Dems and Immigration: [Ezra Klein, TAPPED]: “You will, I'm convinced, need to win the border security debate before you can get into any of the more humane issues of paths to citizenship and protecting children. And while saying that Bush and the Republicans have failed for eight years may have some impact, we won't be running against Bush, Instead, my hunch is there's room for an argument saying that the modern GOP won't ever get serious about staunching illegal immigration because their main supporters large corporations, like the supply of cheap labor.”
Playing it Safe: [Steve Clemons, The Washington Note]: “Obama says he wants to differentiate himself from Hillary Clinton now -- but he's doing it in lukewarm, safe ways. He has my whole-hearted support in his views on reframing America's Cuba policy--but he's still sort of squishy on Iran. He believes in vigorous, aggressive engagement--but what about doing something real to preclude a war in the next year?”
Myopia: [Dick Polman, Dick Polman’s American Debate]: “Does that sound like anybody we know? With the same propensity for quoting military statistics, while saying nothing about the dearth of political reconciliation in Baghdad--which was why the surge was launched in the first place? This is Thompson’s dilemma, one he shares with his rivals: whoever does manage to mollify the religious/social conservative base, and win the nomination, must then compete in the general election. And parroting President Bush on Iraq, as Thompson did yesterday, will be bad salesmanship.”
Catching Up: [Todd Beeton, MyDD]: “As I wrote last week, the recent Quinnipiac poll concluded that the stepped up attacks on Clinton were taking a toll and these new polls confirm that her level of support has returned to where she was in August and September, before Obama and Edwards began to step up their criticism of Clinton. To be fair, a 20+ point lead is still significant but the question remains whether this is a downward trend for Clinton or if it's merely a correction. At best, Clinton's inevitability train has been momentarily stalled.”
--Ben Crair