2.22.15: The Ripple Mr. Giuliani's Insidious Statements

The main topics of today's program all carried a whiff of xenophobia and the ‘ol ‘otherness’ or ‘us and them’ aspect, and once again, unfortunately, it’s was driven by Republicans.

First, there were the stupid comments this week by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R), in which he said that the president was not as patriotic as he should be; and that he didn't grow up loving the country like, say, you and me. To not endlessly rehash what we feel our readers already know of Mr. Giuliani’s statements, they were insidious at the least or as Nia-Malika Henderson of The Washington Post summed it they were ‘despicable.’  Indeed.

These kinds of statements have no place in sensible political discourse, as doesn’t Mr. Giuliani anymore, who is senselessly trying to remain relevant. But in trying to do so has, in fact, rendered himself completely irrelevant and cannot be taken seriously. Ms. Henderson also was correct when she described how most New Yorkers know Mr. Giuliani's reputation before 9/11 was not all that great, and that’s understating it. Everyone is grateful for his stout leadership on the worst day in New York City's history, but he has now crushed that legacy. Now Mr. Giuliani is simply a right-wing crank that doesn't represent the views of the people he once represented.

We would call Mr. Giuliani a joke but that would be inaccurate. More appropriately, Mr. Giuliani is the punchline to the bad joke on Scott Walker (R), the governor of Wisconsin.

We’re of the mindset that if you call the president unpatriotic or say that he doesn't love America hat is also to indirectly say that everyone who voted for him also doesn't love the country which is insulting to the majority of Americans who elected Mr. Obama twice.  So for Mr. Walker to not denounce Mr. Giuliani's statements, given at a dinner that was in fact for Mr. Walker's benefit, he is deservedly going to get beaten up in the press for such cowardice.

Today's panel also discussed a question asked of Mr. Walker as to whether or not he believed Pres. Obama was a Christian. Chuck Todd accurately described that the answer seemed to leave an opening that suggested that the president may not be a Christian. What is very obvious is that Mr. Walker needs to be schooled up very quickly if he's serious about contending for the presidency of the United States because right now he is certainly not ready for prime time. These ‘I’m-not-qualified-to-judge’ answers aren’t going to cut it anymore.

Republicans like to say that Scott Walker is a great Republican governor in a largely Democratic state, but the fact is that Mr. Walker despite having won three elections in four years – Republicans like to point out - has put the state of Wisconsin into debt.  And despite what Republicans say, not having unions is bad for middle-class families that earn money in manufacturing.  ‘Right to Work’ legislation simply gives all leverage to the employer that means you can be let go from your job arbitrarily.

And we can't let this go without mentioning Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R). The governor said that if you are looking for someone to criticize Mayor Giuliani, go someplace else. This column is of the mindset that Bobby Jindal is delusional if he thinks he would be a good president. He has pretty much run the state of Louisiana into the ground, increasing debt and cutting education funding.  And speaking to which, he’s flip-flopped on common core education. When we think about Bobby Jindal, we don't think about how he won't criticize a fellow Republican, our aim goes directly to his policies.

The second semantic "controversy" stems from the fact that Republicans are condemning the president because Mr. Obama is not labeling ISIS as Islamic extremists. The president is calling them, rather, radical extremists. ISIS is an extremist group that follows an extreme interpretation of the Koran, which would indeed make them Islamic extremists. That’s what this column will call ISIS, but we completely understand why the Administration would not use that term. We agree that the Administration should not use that term.

This opinion column has the luxury to use such as description, just as we have the luxury to use the term “Christian extremist” when describing the West Baptist Church for example. That congregation takes an extreme view of the Bible. Can the president talk about Christian extremists? Of course he cannot because politically that's just a terrible thing to do. Our allies in the Middle East are Muslims and we have to show them, as a country represented by the Obama Administration, that we understand that not all Muslims are extremists. Even, conservative columnist, Michael Gerson agreed that you cannot alienate your allies in the region in such as way that lumps a billion Muslims world-wide with ISIS.

