by Dan Nexon | 2 Oct 2008 |
The bailout fails by 12 votes in the House of Representatives. So what does the Senate leadership do? Come up with a significantly different plan? Decide that the Democrats are going to own this thing anyway so they might as well pass a strong progressive alternative? Make marginal changes targeted at specific objections offered by "movable" opponents?No. Reid and company decide that if we're going to pile on another $7,000,000,000 in debt...
by Rodger Payne | 2 Oct 2008 |
Current polls reveal that the economy is at the top of voters' agenda and that they trust Senator Barack Obama to handle the ongoing crisis better than Senator John McCain. Today's Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll, for example, has Obama leading 51%-44% overall and by 63-32 "among voters who name the economy as the top voting issue."However, that same poll revealed that McCain has a whopping 74-24 lead "among those who say that national security...
by Dan Nexon | 2 Oct 2008 |
In an interview from a few months ago, Palin discusses the Supreme Court's decision to limit the damages payed by Exxon for the Exxon Valdez oil spill. While she's not saying anything that requires an advanced degree, she's articulate, poised and confident.But in the CBS News footage last night, she's incapable of naming a Supreme Court decision, other than Roe v. Wade, that she disagrees with.The contrast is simply remarkable. Is the McCain...
by Peter | 1 Oct 2008 |
David Leonhardt does a better job than most explaining the significance of the ongoing economic crisis and its parallel to the great depression. He finally understands the need to connect the dots, from bank failure, to credit crisis to impact on your household economy.The crucial point is that a modern economy can’t function when people can’t easily get credit. It takes a while for this to become obvious, since most companies and households...
by Charli Carpenter | 1 Oct 2008 |
No sooner did I blog about the growing security threat posed by maritime piracy than several powerful militaries took notice... not because I was particularly persuasive, but because a Ukranian freighter loaded down with $30 million worth of tanks, grenade launchers and other military equipment was captured by marauders off the coast of Somalia.Two dozen crew members are still hostage aboard the MV Faina, now anchored off the Somali coast,...
by Dan Nexon | 1 Oct 2008 |
One of my classes is currently doing a unit on "Prospects for US Primacy." It follows my usual design for such sequences: some balance-of-power theory applied to unipolar orders, followed by hegemonic-order theory, and then a smattering of the "US Empire" debate.Today we worked through some different conceptions of power and balancing, before winding up on a discussion of soft balancing. Next week we're going to mostly eschew lecturing--I did...
by Peter | 30 Sep 2008 |
Rachel Maddow just asked perhaps the most insightful question of this bailout to date: Is this economic crisis global warming or the Iraq War? Is it a real crisis that builds slowly that people fail to acknowledge, or is it a bunch of hype and hysteria over what is, in the end, nothing.Laura D'Andrea Tyson says that this credit crunch is real and real bad, and your job is at risk. Its not a bail-out, but a rescue of a broken market.Therein lies...
by Dan Nexon | 28 Sep 2008 |
This is truly a fascinating bit of rhetoric from the Russians:Russia called Saturday for a revival of the global anti-terrorism coalition that formed after Sept. 11, 2001 but started to unravel with what it called the subsequent domination by a single power — a veiled reference to the United States."The solidarity of the international community fostered on the wave of struggle against terrorism turned out to be somehow `privatized'," Russian...
by Dan Nexon | 27 Sep 2008 |
1. McCain did make one major strategic mistake in the debate. Although he may have thought that he was pushing his "change" theme by invoking his status as a "Maverick," distancing himself from Bush, and talking about earmarks, he dropped it as a framing theme in favor of "experience." He needs to at least stay competitive as a "change agent" if he wants to win the election. I assume that he'll return to this frame in later debates, but he...
by Dan Nexon | 27 Sep 2008 |
It sure looks like it. The good (unreliable) instant polls for Obama are already framing the narrative in an interesting way: given how many pundits called the debate for McCain, the question is why undecided voters saw things differently. This, in conjunction with the absence of "defining moments," seems to be driving a growing focus on issues of demeanor and body language. And here we find some real problems for McCain: his almost total lack...
by Dan Nexon | 27 Sep 2008 |
Peter's already made some good points about the debate, but I thought I would weigh in as well.I should start out with a confession. I'm a politics junkie and an international affairs geek. But I was bored stiff by this debate. And if even I was bored stiff, I imagine a lot of people out there tuned out of the debate before it ended.Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me turn to some quick impressions.Worst MomentsObama: "Well, let me...
by Peter | 27 Sep 2008 |
Really, I think it ends up a push. Both candidates held their own, both got in some solid points, both responded to direct attacks.So, tactically a push. Strategically, though, I think the tie goes to Obama. Foreign policy is McCain's strong suit, and where Obama is seen as the weakest. Obama is significantly ahead in the polls. McCain needed a knock-out blow, and he didn't get it. Obama needed to keep his position and look like he could be...