What began as a spirited contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is starting to resemble a street fight. The Clinton’s have picked up a lead pipe and Obama’s doing all he can to parry with a trashcan lid. It’s not pretty. But there’s a legitimate and important fight beneath the ugliness. It’s just not about what a lot of people think it’s about.

Peruse the issues sections on the candidates’ websites and it becomes abundantly clear that these are two politicians with remarkably similar goals.| MORE ›

Congressman Dennis Kucinich has dropped out of the race for the White House. News story here. Cheap shot at the Congressman’s expense here.

This is hard to follow if you weren’t an economics major, but it’s worth a try. Perhaps George Soros has a political agenda in saying this in the Financial Times — like getting a Democrat elected. But nobody ever said he was stupid.

The current financial crisis was precipitated by a bubble in the US housing market. In some ways it resembles other crises that have occurred since the end of the second world war at intervals ranging from four to 10 years. (more…)

Morton Blackwell has come out in support for Governor Mitt Romney. Morton is a very big fish: he’s “the GOP’s national committeeman from Virginia, but he’s better known to conservatives as chief of the Leadership Institute, a training center for ambitious young Republicans.” (more…)

We have yet another new co-blogger: Alan Stewart Carl informed his buddies that he felt left out that I didn’t ask him to co-blog at PoliGazette. I couldn’t let him feel bad and lonely of course, so I decided to ask him to join us. No, seriously: I’m very happy that ASC accepted my offer to come blog for us. He’s a great Centrist voice, with quite a record. This blog is even better than it already was, now that he’s writing for us. (more…)

In a rare show of bi-partisan glad-handing, the House and President Bush have agreed on a so-called economic stimulus package that consists largely of “tax rebates” to be given to individuals earning < $75K per year and couples making < $150K.

From this perspective the plan could be called a tax cut and therefore be considered a good thing. However, the NY Times says that “the stipend of at least $300 would be paid to all workers receiving a paycheck, even those who did not earn enough to pay taxes last year.” (more…)

The latest poll shows that Mitt Romney is slightly ahead in Florida at this point in time. “Romney gets the support of most of those voting on the economy and immigration, while McCain is backed by those most concerned about terrorism,” said Mason-Dixon managing director Brad Coker. (more…)

You can read the transcript of the show in which Rush Limbaugh declares war on Senator John McCain here. The point is clear: He’s not going to support McCain, no matter what. McCain has angered Limbaugh on more than one important issue. It’s fascinating to see a conservative talk radio host go after a fellow Republican like this, we haven’t seen much of that. (more…)

This is one of the most interesting articles I’ve ever read about “the development of the Jihadist mind.” It’s written by a former Jihadi, Tawfik Hamid, who carefully explains how the radicalized and how he, in the end, broke with Salafism and embraced a more tolerant and peaceful kind of Islam: his own. (more…)

A recently conducted poll shows that 66% of Dutch want to see Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam movie. A solid majority also wants the film to be broadcasted. This even though 40% of Dutch people are afraid for the consequences of this already controversial movie. (more…)