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Marc Ambinder

  • Parker Griffith, Party Switcher

    How significant is the news (first reported by Poli..er..POLITICO) that Rep. Parker Griffith, Democrat of Alabama, has decided to switch parties? Well, it's like an extra pinch of cinnamon in the egg nog for Republicans. But the truth is that the guy represents a district that really oughtn't be a Democratic district,' [...]
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    Posted: December 22, 2009, 12:51pm EST

  • Decade In Review: A Moment In History

    Email this Article Which event will have the most enduring legacy?(polling)

    Add[...]
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    Posted: December 22, 2009, 10:00am EST

  • The White House Gifts The Nation A Cyber Chief: Howard Schmidt

    President Obama plans to name Howard A. Schmidt, a veteran cyber security warrior with experience at senior levels of government and industry, to fill a long-anticipated cyber coordinator position at the National Security Council, administration officials and outside consultants confirmed. (The news was first reported by the cyber beat reporters [...]
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    Posted: December 21, 2009, 9:28pm EST

  • Year-End Poll: President's Approval Rating In August 2010

    Email this Article President Obama's approval rating in August of 2010 will be...(polling)

    [...]
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    Posted: December 21, 2009, 9:30am EST

  • Breaking Analysis: The Senate Votes For Cloture

    Let it be said, at 1:15 a.m. ET, that Democratic Party discipline held, that Republicans failed to kill health care reform, that the president now has a strong chance to sign into law historic, expensive and far-reaching health care reform legislation before his first official State of the Union address [...]
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    Posted: December 21, 2009, 1:31am EST

  • Don't Miss A Moment

    new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 4, interval: 6000, width: 250, height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: '#0512a1', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#000000', color: '#ffffff', links: '#4aed05' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: false, live: false, hashtags: true, timestamp: true, avatars: false, behavior: 'all' } }).render().setUser('marcambinder').start(); new [...]
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    Posted: December 19, 2009, 9:37am EST

  • Don't Miss Our Breaking Analysis

    new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'list', rpp: 30, interval: 6000, title: 'Never Miss A Tweet', subject: 'Politics 24/7/365...', width: 'auto', height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: '#fa0808', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#ffffff', color: '#444444', links: '#b740c2' } }, features: { scrollbar: true, loop: false, live: true, hashtags: [...]
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    Posted: December 19, 2009, 9:26am EST

  • Does Obama Hate Liberals?

    Does President Obama have contempt for liberals? No. The administration is virtually infested with liberals. And they're not inclined to be self-hating.

    But the Obama Way harbors contempt for ideologically driven special interest constituency politics. During the campaign, it eschewed endorsements, refused to attend interest group cattle calls, and alienated the' [...]

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    Posted: December 17, 2009, 4:45pm EST

  • Is Obama Endorsing WWE Wrestling?

    For years, the World Wrestling Entertainment corporation has tinkered with a variety of strategies to improve its public image. The company toned down the storylines, aiming for a TV PG rating. They inaugurated voter registration drives in 2004, 2006 and 2008. They're a ubiquitous presence on the USO circuit. That' [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 4:00pm EST

  • At Spy Agency, More Women At Higher Levels

    Email this ArticleCIA Director Leon Panetta is taking steps to increase the number of women at the highest levels of the nation's most fabled spy agency.

    Add[...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 3:22pm EST

  • Obesity In The Health Care Bills

    Having studied the latest research on the economics and politics of obesity, I've grown skeptical that a convincing case can be made that government-wide interventions can reduce obesity's cost contribution to the health care system in the near-term. The more one studies obesity itself and its effect on human beings,' [...]
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    Posted: December 16, 2009, 10:21am EST

  • The Atlantic's Boldest: Department Of Corrections

    Email this Article1. President Obama plans to transfer prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Thomson, Illinois, not Thompson.
    2. Rep. Collin Peterson is a Democrat from Minnesota, not Michigan.



