Democratic vulnerabilities in 2008

This article shows how politically risky the Democrats' "anti-war" stance is. While a majority of Americans still oppose the Iraq project, support for the new "surge" strategy is showing a strong increase, and substantial majorities oppose cutting off funds for the troops (68%) or even cutting off funds for the escalation (60%). The Murtha "slow bleed" strategy -- undermining the war effort in such a way as to not appear responsible for doing so -- is even riskier. Do they really think people are stupid enough not to see what they're doing?

It's still too early to say for sure, but there are signs that the tide is starting to turn in Iraq (see here, here, and here, for example). This is not the 1970s; today the internet has destroyed the MSM's ability to shape perception of the news. If the Democrats in Congress are so foolish as to engineer a defeat when victory was possible, the public will eventually understand that they did so.

Getting back to politics, this posting, while its main subject is Giuliani's political development, also goes into an issue which I think could be a major problem for Clinton: the flurry of pardons at the end of her husband's administration, some of which were bestowed on very dubious characters. While Clinton cannot be held strictly responsible for her husband's actions, she cannot entirely disassociate herself from them either, and these pardons are a rich mine of damaging material.