conclude that America as we know her is disappearing. Both writers hope, but are not confident, that enough Americans will catch on in time to find the leadership to pull America back from the brink.

If polls are reliable, a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with President Bush and Congress. However, Americans are far short of Wolf and Buchanan's grasp of our peril.

Americans are unable to connect their dissatisfaction with the current political leadership with their choice of new leaders. All polls show that Hillary Clinton is far in the lead for the Democratic presidential nomination and Rudy Giuliani is far in the lead for the Republican nomination These are the only two candidates guaranteed to be worse than Bush/Cheney.

Both Hillary and Rudy are committed to the war. Both refuse to rule out expanding the war to Iran and beyond. Both are totally in the pocket of the Israel Lobby. Indeed, practically every Giuliani advisor is a member of the Lobby. Both defend the police state measures that "protect us from terrorism." And neither gives a hoot for the US Constitution and the civil liberties it guarantees. The Republican Giuliani is likely to overturn the Second Amendment even quicker than the Democrat Hillary.

Both Hillary and Rudy are creatures of ambition, not of principle. Both are one up on Karl Marx. Marx said truth serves class interests. For Hillary and Rudy, truth is what serves their individual interests. They both wear black hats, and the horse they ride is called power.

Yet in November polls, Republicans prefer Giuliani by a margin of five or six to one over Ron Paul, the only principled Republican candidate and a person who without any doubt believes in the Constitution and would protect it.

Democrats prefer Hillary by a margin of twenty to one over Dennis Kucinich, the only member of Congress sufficiently concerned and courageous to introduce impeachment against the notorious war criminal Dick Cheney. By margins as much as forty-four to one, Democrats prefer Hillary to Senator Christopher Dodd, who promises to give America back its Constitution in the first hour of his administration. Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel does not even register in the polls.

Obviously, the American people haven't a clue. In November 2007 they show a distinct preference for leaders who are even worse than the ones with whom they are currently dissatisfied. What does this tell us about the American people and their commitment to be sufficiently informed for democracy to function?

It tells us that they are not up to the challenge. It is only a matter of time before America succumbs to the plutocracy, against which Warren Buffet recently warned Congress, or the fascist tyranny that Naomi Wolf sees in our future.

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com

Who's Who of Presidential Campaign National Security Advisers

By James Gordon Meek


As a companion to the New York Daily News' three-month investigation into who is advising Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on counterterrorism, national security and foreign affairs, today we offer a complete list of the major presidential candidates' top wisemen on these important national issues.

The presidential campaigns of Democrat Christopher Dodd and Republican Fred Thompson would not disclose their advisers to the Daily News. But in the case of Thompson, our reporting yielded two names. There also are some security experts advising multiple candidates, such as National Security Network director Rand Beers, who are not included on the master list. A former career counterterrorism official at the National Security Council who worked on John Kerry's unsuccessful 2004 presidential bid, Beers told me he is counseling Democrats Joe Biden, Dodd, Clinton and Obama.

Read the full list at the Mouth of the Potomac Blog after the jump.

November 27, 2007 01:32 PM Link

Tony Blankley
How Will Values Voters Vote?
Are we seeing the end, for a while, of the dominance of values in presidential elections? And if so, is that a bad omen for the Republicans? This is not a prediction, it is mere conjecture, but let's consider the possibility.

Since 1972's McGovern campaign, the Democratic Party has so blatantly offended the values, lifestyles, sensibilities and traditions of America that they have driven a vast number of voters into the Republican column.