    Add to Reddit[...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 3:25pm EST

  • Administration Admits That Indefinite Detention For GTMO Detainees Still Not Legal In US

    The Obama administration acknowledged Tuesday that it would be a violation of current law to transfer individuals from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to its soon-to-be acquired Thomson prison in Illinois unless they are destined for a federal trial or military tribunal. In a conference call with reporters, a senior administration [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 1:10pm EST

  • A Chastened Lieberman Defends Himself

    One person with knowledge of what it's like to work for Sen. Joe Lieberman these days describes a "bunker mentality" in his Senate office. Apparently, Lieberman was not happy that even the legacy media -- the Washington Post, the New York Times -- characterized his Medicare-buy-in position-change as craven and [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 1:03pm EST

  • A Twitter Torrent Against .... Congressional Democrats

    Twitter is on fire, and Joe Lieberman merely the kindle. The Netroots left -- a variegated slice of the Democratic base -- is livid about health care reform.  The fire has been slow burning for months, expressing itself in frustration, firstly, with the congressional leadership, and secondly, with the White [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 8:38am EST

  • 2010: Exploring The Frustration Of Seniors

    Resurgent Republic, the GOP strategy/polling consortium, has been finding, in surveys, a trend among folks over 55 that quite concerns Democrats -- because they're seeing the same thing. Since April, older whites have not only been venting their frustration at Congress, they've been increasingly receptive to Republican political messaging. Even [...]
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    Posted: December 15, 2009, 6:06am EST

  • 2010: The Case Against Self-Funding

    Confirming rumors, California gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner announced today he's donating $15 million to his own campaign because he wants to "communicate my message of bold 10% tax cuts, a 10% reduction in state spending, creating a $10 billion rainy day fund, and I will cut our welfare spending so'" [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 1:20pm EST

  • Why Lieberman Hates The Health Care Bill

    For progressives, with his latest Hamleting on health care reform, Sen. Joe Lieberman has officially transitioned from his status as the Senate's Lucy-Pulling-The-Ball-Away to a guy who, in the words of CAP's Matthew Yglesias, demonstrates "sociopathic indifference to the human cost" of his actions. That's one way of putting' [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 12:04pm EST

  • Big Three Missing From Moral Suasion Meeting

    The White House says that three CEOS -- the CEOS of the Big Three, actually -- Lloyd Blankfein, Dick Parsons, and John Mack, will miss today's moral suasion meeting with the president, Valerie Jarrett, Rahm Emanuel and other top advisers. Here's a list of other attendees, followed by a brief [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 11:01am EST

  • And Even More Democratic Retirements Are Probable

    Stipulating here for a moment: the NET number of Democratic congressional retirements is -1, which is not necessarily predictive of a wave in the distance. Of the nearly two dozen Democrats and Republicans who've decided to step down, Republicans are in a good position to pick up about seven seats' [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 10:41am EST

  • Another Democrat Retires: Rep. Bart Gordon

    Another senior moderate Democrat is retiring. In a press release, Rep. Bart Gordon, a Democrat who has represented Middle Tennessee for a quarter of a decade, calls the advent of his 60th year of human existence a turning point. The guy wants to spend more time with his family. Gordon [...]
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    Posted: December 14, 2009, 10:28am EST

  • The Sunday Show Summary In Five Paragraphs...

    On the Sunday shows this week, the White House sent out their wonky economic front-line team to explain the administration's thinking on the state of the economy. Having been burned before -- having detected green shoots that turned out to be mirages -- the operative phrases of the day included [...]
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    Posted: December 13, 2009, 12:39pm EST

  • "The Obama Doctrine" v. "The Obama Actions"

    I didn't have time to write about the President's speech yesterday, and since so much has been written -- I recommended this summary here -- I'll reserve myself to just a few quick points.

    One is -- calling his speech an encapsulation of the Obama Doctrine is OK. [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 11:09am EST

  • Sam Power, And The Myth Of Marginalization

    In Oslo yesterday, tongues wagged at the sight of Samantha Power, a presidential friend and adviser. In Washington's preferred metaphor, she's "back." But really, she wasn't gone.

    Traveling with the president is interpreted symbolically; the president confers approval on those with whom he visibly associates. But Power, the National' [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 7:50am EST

  • The Exceptionally Tough Politics Of Cyber Power

    Whenever I write about the thickly complicated politics of cyber power or cyber security, the most frequent question I'm asked is whether the National Security Agency can read your e-mail. My answer used to be, "I don't know." Now, my answer is, "Well, of course they can. But they're probably'" [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2009, 6:39am EST

  • It's Impossible To Be The Secret Service These Days

    It is a great irony of Washington: the federal agency closest in proximity to the most powerful political officials in the land is bound by an institutional culture that avoids politics -- and this agency generally draws the short end of the stick as a result. The moment that the [...]
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    Posted: December 10, 2009, 9:52am EST

  • 2010: Another Democratic Incumbent Retires

    Word tonight that Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) has decided to retire took everyone from colleagues in Congress to the White House by surprise. Baird is the tenth Democrat to throw in the towel -- so far, not an unusually large number, but the type of number that, if it becomes [...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2009, 6:24pm EST

  • Did The TSA Compromise An Intelligence Program?

