Welcome to the Ronald Reagan Library. And welcome to the first annual Ronald Reagan Memorial Suck-Up Ceremony.

Yes, if you tuned in to watch the first Republican presidential debate, you must have felt you tuned in to the wrong channel. It wasn’t a debate so much as it was ten men on stage, competing to see out how many times and how many ways they could wrap themselves in Ronald Reagan’s threadbare toga.

In so doing, of course, they unwittingly told the world they’d rather be seen as the next Ronald Reagan than the next George W. Bush. And who can blame them? Even Chris Matthews tried his best to ignore the current president. He didn’t even ask a question about how this band of candidates might differ with Bush until two minutes before the debate ended – too late for each of the candidates to respond.

Overall, not surprisingly with so many people on stage, there was no one clear winner. And nobody made a serious mistake.

Among the front-runners, I believe Mitt Romney gave the best performance. He looked presidential. He displayed a sense of humor. He was comfortable in his skin. Rudy Giuliani seemed confused at times, too busy trying to explain his “nuances” on the issues to score points. And John McCain came across as over-eager, reciting clearly rehearsed mini-campaign speeches, and putting on a display of fake passion for the TV cameras.

As for the remaining seven, while they did not embarrass themselves, no one of them did anything to catapult himself into the front ranks. Only Ron Paul displayed any original thought – or, for that matter, any respect for the Constitution.

If this is the best the Republican party has to offer, they’re in serious trouble for 2008. Fred Thompson, where are you?

In his interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Fred Thompson did not look as good as he does as the District Attorney on Law and Order. He looked older, balder, more lined, and had bags under his eyes. His lines lacked the down home snappiness he displays when scripted on Law and Order. The key thing I saw was the difference between Fred Thompson on a TV series and Fred Thompson in reality. The contrast did him no good.

But more than stylistic points, Thompson showed no fire in the belly. His indecisiveness about running reflected an ambivalence which has no place in the GOP field of candidates. Republicans are terrified that Hillary will win and they want a tiger, a gladiator, a warrior, not a half-hearted Hamlet. Read more...

No matter how hard Hugh Hewitt, a conservative talk radio host and author, pushes the idea that Mitt Romney’s Mormonism isn’t of concern to evangelical voters in a Republican primary, I believe there remains a great deal of curiosity among these voters about the Mormon faith and what having “A Mormon in the White House” (to give Hewitt’s book a mention) would mean to America.

Romney supporters like Hewitt are quick to throw out the term “religious bigotry” whenever those on the left — or the right — question the meaning and implementation of the Mormon faith for a presidential candidate. I find that response entirely too impatient. Such curiosities should be engaged, not discouraged. Read more...

iven the partisan polarization about Iraq in the U.S. Congress, most people seem to have missed the positive development that House and Senate Democrats have been able to craft a nuanced and wise policy going forward on Iraq that arguably now commands the broad center of American politics.

Despite the president’s veto of this plan, the Democratic plan still provides the basis for a bipartisan compromise supported by the president going forward.

Thanks to the leadership of Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, virtually all Senate and House Democrats have come together and crafted a proposal that is a centrist blend — neither a precipitous hard deadline for complete withdrawal as demanded by the “out now” Democratic left; nor staying the course and avoiding any commitment to begin withdrawing U.S. forces, the administration’s position. In fact, the Democratic measure is something in between.

Read more...

Ronald Reagan towered above any of these Republican candidates doing various imitations of Bush 43.5, Bush 43.6, Bush 43.7 and so forth.

Lets start with Rudy, the candidate who will implode, the only question being when.

Rudy is the guy imitating Karl Rove with the kind of attack fear politics on terror that led Bush to 35 percent popularity and led Republicans in Congress back to minority status.

Rudy, you may remember, was the genius who ignored all advice and put his emergency command center in the World Trade Center that was previously attacked. Another common denominator with Bush: not listening to advice from those who know far more about certain matters than he.

Rudy masterminded the poorly functioning system of communications that proved disastrous on 9-11. Read more...

What is all this political hand-wringing over the Iraq votes?  How many votes for an override, the differences between the liberal Democrats and the blue dogs, are Democrats over-reaching?

The Democrats are not only doing the right thing pushing back against the Bush administration but the Republicans are quaking in their boots every time they have to cast another vote for Bush’s Iraq policy.

Here’s my guess. Many Republicans feel that they have until early fall to keep their powder dry and lie low. They raise some questions in their public comments but basically toe the Bush line on the votes. If there is not a dramatic turnaround in Iraq soon they know that there is no Plan B. They know that the politics of Iraq, if it rolls into 2008, will be a disaster for Republicans. They know that this war has no light at the end of the tunnel, only more devastation and disaster. They also know that things are unraveling in Afghanistan with more and more civilians getting caught in the crossfire and increasing concern about U.S. troop presence and action on the ground. Read more...

Tonight at the Reagan Library the GOP presidential candidates, known as the 10 White Men, all hope they will have a chance to break away from the pack. We are sure to hear much gushing about their hero, Ronald Reagan, and some awkward statements about the current Republican president, George W. Bush. But to make an impact the candidates clearly need to talk about themselves, and  to do a good job of it.

This task is hardest for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who has built his career as a politician defined by his independence — that is, until recent years, when he has become defined by his contradictions. All eyes are on him tonight as the former frontrunner fighting to regain his momentum. To win, candidate McCain must become someone beyond the guy who infuriated conservatives and opposed Bush, then the guy who embraced conservatives and Bush. Read more...

A couple quick thoughts this morning before tonight's GOP presidential debate in Southern California at the Ronald Reagan Library:

1.    Intensity, intensity, intensity. It ain't there. If the GOP doesn't fall in love with their eventual nominee by next year, they aren't going to turn out to vote. And that, of course, could have a ripple effect throughout the country in state and local races. I think part of the angst is that Republicans aren't sure what they would get by voting for any of the top three candidates. Would McCain be a good capitalist in the White House? Not sure. Would Romney be as eager to veto socially liberal bills as he says he would spending bills? Maybe. Would Rudy go a tad too far in wire-tapping every citizen for the sake of the greater good?  Who knows. Read more...

It was a very close vote in the House. Not in the sense that the president’s veto was close to being overridden; rather in the sense that House Democrats are not really sure this is a winning issue for them.

Seven House Democrats abandoned their leadership and voted to sustain the president’s veto, while only two Republicans abandoned their president.

All the passion on this issue is coming from the crazy left, who dominate the primary process for House Democrats. Yet seven thought it was worth the risk of alienating their base and possibly inspiring a primary fight to vote with the president. Read more...