This abrasive hostility to family, faith and tradition by the national Democratic Party was also conspicuously visible in the popular media,
read more

Beltway Democrats Sink Dean For America
The Fall of Howard Dean

by Joshua Frank / November 28th, 2007

Read Part One here. (Full article …)

War Blog
By: FrontPage Magazine
Iraq in 2008, and the American non-empire... More>

How Hillary Will Go Negative
By: Dick Morris
The Clintons have used attack ads in every campaign they've run; think '08 will be different? More>

The Stab That Failed
By: Noemie Emery
The congressional Democrats' surge-against-the-surge -- a case study in political futility. More>

No Lasting Peace
By: Ralph Peters
The illusions of Annapolis More>

Barbra Streisand Endorses Hillary
By: DiscoverTheNetworks.org
The famed singer says, "After eight long years, the public will once again have faith in their government." More>

Gingrich: Oprah Gives Obama Advantage Over Hillary
By: NewsMax.com
Winfrey has the power to sway "millions." More>

Bill Clinton Backtracks in Iowa, Says 'I Opposed Iraq' from Start
By: Fox News
More>

Zogby - Top 3 Dems All Lost Ground to Thompson - Say What! By Michael Collins


Hillary losing to all the Republicans is not the big news. The big news is that in almost every match up, all three leading Democrats are down from t...

Ideology Was Bush's Undoing 11/27/07

AP/Jae C. Hong
Michelle Obama gets real
She may be too authentic for Maureen Dowd, but the bold and plain-spoken candidate's wife has made doubting Iowans into believers

By Rebecca Traister

Above: Michelle Obama hugs Marilyn Schumacher outside the Cambridge Community Center in Las Vegas on June 13, 2007.

1. Is race dying?
   By Gary Kamiya
2. Michelle Obama gets real
   By Rebecca Traister
3. When Rudy met Hillary
   By Rob Polner

Jesse Jackson--Most Dem Candidates Ignoring African Americans

Watching TV With the Candidates

Will Oprah Close this Deal?

Watching TV With the Candidates John Nichols | Serious politicians are stone-cold news junkies. When TV Guide asked them to name their favorite shows, why did they pander?

'08 Could Top $5 Billion Ari Berman | The US spends more per capita on elections than any other country and still has the lowest voter turnout. When will the system change?

States of Play: 41 Days to Iowa, 46 to New Hampshire John Nichols | The date for the New Hampshire primary has finally been locked in: January 8.

Are the Republicans ready for YouTube?
By: MICHAEL CALDERONE | 11/28/2007 05:56 AM CNN/ YouTube-sponsored debate could display just how far Republicans have come in embracing new media.
»See Also: The GOP and 'the Internets'

• Michael Medved : Gloom-and-Doomers Wrong on U.S. "Moral Collapse"
• John McCaslin : Go Figure
• Rich Galen : Religion Politics
• Austin Bay : Al-Qaida's Emerging Defeat
• Paul Greenberg : The Wasteland: the Presidential Campaign So Far
• Mike S. Adams : Hooked on Ebonics
• Jacob Sullum : Banishment of Sex Offenders is Unfair and Ineffective
• John Stossel : The Free Market Does It Better
• Walter E. Williams : Bitter Partisan Politics
• Ben Shapiro : The Democrats' Experience Gap
• Kathleen Parker : Survival of the Stupidest
• Michelle Malkin : Fuzzy Math: A Nationwide Epidemic
• Terence Jeffrey : Married to Government
• Jonah Goldberg : At Peace with Pax Americana
• Tony Blankley : How Will Values Voters Vote?
• Maggie Gallagher : Rudy takes aim at Mitt
• Dick Morris and Eileen McGann : How Hillary will go negative
• Robert J. Strang : Fighting Crime & Getting Results
• Michael McBride : Kerry Will Go Down “Swinging” in Round Two
• Michael Fumento : UN Finally Drops PC AIDS Estimate
• Dick Armey : A Taxing Problem
• Paul Weyrich : 2008 as a Change Election
• Paul Edwards : Who's Afraid of "The Golden Compass"?
• Mary Katharine Ham : Anderson Cooper on Choosing Questions From the YouTube Madness
• Neal Boortz : The FairTax -- The Truth

Bush Gets “Preferential Treatment” for U.S. Companies in Iraq: Bush just pulled the knee strings on his puppet in Iraq, and Nouri al-Maliki did the jig.

