The New Republic

Brad's first reading of Obama's health care plan is correct. There's a mandate for kids to get insurance -- but not for adults. By my definition, that means it's not true universal coverage. At least not right away. Now, there's still a ton to like in the plan, to be sure -- particularly the meaty material on bringing down costs and improving quality. Good regulation of the insurance industry, too, plus a new public program into which people can enroll. READ MORE >>

So says Obama. So much for the idea that he was boxed in by the race factor. --Michael Crowley READ MORE >>

Via Tapped, I found this fascinating Chicago Reader profile of Obama from 1995, when he was making his first foray into elective politics as a state senate candidate. I highly recommend the whole article, but here's one short bit that quotes the then-34-year-old Obama at length: READ MORE >>

Ben Smith has a story in the Politico about Clinton's relative strength--and Obama's relative weakness--when it comes to appealing to black voters. It's a good piece, but there was one part of it that I didn't quite get. Smith makes a big deal of the fact that the Clintons spent a recent vacation in Anguilla schmoozing with Bob Johnson. Smith writes: READ MORE >>

In the midst of his front-page story on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in today's Washington Post, Dan Balz takes time to note the following:   READ MORE >>