She the People: our predictions for Iowa
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on January 3rd, 2012 5:35 am by HL
She the People: our predictions for Iowa
Welcome to the Post’s new politics and culture blog, “She the People: The World as Women See It.” Though dedicated to the proposition that politics properly understood encompasses just about everything, I thought we’d start with some predictions about Tuesday’s caucuses in Iowa, where a bunch of our writers rang in the new year with Republicans.
Santorum: Ron Paul belongs to ‘Dennis Kucinich wing of the Democratic Party’
Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum (R) is swinging hard at Rep. Ron Paul as the Iowa caucuses loom, arguing that the Texas Republican’s views on foreign policy are more in line with liberal anti-war Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich than with the Republican Party.
“Would you be able to campaign and embrace Ron Paul as the Republican nominee, given his positions on foreign policy and disengagement?” MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell asked Santorum in an interview at the Indianola, Iowa, Public Library that aired Monday night.
The secret of Mitt Romney’s Iowa success? Electability.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney ’s rise to the top of the polls in Iowa is built almost exclusively on a single word: electability.
Look inside the Des Moines Register poll, which showed Romney leading the way with 24 percent of the vote, and it’s clear that the former Massachusetts governor’s “head” appeal (we need to nominate someone who can beat President Obama next fall) is winning out over the doubts many voters in the state still have about his conservative bona fides and ability to relate to average Iowans.
Defense Secretary Panetta faces tough choices on national security in 2012
When it comes to national security issues in 2012, the person who faces the toughest choices is Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta.
Look at what’s on his plate: the Pentagon’s budget crunch, the war in Afghanistan, the postwar period in Iraq, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Israeli issues, U.S.-Pakistan relations, China’s growing military and the biggest challenge of all — Congress.