Vatican: Palestinian refugees have right to return : A Vatican official said Wednesday that Palestinian refugees have the right to return to their homeland, and said he hoped Israeli-Palestinian peace talks would address the issue.

Clinton Could Lose IA, NH & Nomination - Mort Kondracke, Roll Call

When Republicans Attack! - Jay Cost, HorseRaceBlog

'Good Bill' vs. 'Bad Bill' - Ron Fournier, Associated Press

GOP Rivals Exchange Jabs in Testy Debate - M. Cooper & M. Santora, NYT
Two Hours of Humiliation - Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard
Big Night for Mike Huckabee - Chuck Todd, MSNBC
Mr. Nasty and Mr. Nice - David Broder, Washington Post
Hillary is Still the Strong Favorite - Steven Stark, Boston Phoenix
Reclaim Greatness: Lower Taxes, Enforce Laws - Fred Thompson, DMR
Obama Finds His Moment - Karen Tumulty, Time
The Moment of Truth for Clinton - Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe
For Lott, Money Trumps Service - Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times
Bush Isn't the Only Decider on Iraq Bases - Bruce Ackerman, LA Times
Citizen Musharraf - Amir Taheri, New York Post
Should the US Abandon Pervez? - Markey & Haqqani, Foreign Policy
Shutting Up Venezuela's Chávez - Roger Cohen, New York Times
Russia Prepares For the New Putin Era - Neil Buckley, Financial Times
What's Wrong w/Gerson's 'Heroic Conservatism' - John Hulsman, WSJ
The Grown-Ups Never Showed Up - Joe Conason, New York Observer
A Few Good People - Victor Davis Hanson, RealClearPolitics
HorseRaceBlog: What We Learned From Last Night

In Debate, Mitt and Rudy Clash on Immigration Issues - Washington Post

Bill Clinton Stumbles on Stump for Wife - USA Today

Huckabee's Surge Stirs the Pot in Iowa - Wall Street Journal

Clinton Assails Obama's Healthcare Plan - Los Angeles Times

CNN/Youtube: CNN/Youtube GOP Debate

Press Play: Republicans Do YouTube by Jennifer Rubin Republicans waited months for their turn at the CNN/YouTube Debates.

In Defense of Ron Paul*

Joshua Holland, AlterNet

Rights and Liberties: *Ron Paul's a wingnut, yes, but he's an anti-empire, anti-war wingnut who doesn't believe the president should be king.

Debate Audience Boos McCain for Comparing Ron Paul's Anti-War Stance to Appeasing Hitler [VIDEO]

Post by Adam Howard
War on Iraq: John McCain tries to take a cheap shot at Ron Paul about supporting US troops but it turns out Paul gets more donations from active duty military men and women than any of his Republican competitors. More »

• Full Post

GOP YouTube Debate: Who Loves Torture and Hate Immigrants the Most?
Steve Benen: For over two hours, the GOP hopefuls made it abundantly clear that none of them should be the president.


Romney Refuses To Call Waterboarding Torture, Says He’ll Consult With Blackwater’s Cofer Black
Amanda Terkel: Black infamously demanded the head of Osama bin Laden in 2001.

Amy Goodman:

How the Democrats Are Aligning Themselves with Bush's Torture Policies
Who is speaking for the Democrats these days? A retired General accused of authorizing torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners in Iraq.


Robert Scheer:

What a New Leader in Pakistan Will Mean for the U.S.
The U.S. government fears that Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's "president-in-exile" who just returned, will be soft on Muslim fanatics. Those fears are well founded.

We Can Stop Global Warming

Sen. Bernie Sanders, TheNation.com

Environment: By implementing new technologies, we can avert a potentially disastrous future.


Who Is Defending Pakistan's Democracy? Not the Politicians, It's the Judges

Medea Benjamin, AlterNet

The heroes in Pakistan aren't returning former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif -- it's the Supreme Court and High Court judges who stopped Musharraf's assault on the Constitution.