So we don't have a problem with Sen. Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, saying that he's going to call ISIS Islamic extremists. What we would ask is that people understand why Pres. Obama won't use that term.

On today's program video clips showed President George Bush saying that “Islam is peace,” and one of the fmr. Vice-President Dick Cheney saying that the Iraq war was not a war against Islam. So there is precedent for Mr. Obama’s tact.

One other thing that Senator Corker said that that we agree with was about the long-standing policy of the United States that it will not pay ransoms for American citizens captured by a group like ISIS. As we've said before in this column, we have great sympathy for Kayla Mueller’s family, but it must be said that Ms. Mueller knew the risks in going to Syria. She had to have known of those risks because to go there with out knowing those risks would have been unwise. No matter how much one's heart is in the right place one still has to go into something like that with eyes completely open. So, no, the United States should not change its policy on not ransoming captured citizens.

The next instance of frivolous non-inclusion is the Republicans stance on immigration inasmuch as they are tying it to funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The Congress has four days to resolve the funding issue of this department while demanding that the president revoked his executive orders on immigration.

In the interview that Chuck Todd conducted with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, he outlined a threat to the nation's malls, specifically the Mall of America in Minneapolis, a city with a large Somali population.  The threat came from Al-Shabab, a large terrorist organized based in Somalia. He said that people going to the mall should be more alert than they normally would be.  He said there will be extra security - visible and not. So in the face of these threats and in the matter of protecting American borders and enforcing border policy, which Republicans insist on, they are threatening a shutdown that would furlough 30,000 people in Homeland Security. Decide for yourself whether that's smart or not.

And finally, the last in this string of disenfranchisement has to do with voting laws.

It is heartening to know that there are many Republicans, more than Democrats would think, that can compromise and move forward bipartisan legislation – case in point is this new voting legislation, in light of the Supreme Court dismissing pre-clearance in changing voting laws in certain states, cosponsored by one of today's guests Congressman Charlie Kent (R-PA).  The legislation even has the support of Civil Rights icon Congressman John Lewis.

What we didn’t like about what Congress Kent said is that new voting rights legislation would have to contain a provision for voter IDs, which he agreed with. The congressman did give examples of voter fraud in his argument for requiring voter IDs, but there was a serious problem with his two cited examples. Both examples were of politicians who committed the fraud, not about the average voter. Yet, voter IDs penalizes the average voter and says nothing of the politician who is more apt to commit the fraud. If that's his best argument that he can make for voter ID then the argument is deeply flawed.

Sherrilyn Ifill, legal defense counsel for the NAACP, described and example of where a judge in Texas ruled that the state’s voter ID laws were specifically put in place to disenfranchise minority voters. Whether you agree with that judge's ruling or not, the mere conversation of votes being restricted runs counter to what the base goal really should be which is to have as many people focus possible. The goal should always be to increase voter turnout, not restrict it. If you think democracy is a good thing then why not encourage more of it.

Panel: Amy oh Walter, Cook Political Report; Nia-Malika Henderson, The Washington Post; Michael Gerson, The Washington Post; Robert Gibbs, fmr. White House Press Secretary

2.15.15: U.S. Responsibility to Engage ISIS

One of the central questions on today's “Meet The Press” was whether the United States is responsible for what is going on right now in the Middle East and should it be its fight at this point? There is broad consensus in the United States that soldiers should not be sent back into Iraq. This debate comes as President Obama is asking Congress for resolution to formalize its engagement with ISIS. 

First, today's Meet the Press in terms of format, guests and smoothness in its pacing [read: no awkward stumbles at all] was perhaps one of the best that Chuck Todd has done since taking over as moderator. We would still like to see interview guests on the program actually meet the press and have the journalists on the panel asking some questions. However, today that was unnecessary as Mr. Todd asked direct concise questions that elicited insightful and candid responses. One clear example of this was when Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said that the American people did not elect Republicans to majorities in both houses to see them fight within their own ranks – over tying funding for the Department of Homeland Security to the president’s immigration executive orders. 