    Email this ArticleWhat the heck is WOMAP? The unredacted version of the Transportation Security Administration's supervisor security manual includes references for a heretofore unrevealed Central Intelligence Agency program called WOMAP -- The Worldwide Operational Meet and Assist Program.

    Add to digg[...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2009, 1:30pm EST

  • Senate Health Care Compromise: Progressives Cautious

    The first round of reaction is cautious -- and positive -- about the compromise brokered in the Senate to jettison a "public option" variant in favor of a smorgasbord of increased Medicare eligibility, tighter restrictions on insurers, and a national trigger for some sort of non-profit government-run plan (maybe the [...]
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    Posted: December 09, 2009, 7:47am EST

  • The Grand Senate Compromise: First Draft

    What's to make of the formal death of the public option in the Senate? Conservatives cheer, but it's not at all clear what's been sent to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring. The possibilities include: allowing eligible folks 55 years and older to buy into Medicare -- the folks most [...]
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    Posted: December 08, 2009, 9:07pm EST

  • Palin's "Boycott Copenhagen" Op-Ed: Annotated

    Once again, the Washington Post has given Sarah Palin the chance to harness herself to the political story of the hour. The former Alaska governor has written an op-ed, published Wednesday, about the "Climate-gate" controversy at East Anglia University. Palin calls on President Obama to boycott the Copenhagen climate [...]
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    Posted: December 08, 2009, 7:29pm EST

  • Predictions 2010: Best Case, Worst Case For Democrats

    Imagine, if you will, that in a secret sub-basement of the White House, in a padlocked room surrounded by an impenetrable steel barrier, David Axelrod is putting the finishing touches on a machine that would generate a proton-driven plasma wake field, pushing the country months into the future; we'd come' [...]
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    Posted: December 07, 2009, 2:16pm EST

  • Copenhagen: The Science Is Settled; The Policy And Politics Aren't

    The timing isn't coincidental: as the Copenhagen climate talks begin, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue a formal "endangerment" finding for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In doing so, the agency is giving the administration what amounts to a cattle prod. Having "found" that CO2 is a "public'" [...]
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    Posted: December 07, 2009, 1:13pm EST

  • David Plouffe Throwback Strategy Challenge

    In a video posted on YouTube, former Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe challenges Obama's supporters to beat Sarah Palin at book selling for one day. It's a one-day contest designed to test whether Sarah Palin can still rally the Democratic base. Plouffe promises to devote $1 from each book [...]
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    Posted: December 07, 2009, 11:01am EST

  • The Sunday Shows In Five Bullet Points: AfPak Special

    Prelude: Twitter is talking about this tweet from @KarlRove: "Guess the message is they think are smarter than Bush and ended up making the same decision as Bush." The Washington Post and the New York Times have tick-tocks of the President's troop surge decisions. And the President's top [...]
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    Posted: December 06, 2009, 2:25pm EST

  • Sen. Max Baucus's Private Option

    Sen. Max Baucus's relationship with a member of his staff, Melodee Hanes, does not, in itself, warrant a New York Times Breaking News Alert. Mr. Baucus does not hold himself up to be a paragon of rectitude; he is not known for insisting that others follow a code of sexual [...]
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    Posted: December 05, 2009, 11:08am EST

  • START to Expire, But Don't Perspire

    U.S. and Russian negotiators will miss their December 5 deadline to finish negotiations on a new  strategic arms reduction treaty, but both the White House and the Kremlin announced today that they would continue to act as if the treaty were in force until they sign a new one. Technically, [...]
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    Posted: December 04, 2009, 1:32pm EST

  • The First Line Of Every Democratic Campaign Speech In 2010...

    May have been uttered by Christina Romer, chair of the President's Council on Economic Advisers, who released the administration's reaction to the unemployment rate change today.  It's her final line: 
    But, it is clear we are moving in the right direction
    (Thanks to Ron Brownstein for the insight.)