The Ideal Opponent
Paul Waldman
November 28, 2007 | web only


Who are our potential presidents hoping to run against in the general election? Here's a rundown of the front-runners' ideal match-ups.

Some speculation on Republicans' desired opponents: Rudy Giuliani is dying to call Barack Obama weak on terror, Mitt Romney would relish the chance to paint John Edwards as the true phony, and Mike Huckabee would love to contrast himself with the amoral Hillary Clinton.

Wonk Wars: A roundup of the candidates' policy announcements.

The FundamentaList
Sarah Posner
November 28, 2007 | web only
This week in the religious right: More on the Oral Roberts scandal, Christian Zionists protest Annapolis summit, and what would it take for the Christian right to support Giuliani?

Winning the Rat Race by Quitting it
By Ezra Klein
November 26, 2007 | web only

The FundamentaList
By Sarah Posner
November 28, 2007 | web only

The Ideal Opponent
By Paul Waldman
November 28, 2007 | web only

Why Are Iraq War Movies Box-Office Flops?
By Sudhir Muralidhar
November 27, 2007 | web only

The CIA's Flim-Flam Man
By Tara McKelvey
November 27, 2007 | web only

Deconstructing Bill (again)
November 28, 2007
Yesterday, Bill Clinton stated he's always opposed the war in Iraq, which if true would have placed him at odds with his position in 1998 when he bombed an aspirin factory just as he was about to be impeached More

Bill Clinton stumbles on stump for wife
USA Today -
Rivals target Clinton on experience Boston Globe
Edwards's Site Chides Clinton Wall Street Journal

New York Times -
Giuliani Stumbles, Leaving GOP Field Wide Open

Democrats: Have They No Shame? This past Saturday the Democrats chose retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez to give their response, the same general accused in at least three lawsuits in the U.S. and Europe of authorizing torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners in Iraq. This, combined with the Democrats’ endorsement of Attorney General Michael Mukasey despite his unwillingness to label waterboarding as torture.

Paul Craig Roberts: America's day of reckoning is at hand The Bush administration responded to September 11 by initiating military aggression in the Middle East and by using fear and the "war on terror" to implement police state measures at home with legislation, presidential directives, and executive orders. Overnight the US became a tyranny in which people could be arrested and incarcerated on the basis of unsubstantiated accusation.


Froomkin: The White House 'After Party' Most Middle East experts agree that the chance of yesterday's summit leading to anything remotely concrete will decrease from slim to none without Bush's intense personal engagement. But other than presidential lip service to delegates at a conference at the Naval Academy to "support your work with the resources and resolve of the American government," there are scant signs that Bush intends to follow through.

The Truth about Colin Powell There has rarely been a better example of the influence of false narratives than the case of retired Gen. Colin Powell. Across the political spectrum, pundits encouraged the American people to trust Colin Powell. So, no one looked very closely at the troubling reality behind his pleasant façade. Which made him the perfect choice to sell the Iraq War.

Mr. Blackwell and The Hammer When he was not bashing the Republican leadership, expressing a desire to "bitch-slap" NYT columnist Paul Krugman, attending David Horowitz's annual Restoration Weekend, promoting his book "No Retreat, No Surrender," or claiming he no longer is interested in holding public office, Tom DeLay made time to meet up with Ken Blackwell and found a new "grassroots" organization aimed at retaking congress next year.

Huckabee is For Real

John McIntyre1

It is not about Iowa only any more. Mike Huckabee has a real shot to be the Republican nominee.

A month ago after the Values Voters conference I opined:

I don't know that Mike Huckabee will win the GOP Iowa Caucus, but right now he looks like a solid choice to finish second, and at 5-1 I like his odds to win Iowa outright.

The chart below shows Huckabee's impressive move up to 3rd in the latest RCP Average in Iowa. Coupled with his overwhelming win in the Values Voters (onsite) straw poll this weekend, the potential emergence of Mike Huckabee into the first tier is a significant development in the GOP race.

Well that potentiality has materialized. And at roughly 10-1 to win the Republican nomination (he is trading in 3rd place at 11.7 at Intrade) I like his odds to be the GOP nominee.

The GOP race is usually characterized as either a two-person contest (Giuliani vs. Romney) or a wide open field among the five viable candidates (Giuliani, Romney, Thompson, Huckabee and McCain). However, what we are fast approaching is a three-man race between Huckabee, Romney and Giuliani.

In general this is very bad news for Mitt Romney. A strongly viable Huckabee will steal voters Romney has to have to be able to beat Giuliani as the primary calendar moves into the post-New Hampshire contests. Ironically it may be Romney's money, campaign infrastructure, coupled with his strength in New Hampshire that keeps his campaign alive long enough to prevent the anti-Giuliani forces in the GOP from rallying around Huckabee. Back in July I speculated that this type of three way dynamic splitting the anti-Rudy vote was one of Giuliani's path's to the nomination.

Just like Giuliani was the key to McCain's demise, Thompson may be what sinks the Romney campaign. This would effectively leave a two-person race between the New Yorker and the Tennessean, with Romney perhaps siphoning just enough conservative votes that allows the pro-choice, thrice married Rudy Giuliani the pathway to the GOP nomination.

What we have developing is Huckabee stepping in and filling the void in the GOP field that was available to Thompson in the summer - a void that his inept campaign has been unable to fill. So perhaps instead of the Tennessean sinking the Romney campaign it could very well be the Arkansan.

For the Romney campaign the silver lining in Huckabee's move into the first tier -- and it is not an unimportant silver lining -- is that Huckabee has totally shaken up the expectations for Iowa on the GOP side. Because of this resetting of expectations in December, if Romney is able to hold off Huckabee in Iowa it will be a huge win for his campaign. A win that would allow the Romney campaign to get the kind of momentum they were looking for when they originally laid out their sling-shot strategy to the nomination. (Win Iowa, win New Hampshire, win Michigan, make it a two-person race against Giuliani, combine the early wins with Romney's personal wealth to overwhelm Rudy).

However, what has to make the Romney campaign very nervous is this chart in Iowa.

Intrade now has Huckabee at 55.1 and Romney at 38.0. Those markets are correctly pricing the race. Romney is now the underdog in Iowa.

An important signal to watch for over the next month will be whether Huckabee overtakes Romney in the national polls leading up to Iowa. If that were to happen concurrently with Huckabee continuing to head toward a win in Iowa that would be an important tell that Republican voters are moving toward ultimately a Huckabee vs. Giuliani showdown.

Giuliani remains the favorite, but at 10-1 odds that would be a showdown that Mike Huckabee might just be able to win.

Copyright © 2007 RealClearPolitics
Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Q

Thursday, January 3 | Delegates at Stake: 41


Polling DataPollDateRomneyHuckabeeGiulianiThompsonMcCainPaulSpreadRCP Average11/10 - 11/2726.423.613.211.46.64.8Romney +2.8Rasmussen11/26 - 11/272528121145Huckabee +3.0Strategic Vision ®11/23 - 11/252624141075Romney +2.0ABC/Wash Post11/14 - 11/182824131566Romney +4.0Research 200011/12 - 11/142718161065Romney +9.0American Res. Group11/10 - 11/1426241111103Romney +2.0See All Iowa Republican Caucus Polling Data Intrade Market Prices for Iowa Republican Caucus
RomneyHuckabeeGiulianiThompsonMcCainPaul
Intrade Real Time Quotes

(See More Data )