When Mr. Todd was interviewing Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), he asked the senator if the United States responsible to stay in the Middle East with a military presence to try to stabilize the region. The senator did feel that United States did bear some responsibility to be there, but not to go it alone.  To which, Mr. Todd then switched to Russia and whether or not the United States should arm the Ukrainians. (As we stated in prior columns, we are not for arming Ukraine as that would be a mistake. Rightly, Mr. Todd noted that the Russian army would crush Ukrainian Army.

However, it is a bit of a false equivalent to put Russia and its aggression in the Ukraine side-by-side with what is essentially chaos going on in the Middle East. The reason is because the United States went into the Middle East and broke it even more than it already was. Whereas in the Ukraine, Russia has essentially invaded that country with covert troops and tanks and whatever hardware support that the Russian nationalists need. 

[On a bit of a side note: Senator Reed said he was in favor of supplying defensive weapons to the Ukrainians in the form of radar and anti-tank missiles along with economic assistance.  This is a strategy to bleed the Russians, a 'Vietnam-ing" of them if you will.  After we defined it in the sixties and seventies, the United States vietnam-ed Russia in Afghanistan and will employ a bit of that strategy in Ukraine.  (Just as the U.S. does to itself in the Middle East.)]

To answer the question as to whether or not the United States bears responsibility and should be in the Middle East fighting ISIS, we would put it this way. The worst foreign policy decision since going into Vietnam full force has been the invasion of Iraq in 2003, so yes. It has been the source of endless problems abroad and at home. If we hadn't spent $1 trillion in Iraq, think of all the bridges and roads that could have been repaired, the people put to work, and the lives saved.  There may not even have to have been an interview today with the Sec. of Veterans Affairs, Robert McDonald, if had it not been for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. There would be no need for this president to have to go to Congress and ask for resolution to formally fight ISIS.

Incidentally, in discussions like the one that was conducted today, it’s where Sen. John McCain is at his most levelheaded best. Sen. McCain mentioned that in the administration's proposal for this resolution there was no mention of Bashar Al-Assad of Syria and what to do with the regime that has killed well over 100,000 of its citizens. We may not agree with Sen. McCain on how the United States should engage that dictator, but he indirectly brought up a valid point that if the administration wants a formal resolution then it has to provide a serious proposal with details. What does it mean to formally engage ISIS? Does that mean that there will be US ground forces fighting them are we prepared for to see more casualties coming home from Iraq?  The details have to be outlined and the timetable has to be, to use Mr. McCain’s term, ‘conditions-based.’ 

Now many in Congress don't want to give the president the resolution for political reasons - that they don't want to share in the responsibility if things go wrong. As Sec. McDonald said in his interview, these people need to be held accountable (900 fired for not doing their jobs), but they have not been in the case of Congress. Congress needs to take responsibility as well, and use the power of the purse, again noting the Mr. McCain.  But again, the administration has to present a serious proposal for this resolution. In actuality, what the administration really seems to want is a formal okay from Congress to keep doing what the military doing, which is bombing the hell out of ISIS while putting no boots on the ground.

The United States does bear responsibility for what is going on right now in the Middle East but not for everything, not the Syrian civil war. While the discussion on the program continued, we recalled Joe Biden who had the idea way back when that will probably end up being the end solution - that Iraq will become in essence three different states in loose union with one another. Think about it, if any one group has deserved to have its own state that would be the Kurds. I think most people would agree that the Kurds are the only ones who have kept up their end; perhaps because they are the most determined, and self-determining people among those in Iraq. 

When Mr. Todd interviewed Sec. McDonald he showed a video clip of the secretary verbally sparring with Congressman Mike Coffman (R-CO), and we were glad to see. The former CEO Procter & Gamble did not sit idly by while a member of the House of Representatives went off on some bellicose rant to simply show up the secretary in a hearing. The secretary is holding people accountable, and by the answers that he gave it seems as though things are improving at the Veterans Administration. The man is obviously not motivated by money so maybe this graduate of West Point feels the obligation to give back and fight for the veterans, which we would call admirable. You have to give props when they should be given, we guess. And on a final note, he illustrated that admirability when he responded that he encouraged the administration being listed as ‘at high risk’ to bring light to what the problems are, but what he's also done for himself is set goals to correct those very problems. See the graphic below: 

Panel: Kathleen Parker, syndicated columnist, The Washington Post; Joe Scarborough, MSNBC's "Morning Joe;" April Ryan, White House correspondent for the Urban Radio Network ; David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama

And just one more thing. There was another act of terror perpetrated last night in Copenhagen, Denmark, in which three people died where the shooter pledged allegiance to Isis in the name of Islam. But here's the truth about these individuals who commit these horrible acts for ISIS and Al Qaeda – they are all going to lose in the end, and the reason is because what they really believe in is nothing. Ideology is not religion. Religion is faith and faith is hope and that is something that these people have none of.

 

2.8.15: Strategic Patience

Before we go in-depth for this week's column, we are listing two names at the top here - two very significant names:

Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh
Sidi Bouzid

Years from now, when discussing beginning, 21st-century Middle East, these two names will be the touchstones.

Sidi Bouzi was the Tunisian fruit vendor who immolated himself that sparked the Arab Spring three years ago. And of course, more recently Lt. Muath al-Kasaesbeh was the Jordian pilot killed by ISIS. 

The Arab Spring, which right now seems like a disaster, will ultimately be viewed positively in history because it was the much needed call for citizens to act and demand just treatment, a more free society, but in the aftermath, people could clearly identify what they didn't want - e.g. the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt then, and ISIS now.  Lt. al-Kasaesbeh's death is a turning point in the fortunes of ISIS because moderate Muslims have had enough and Jordan is fully in the fight.

Let's not neglect to mention the Kurdish peshmerga who's actions Secretary of State John Kerry called "brave and courageous."  This is the kind of coalition the United States has to build and support in the region.  In addition, as Secretary Kerry also mentioned, the Iraqi Army needs to be retrained before they are ready to advance.  It just goes to show how compromised that force is that after all these years of U.S. training, they still have to be retrained. 

It's a big wrinkle that doesn't get mentioned much.  Right now, the U.S. needs to be able to work with the Iraqi Army, that is greatly under the influence of Iranian interests.  Wouldn't stand to reason that the Iranians are agreeing to lay off a bit so that the U.S. can train Iraqi soldiers if the U.S. agrees to keep the nuclear negotiations from breaking down with the implementation of additional sanctions. 

In the interview, Sec. Kerry defended the Obama Administration's foreign policy choice of 'strategic patience."  In the case of ISIS, that is a policy that has worked, bearing the mind the criticism that the Obama Administration allowed ISIS to form, but the sectarian force that Sec. Kerry mentioned (what the Iraqi Army turned into) was going to happen no matter what because of Iraqi politics, more particularly the policies of fmr. Prime Minister Maliki.  Sunnis in the western part of the country were going to retaliate, and ISIS results from that.

But all along, the more moderate Muslim community has had to take full control of the situation, with the Americans in a support/coordination role.  But to be vested, it has to be emotional and for the Jordanians, that's exactly what happened. 

Though sophisticated in its propaganda, it's banal to say that ISIS is not a rational actor so it was just a matter of time before the breaking point arrived.  However, Chuck Todd asked if Vladimir Putin should be considered a rational action or completely off the deep end, even bringing up the possibility of Aspergers Syndrome (which is described on the internet as a form of highly functional autism). That last bit about the Aspergers is laughable especially hasn't it come up really when discussing Kim Jung Un for example. Former Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul said that Mr. Putin was obsessed with the CIA, but we would amend that with also being obsessed with his own power, described as a megalomaniac.

The 'strategic patience' line of thinking doesn't seem to be the way of logic when it comes to Ukraine, however.  Mr. Kerry said that the United States would supply economic and other aid to Ukraine.  It's the 'other' that one would have to worry about because what that really means is that the United States is going to supply the Ukrainians with arms. 

Interestingly, the panel/guests were divided on whether or not it was a good idea.  David Brooks took the classic cold war position of upping the ante to let them know you mean business.  The BBC's Katty Kay thought it not a good idea reasoning that putting more armaments into an already volatile situation, things will inevitably get worse.  Mr. McFaul said he was in favor of arming the Ukrainians.

Arming the Ukrainians at this moment would be a very bad idea especially given the upcoming summit in Minsk, Belarus between Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany.  What's complicated is that western Europe has to contend with energy concerns because Russia is a big supplier, a factor that carries much less weight for the United States' interests. Arming the Ukrainians should not be taken off the table, but only used as a last result. 

Also, if American politicians are going to keep saying that local actors [read: countries] have to get involved in the Middle East if they want ISIS defeated, then why wouldn't they be advocating for the same in Europe?  Especially since there is the huge difference that France and Germany are fully engaged and more than capable and willing to negotiate in their backyard.  For the sake of all the people that live in Europe, when it comes to arming the Ukrainians, let's have a little more 'Strategic Patience.'

A couple of quick hits...

We're not insightful when it comes to the procedures and happening of weekly prayer breakfast that the President is obligated to attend.  However, the president represents all Americans and unless they are acknowledging prayers for multiple faiths, then we shouldn't have it.  (separation of church and state)

And we agree wholeheartedly with Andrea Mitchell that Senator Rand Paul doesn't get a pass on the vaccination controversy, he's a medical doctor... and now obviously an irresponsible one.  Get your kids vaccinated.

Panel: Katty Kay, BBC America; David Brooks, The New York Times; Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Stephen Henderson, The Detroit Free Press

2.1.15: Considering Broader Strategies

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates used a phrase to serve as the theme for this week's column. He talked about was the lack of “broader strategies” in the Middle East. He went on to say that there seems to be a disintegration of state-type systems in that region, which is also spreading into the north of Africa, i.e. Libya.

In all the topics discussed on today's program the notion of "broader strategies" permeated throughout. Staying with the topic of the Middle East for a moment, it is reported that ISIS has executed the second Japanese hostage. Sadly, if an individual appears in an ISIS video, clothed in an orange jumpsuit, that person's fate has already been sealed. Government officials understand this harsh reality, however people being ever-hopeful believe that there is always something that can be done to rescue that individual when in truth it's quite the opposite.

Former Secretary Gates illustrated another reality, which is the United States' strategy as it stands is not broad enough to defeat ISIS – this is the context of discussing that words like ‘defeat’ and ‘destroy’ are not realistic as goals in fighting these terrorist organizations. All of the things that Mr. Gates pointed out – that there would have to be some boots on the ground to roll ISIS back; that there isn't a sense of vision for the future as to how the region will look; and that tribalism is taking over in the Middle East creating easy de facto sanctuaries for jihadists are accurate, but Mr. Gates has the luxury of not having political contentions in making these assessments.

In terms of ISIS, we don't fully agree with Mr. Gates that the president doesn't have a broader strategy to combat them because the president's broader strategy hinges getting some kind of resolution from Congress, which would give him the option to employ some of the strategies that Mr. Gates had outlined.   You be the judge as to whether you think the president consulting Congress on this is a good idea or not.

In combating, containing and disabling these terrorist organizations there isn't an effective broader U.S. strategy because everyone is skittish about putting on paper the option of boots on the ground, which would perceived as ‘going back in’ to Iraq. However, to achieve the U.S.’s stated goals, that option has to be put on the table, and no one wants to do it whether a number is outlined or not. No one, especially in the Obama Administration is signing on to that. Unfortunately Mr. Gates is correct and some number of U.S. personnel, in a significant role, is required to be on the ground if the United States wants to overwhelm ISIS.

This brings us to Congressman Paul Ryan's statement during his interview, in which he said, “it is wholly appropriate” for the Congress, and equal branch of government, to invite the head of state of another country without informing the president first.

We liked most of what Mr. Ryan had to say in today's interview (tax reform and finding common ground), however, it is wholly inappropriate for House Speaker John Boehner to invite the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to address a joint session of Congress with out consulting the president first.

