Sayyid Qutb

I think it is awesome that Republican candidates for president are name-dropping dead Muslim philosophers:

[Huckabee:] ... and Governor Romney mentioned Sayyid Qutb, executed in Egypt in 1966. He is one of the major philosophers behind this. And the fact is, there is nothing about our attacking them that prompts this. They are prompted by the fact they believe that they must establish a worldwide caliphate that has nothing to do with us other than we live and breathe and their intention is to destroy us.

Candidates should know this type of thing - and Americans should be aware as well.

Some background on Sayyid Qutb is here, some of his writings are on Google Books; the full debate transcript is here.

Stumped

The Washington Post's Stumped election advice column headlines a question I sent in. Though it's actually hypothetical for me, I'm sure it's true for someone, and it's fun to have a question answered by a blogger I admire. Here's part of Stumped's response:

Dear E&O,

The office of California's Secretary of State was initially stumped when I called to make sure there would be no legal hurdles for a New Hampshire transplant who moves in that "magical window" (as the press officer put it) and wants to partake in a second primary. But the office got back to me to say, somewhat grudgingly, come on over.

Read my question and the rest of the response here.

The Money Is On

According to InTrade Prediction Markets, bettors are paying $6.61 for a $10 payoff if Obama wins Iowa; a shockingly low $2.01 for Hillary; and $70.1 for Huckabee. On party nominations, the highest are Hillary, trading at $6.20, and McCain, trading at $2.70.

I'm glad someone does this!

Free-for-All 2008: Caucus-Day Edition

Iowa Republicans will vote tonight. Iowa Democrats will argue and stand around in clumps. The rest of us will wait with bated breath.

What are the trends heading into the first ballots of oh-eight? Obama and Edwards have closed on Hillary in Iowa - but remain far behind everywhere else. She can ride this out. If she finishes second, then she's within expectations and heading to friendlier terrain. If she finishes third, the other two will split the anti-Hillary vote in New Hampshire, and she'll regain command of the race.

On the Republican side, there's a lot less energy; marginal candidates could be aided by spillover get-out-the-vote efforts from Democrats. Most caucus-goers are still fundamentally unsatisfied with the choice of Romney or Huckabee. With McCain bounding up in polls, and rumors that Fred Thompson will drop out and endorse McCain, watch for McCain to garner lots of support as the "I'm-not-Mike-or-Mitt" candidate.

If McCain is indeed surging, as it seems, he did it not a moment too late. In fact, it may be too early: Romney has already turned on him. Conservative primary voters such as myself have been drawn to McCain as the process has worn on. Though we know we disagree with him on some important issues, he seems far more genuine and uncompromising than the other candidates. Huckabee is an amateur. Romney has been far too polished and political - and doesn't seem like he has any momentum toward a national election. So we've taken a collective second look at McCain, and found him refreshingly familiar. He's succeeded at staying under the radar - until this week - and his record hasn't come under attack like Huckabee's and Romney's. Whether Romney can eviscerate him in the five days before New Hampshire voters cast the first real votes of the primary remains to be seen.

Before being shocked by the chatter numbers below, note that since it is now 2008, the "2008" boolean qualifier I had previously used when searching candidate names has passed its usefulness. The result is more hits - for everyone. There is no qualitative difference in the results, but the numbers cannot be compared with last month's.

Rank	Candidate	Chatter	Rank Change
R.1	Gov. Mike Huckabee	41,113	+3
R.2	Gov. Mitt Romney	38,405	0
R.3	Sen. John McCain	28,016	0
R.4	Rudy Giuliani	27,530	-3
R.5	Rep. Ron Paul	16,387	+1
R.6	Fred Thompson	14,909	-1
R.7	Rep. Tom Tancredo	2,741	+1
R.8	Rep. Duncan Hunter	1,656	-1
R.9	Newt Gingrich	486	+1
R.10	Sen. Sam Brownback	303	-1
...............	...............................................	.......................	...............
D.1	Sen. Hillary Clinton	56,429	0
D.2	Sen. Barack Obama	45,151	+1
D.3	Sen. John Edwards	38,302	-1
D.4	Al Gore	13,064	+3
D.5	Sen. Joseph Biden	10,186	+1
D.6	Sen. Christopher Dodd	9,705	-2
D.7	Gov. Bill Richardson	8,846	-2
D.8	Rep. Dennis Kucinich	4,107	0
D.9	Mike Gravel	772	0

Notes: The Chatter Rankings are created by searching each candidate's name - now without the "2008" qualifier - in the Google News database.

See recent graphs of the Chatter Rankings plus Chatter Rankings from December, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January, December 2006, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, December 2005, August, July, June, and May.

The monthly prediction...

Jan 3, '08: McCain & Thompson over Clinton & Richardson
Dec '07: Clinton & Richardson over Giuliani & Thompson
Nov '07: Clinton & Richardson over Giuliani & Thompson
Oct '07: Clinton & Richardson over Giuliani & Thompson
Sep '07: Giuliani & Thompson over Clinton & Richardson
Aug '07: Giuliani & Thompson over Clinton & Warner
Jul '07: Giuliani & Thompson over Clinton & Warner
Jun '07: Clinton & Warner over McCain & Romney
May '07: Clinton & Warner over McCain & Romney
Apr '07: Clinton & Warner over McCain & Giuliani
Mar '07: Clinton & Obama over McCain & Giuliani
Feb '07: Clinton & Obama over McCain & Giuliani
Jan '07: Clinton & Obama over McCain & Giuliani
Dec '06: Clinton & Obama over McCain & Giuliani
Nov '06: McCain & Giuliani over Clinton & Warner
Oct '06: McCain & Giuliani over Clinton & Warner
Sep '06: McCain & Giuliani over Clinton & Warner
Aug '06: McCain & Giuliani over Clinton & Warner
Jul '06: Clinton & Warner over Allen & Romney
Jun '06: Clinton & Warner over Allen & Romney
May '06: Clinton & Warner over Allen & Romney
Apr '06: Clinton & Warner over Allen & Romney
Mar '06: Clinton & Warner over Allen & Rice
Feb '06: Clinton & Warner over Allen & Rice

Surging At the Right Moment

As soon as Huckabee surged, in November and early December, the pundits knew it was too early. Now another candidate is surging - and with a strong third-place showing in Iowa, John McCain could begin running away with the election. Impossible? No. Just unlikely.

Let's Be Clear: Bad Idea

Several candidates for president - Romney, McCain, even erstwhile nemesis Giuliani - have championed the line-item veto as a solution to Washington's pork woes. Pork is a major problem - whether it's in transparent donations of taxpayer money to pet projects or hidden in broader programs. But the line-item veto will not solve the problem - it will only make the president complicit.

For the past hundred years, the president's role in lawmaking has grown, perhaps unconstitutionally. Giving the president a veto scalpel would allow him to reward friends and punish foes, and to trade horses with Congress. While most Republicans this cycle are making noise about controlling spending, are we really to believe that any of them - or their successors - would resist the temptation to buy votes for signature legislation with the odd bridge to nowhere or butterfly genetics laboratory?

The president doesn't need a scalpel - the mace he already wields is weapon enough to scare Congress into good behavior. What remains wanting is the courage to wield it - and changing the weapon won't make cowards brave.

Note: if you're from Massachusetts, you already knew that the title of this post is a rhyme.

Name This Celebrity

Who is this news article describing?

"It has been relentless... **** has had them from day one. But I'm not complaining. **** has taken on the **** and beaten them. ****'s so resilient. **** has the attitude, 'It is what it is', and just marches on."

It is what it is.