A confession: I am a complete political junkie. I love this stuff. The campaign trail, the candidates, their policies (yes, their policies), their foibles, their interaction with voters, the whole thing. So count me addicted.
Here's the first political ad of the 2007-08 presidential cycle, from Mitt Romney, who promises "STRONG. NEW. LEADERSHIP." More to come, from Romney and many others, in the days ahead. The two videos YouTube has to follow the Romney ad are "College Saga–Episode 1" and "Citizen Hero." On the "related video" sidebar is, among others, "ROMNEY HONORS VETERANS AT STATE HOUSE CEREMONY," submitted by one "KenMehlman." That person identifies himself as Chip and gives his age as 15. "I'm not really former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman. I am still a conservative Republican."
President Bush is confident that congressional Democrats won't be able to muster support for withdrawing from Iraq no matter what legislative gambit they use, according to White House officials.
AP - Britain will withdraw nearly half its troops from Iraq by the end of the year if local forces can secure the southern part of the country, Prime Minister Tony Blair planned to announce Wednesday.
AP - A suicide car bomber struck a police checkpoint Wednesday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, killing at 11 people in the spiritual heartland of the militia factions led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
AP - The U.N. nuclear watchdog on Wednesday put finishing touches on a report expected to confirm that Iran continues uranium enrichment activities, a finding that could trigger harsher U.N. Security Council sanctions against Tehran.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair plans to withdraw nearly half of his country's 7,200 troops from Iraq by the end of 2007, according to media reports. Today's expected announcement comes after Blair declared that the British mission in Basra in southern Iraq had been "completed" and "successful."
Army Secretary Francis Harvey blamed a failure of leadership for substandard conditions in a building that is part of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and vowed Tuesday to move quickly to fix the problem.
The White House on Tuesday emphasized diplomacy over potential military action against Iran -- just a day after a top naval commander questioned the intentions behind Iran's recent exercises in the Persian Gulf.