The New Republic

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

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