Recent Commentary & News Stories- GOP Candidates Turn Fire on Each Other - Jonathan Martin, The Politico
- Big Night for Mike Huckabee - Chuck Todd, MSNBC
- Huckabee is For Real - John McIntyre, RealClearPolitics
- Obama Finds His Moment - Karen Tumulty, Time
- Hillary is Still the Strong Favorite - Steven Stark, Boston Phoenix
See All Iowa Republican Caucus Commentary & News Stories

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What you missed while watching "Chad Vader"
Ron Paul's conspiracy theories! Fred Thompson's secret guns! Mitt Romney's rapid-fire "word of God"! And what Jesus would do

By Michael Scherer

Obama's Social Skills

Michael D. Tanner on Barack Obama and social security in National Review (Online).
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Jim Talent's Untalented Defense Analysis

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[b]The Clinton News Network Strikes Again [/b]
The YouTube/CNN debate that Republican presidential candidates tried to boycott proved as hostile as they feared last night in St. Petersburg, Florida. More

Candidates' Baggage Dominates GOP Debate - Rich Lowry, New York Post
Heated Debate Entertains but Tells Us Little - John Dickerson, Slate
CNN: The Last Name In News - John Podhoretz, Contentions
Barack Obama: Closing Strong - Noam Scheiber, The New Republic
Notes on the State of Politics - Larry Sabato, UVA Center for Politics
The Joy of Bush: He'd Do It Again - Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard
Bush's Next Preemptive Strike - Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect
Hawaii & the Ethnic Grievance Industry - George Will, Washington Post
Flat Tax for Middle Class - Harold Ford, Washington Times

Democrats 2008
'Fluidity' Means All Bets Are Off
Hillary & the Mondale Express
Bill's Bull on Iraq Gets Ridicule
Democrats Cancel CBS Debate

CNN Under Fire
In Debate, 'Gay Question' Gen. Linked to Clinton Campaign
Report: Other Questioners Were Declared for Edwards, Obama republicans 2008

Rudy: "Debate Day Dirty Trick"
Romney Gets Nice Endorsement
A 5-Way, Now More Than Ever
Huckabee Belongs in Top Tier
The GOP Shooting Gallery

• Making Sense of Ron Paul's Rise - N. Gillespie and M. Welch, Washington Post
• The Surge Against the Surge Failed - Noemie Emery, Weekly Standard
• Bush's Foreign Policy Disaster & the GOP - George Packer, The New Yorker
• How to Beat Hillary Next November - Karl Rove, Newsweek
• How Hillary's Done It--So Far - Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect
• New Ideas Put Obama Ahead in Iowa - Gary Langer, ABC News
• Growing Up Giuliani - Evan Thomas and Suzanne Smalley, Newsweek

Being the Inevitable is a High-Risk Game - Peggy Noonan, OpinionJournal
Obama Offers Glimpse of Post-Racial Politics - Juan Williams, NY Times
CNN Admits Holes in Screening Questions - Howard Kurtz, Washington Post
An Embarrassing End to the YouTube Experiment - Blake Dvorak, RCP
Stench of Nativist Compost at GOP Debate - E.J. Dionne, Houston Chronicle
Too Bad Fred Won't Sell His Good Ideas - Kimberley Strassel, Wall St Journal
Spitzer's Troubling, Tantrum-Filled Year - David Margolick, Vanity Fair
How UK's New PM Was Blown Off Course - George Parker, Financial Times
Stem Cell Vindication For Bush - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
Why Science Can't Save the GOP - Michael Kinsley, Time
How the Candidates Would Handle the Rest of the World - The Economist
John Bolton: When Diplomacy Fails - Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph
A Partner For Dealing With Iran? - Zbigniew Brzezinski, Washington Post
If You Thought Musarraf Was Bad... - Mansoor Ijaz, Los Angeles Times
The 'Sadat Standard' for Mideast Peace - David Warren, Ottawa Citizen
Global Warming: Now the Rich Must Pay - Nicholas Stern, The Guardian
Sean Taylor's Death and the Black KKK - Jason Whitlock, FoxSports.com