Bob Dole unloads on McClellan  —  Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding email to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a “miserable creature” who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck.  —  In an extraordinary message obtained and authenticated by Politico …

MCCAIN, THE SURGE, AND ‘VERB TENSES’  —  GREENSDALE, WI, MAY 28, 2008. … JOHN MCCAIN GOT AHEAD OF EVENTS THIS WEEK IN CLAIMING THAT THE UNITED STATES MILITARY HAS GONE DOWN TO “PRE-SURGE LEVELS” IN IRAQ.  THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN UNTIL LATER THIS YEAR, EVEN BY THE MOST OPTIMISTIC SCENARIO.

White women cold toward Obama  —  Barack Obama's favorability ratings among white women have declined significantly in recent months, particularly among Democrats and independents, presenting an immediate obstacle for the likely Democratic nominee as he moves to shore up his party's base.

Healing the wounds of Democrats' sexism  —  LAST YEAR at the beginning of the presidential primary season, Democrats were giddy with excitement.  Not only did we have an embarrassment of riches in our candidates but we had two historic candidacies to enjoy.

McCain on Israel, Iran and the Holocaust  —  Two weeks ago, I spoke with Barack Obama about the Middle East, Zionism, and his favorite Jewish writers.  Since my blog is both fair and balanced, I had a lengthy conversation with Senator John McCain earlier this week about many of the same subjects.

House Broker  —  Nancy Pelosi doesn't like to be threatened.  —  Nancy Pelosi believes in being direct.  With the Democratic presidential contest running hot, in March a reporter with Boston TV station NECN asked the House speaker about the possibility of a dream ticket uniting Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Clinton is top candidate for Dems  —  EDITORIAL BOARD  For the first time in memory, every state will play a role in choosing a nominee for the nation's highest office.  —  Some of those parts are small, but not ours: as one of the last two primary elections, South Dakota Democrats suddenly …

Don't Link Obama to Former Radicals  —  Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, best known recently as friends of Barack Obama, disappeared in 1969 after two of their colleagues in the Weather Underground died while building a bomb.  Ayers and Dohrn spent 11 years setting off bombs and putting out statements threatening violent revolution.

Happy Suck On This Day!  —  Five years, or 10 F.U.s, ago today, America's leading foreign affairs public intellectual explained the Iraq war to us. … Five years and 10 F.U.s later, Iraqis are still sucking on it!

Pfleger warned about pulpit politics.  Pfleger stepped down from “Catholics for Obama.”  —  WASHINGTON — The Rev. Michael Pfleger mocked Sen. Hillary Clinton from the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ — earning him a reprimand Thursday from Sen. Barack Obama as his comments threaten …

The Obama Gaffe Machine  —  For months, Barack Obama has had the image of an incandescent, golden-tongued Wundercandidate.  That image may be fraying now.  —  As smart and credentialed as he is, Sen. Obama is often an indifferent speaker without a teleprompter.

Thank You, and Goodbye  —  My name is Andrew Exum, and for the past year and a half, I have had the great pleasure of editing this blog under the ridiculous pseudonym “Abu Muqawama.”  —  I started this blog as a joke - hence the tongue-in-cheek name - and have been shocked to discover …

No, I'm not Chuck Todd  —  There are certain pleasures in writing anonymously.  Particularly in the political world, where there is a whole mythology associated with anonymity — think Deep Throat or Primary Colors or Atrios.  But I'm fortunate enough to have been granted the opportunity …

U.S. Cites Big Gains Against Al-Qaeda  —  Group Is Facing Setbacks Globally, CIA Chief Says  —  Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia …