Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has introduced legislation calling for total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by March 2008. In doing so, he has moved to the left of Hillary, who has advocated withdrawal but refuses to commit to a specific deadline. The key question for the Democratic nomination is whether Obama will join Edwards on the left or Hillary on the right in approaching the war in Iraq.

The litmus test is likely to come after Congress passes a resolution disapproving of Bush’s troop surge and after Bush sends the troops in anyway. At that point liberals like Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) are likely to push for a funding cutoff on the additional troops. Hillary has said she would vote against the cutoff, and Edwards can be counted upon to advocate it. If Obama sides with Edwards he will have a real chance at the nomination, but if he sides with Hillary he probably will count himself out. According to the Fox News poll, Democrats favor a cutoff of all funding for the war by 58 to 33. Support for a cutoff of funding of the Bush troop surge is likely to be even higher. The question for Obama is: Does he join the 58s or the 33s?

Will Al Gore run? That's the big question. Would he like to? Of course. But he is in his element, traveling the world, giving his lecture on global warming, and ready to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards. And what a reception he is getting; he even had 10,000 people in Boise, Idaho cheering him on!
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And Latest News: The new blockbuster report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the group of hundreds of scientists from 113 countries, gives ample evidence that Al Gore was ahead of his time on this issue and right all along.
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And on the Iraq war, Gore spoke out early and often. Again, he was right. Can you imagine how different the country and the world would be if Al Gore was elected by the Supreme Court in 2000? I'm sure he can.
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One big factor: He has the luxury of time, he can wait longer than all of the other candidates to get into the race. If he runs he will raise the money, make no mistake; he will put together an operation, better than last time; he will be a better candidate, no question.
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If he has the fire, he would be a formidable foe in the primary season. In 1988 the Democratic field was known as the seven dwarfs. This year, with Al Gore and the other candidates, it could be the seven giants.

I want to stand up for Joe Biden. I have liked him for 30 years. My old boss, Senator Frank Church (D) of Idaho, came back from campaigning for Joe in 1972 and told me how blown away he was by a 29-year-old, smart, articulate, caring, idealistic man, wise beyond his years. Joe has never become the typical Washington politician (if there is such a thing). He lives in Delaware, not Washington. He is grounded like few others. Read more...

On MSNBC's "Hardball" this week, host Chris Matthews asked Time's Jay Carney if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) would support a strike on Iran by the Bush administration (Matthews actually raised his hand in a salute to illustrate her potential acquiescence). Carney said he couldn't imagine Clinton getting away with doing so, and with the base still awaiting her reversal/apology for supporting the Iraq war, Carney's on the money. But then Matthews asked the right question — having supported every war in her life, why would we expect her to back away from the new one? Read more...

There was a news item recently that caught my attention. It was the report that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had an affair with his campaign manager's wife. This would not be worth commenting on except, of course, it was Mayor Newsom who set up a drive-through same sex marriage window in San Francisco City Hall a few years ago. While appearing on Larry King when these marriages (later ruled illegal by the California Supreme Court) were being performed, Newsom stated: "I've got to say as well, I think we're affirming family...And I would challenge anyone that doesn't think that gay couples are an extension of the fabric of family to come to City Hall and see young kids, to see mothers and fathers with their sons and daughters that are engaging in bonds and extending themselves to loving relationships and affirming marriage." Read more...

The minimum wage strategy Senate Republicans are pursuing has a hidden ticker for Democrats: It used to be Clinton’s strategy. In 1996, when Clinton pushed through the last hike in the minimum wage, he coupled it with a range of small-business tax breaks. Back then, virtually every Democratic senator voted in favor. That will make it hard for this year’s crop of Democrats to explain why they voted yes with enthusiasm in ’96 but now have reservations about the same concept.

The grumbling in the cloakroom is that Harry Reid is the traffic cop who couldn’t shoot straight. After several late-night sessions (unheard of under Republican rule), Democrats are wondering if their new majority leader can tell time.

Reid’s land-deal scandal combined with the profitable lobbying by his sons raises the question of whether the majority leader’s ethical baggage will prove as much of an encumbrance to Senate Democrats as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s baggage was to House Republicans.

I just don’t know what else to think. By now nearly everyone has heard  Sen. Joseph Biden’s (D-Del.) comments regarding his colleague, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). For those of you who haven’t, Biden created an uproar as he discussed Obama in the following way: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

Where to start?  Perhaps Sen. Biden should brush up on his history, as I recall the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton running for the presidency in the not-too-distant past. Let us also not forget former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D) doing the same.
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