    [...]
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    Posted: December 04, 2009, 10:37am EST

  • Palin On Her Birtherism: It's Andrew Sullivan's Fault

    Sarah Palin has taken to her Facebook page to respond to her suggestion that it was legitimate for voters to question whether President Obama was born in the United States. Here's Palin's response: 
    Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I've pointed' [...]
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    Posted: December 04, 2009, 9:33am EST

  • 10.0%

    Don't expect too much celebrating from the White House today over news that the unemployment rate nudged down from 10.2% to 10.0%. For one thing, most of the decline can be attributed to a slightly lower labor force participation rate. For another, the White House has jumped the gun on' [...]
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    Posted: December 04, 2009, 9:25am EST

  • Secret Service Officers Placed On Administrative Leave

    Two points of interest from the testimony of Secret Service director Mark Sullivan this morning. 
    1. Three members of the Uniformed Division's magnetometer branch were suspended. (Various press accounts call these folks "agents."  They're not agents. Agents -- the guys and gals in suits -- are sworn special agents and' [...]
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    Posted: December 03, 2009, 12:10pm EST

  • Why Is David Ogden Leaving?

    Deputy Attorney General David Ogden is resigning, the Justice Department said today. Mr. Ogden led President Obama's Justice transition team and has been deeply involved in virtually every major Justice Department initiative conceived by the administration since the inauguration.
    Ogden, 56, plans to return to private practice at WilmerHale in February,' [...]
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    Posted: December 03, 2009, 11:51am EST

  • Jobs Summit: The White House Is Stuck

    Today's White House Jobs Summit is a translucent exercise in public relations.  Recognizing it as such is almost enough to negate its substantive impact. Almost. 
    True: employers simply are not confident enough to begin to thicken payrolls again, taking comfort in marginal profitability after years of productivity gains. The administration's' [...]
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    Posted: December 03, 2009, 9:39am EST

  • Peter King Wants His Pound Of Flesh

    Need more evidence that the United States Secret Service has the hardest political job in Washington? Case in point: an officer makes a mistake at a magnetometer checkpoint, and a two individuals are allowed into the White House without proper authorization. A problem, manageable and fixable. Certainly cause for an [...]
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    Posted: December 03, 2009, 7:59am EST

  • Erik, Prince Of Spies: CIA Targeted Al Q in Germany Without Telling Germany

    In a new Vanity Fair article, Blackwater CEO Erik Prince fashions himself as a swashbuckling Wild Bill Donovan recruited by the CIA to pull off the toughest, most clandestine operations. He comes off as vain and insecure. But if his account is correct, it rips open a closed package of [...]
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    Posted: December 02, 2009, 10:56am EST

  • Obama's Speech: Morning Review Thoughts

    The reaction from Democratic members of Congress -- those with actual power -- seems to be just favorable enough. That is, there doesn't seem to be anything in the words of David Obey, the top appropriator, or Ike Skelton, the top armed services cmte Democrat, to indicate that, with the' [...]
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    Posted: December 02, 2009, 6:13am EST

  • Key Democrats React To Obama

    Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), in a terse statement:  "President Obama asked for time to make his decision on a new policy in Afghanistan.  I am going to take some time to think through the proposal he presented tonight."

    Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA): "I oppose sending 30,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan because" [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 9:16pm EST

  • Lunch With The President: The Politics Of Obama's War Plan

    President Obama said today he is "painfully clear" that his revised Afghanistan strategy is "politically unpopular" -- especially within his own party -- and that he expects to be held "fully accountable" if the strategy fails.
    Obama, speaking with a group of columnists and reporters at a White House lunch [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 8:37pm EST

  • MoveOn On War: "This Is Wrong"

    Nowhere will President Obama's military escalation prove less popular than with a segment of his base. Case in point: MoveOn.org, successful in pressuring Congressional Democrats to toughen up in 2006, is apoplectic. "This is wrong," writes MoveOn's senior leadership team. "And it won't make us safer."  The full e-mail is' [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 2:14pm EST

  • In Iowa, As Huck Goes, So Goes Romney?

    Presidential primary politics is not, as Robert Wright might put it, always a zero sum game. Given the prevailing metaphors of political positioning and space, one candidate often fills an ideological space and displaces others -- think Pat Robertson in the 1988 Iowa caucuses. But just as often, the power [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 2:01pm EST
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Marc Ambinder

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