This column has no problem with ninety-five percent of U.S.-Israeli policy, relations, and support.  However, we have a serious problem with Prime Minister Netanyahu coming to the United States and sticking his thumb in the eye of our president, playing political games, by accepting Mr. Boehner’s invitation. It’s so self-serving and so self-interested that we find it pretty disgusting, frankly. Constitutionally, fine, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives can invite a leader of another country to come and speak, but it's a stupid and shortsighted move to accept that invitation. In this sense, there is no sense of a broader strategy on the part of the Israeli Prime Minister or the Republicans who control the Congress.

This lack of a broader strategy theme would also make you think of Vladimir Putin in Russia and how it seems like he does not have one, as discussed today as well. However he does have a broader strategy and its simply one that Americans don't understand.

He's broader strategy is to isolate and consolidate power at home, by what ever means are available to him. For Mr. Putin it’s all a matter of control and restoration.  Mr. Putin wants the Ukraine back in the sphere of a greater Russia - it's that simple - and that he'll use propaganda to win public support an obvious notion. Mr. Gates said that Mr. Putin's approval rating was 80%, to which Mr. Todd questioned the reliability of that poll considering it comes from state-controlled media. His broader strategy is to back in time and restore/create an alternately named new Soviet-type entity.

Another quick note on the interview between Mr. Gates and Chuck Todd is that Mr. Todd asked the former secretary, "If you could ask a presidential candidate one question what would it be?" Mr. Gates' reply focused on the people that the candidate would put around him or herself. He went on to say that "great presidents have a first-class temperament." Mr. Todd will certainly be bringing that up Mr. Gates’ answer during future debates and interviews with presidential hopefuls – a little cheap foreshadowing.

Also in terms of broader strategies, we liked Mr. Ryan's tone and answers in terms of trying to find common ground with the president on tax reform. One of the things discussed on the subject was the "trust fund loophole," in which the president would like to eliminate. Broadly explained, this loophole would be when you inherit assets, you would have to pay a tax that you now do not. Mr. Ryan’ argument was a very effective one that we happen to agree with. This type of tax would make it more difficult or prohibitive to pass along a family business so that it can continue generationally. When the argument is framed like that, it makes a lot of sense not to "close that loophole," doesn’t it?  A small business these days is a million-dollar enterprise – that's considered small scale while not being a small amount of money to most Americans.

Like Congressman Ryan, we don't know where the points of common ground are exactly between the president, Democrats and the Republicans. However, also like Mr. Ryan, we do remain hopeful that common ground can be achieved somewhere. But will it get done?

Here we turn to CNBC's Jim Cramer who when asked if tax form will really happen, his answer was "no way." The reason that he was so definitive on tax reform not happening is easy to understand. Any compromise on tax reform inevitably is going to hit big corporations so the heads of those corporations have little incentive to support tax reform on any level. When you take the reformation of an individual's taxes off the table then you are only left with corporate and the top one-percents’ taxes to play with, and are the most difficult to alter, politically.

Up until this point, this column has been reluctant to comment on presidential politics, but we will weigh in on the subject today because of the news that Mitt Romney has decided not to run for the office for a third time. This news prompted today's panel to conclude that the Republican field is now pretty much set. We find that so interesting because the Democratic field is so up in the air. Hillary Clinton has not declared her candidacy and no one is sure who else is interested in running from the Democratic side. So as it stands right now, one party has a set field and the other has no field.

With Mitt Romney out of the running now, Jeb Bush becomes the establishment candidate for the Republican nomination – that’s who is getting most of Mr. Romney’s former key donors. Everyone on the panel seems to like Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin – Iowa polls like him too. In Wisconsin, as Congressman Ryan said, Mr. Walker is so popular that he was elected three times in four years, playing off of the fact that he won his first election, won a recall vote, then won reelection. This joke can carry him a long way, possibly to the nomination. Note what Jim Cramer said – Scott Walker is good for stock prices. Kathleen Parker, the syndicated columnist, said that Scott Walker's attractiveness stems from him being able to play in both pools - the very conservative base and the establishment, more corporate, donor class of the Republican Party. When you take all that into consideration, you would have to say that Gov. Walker is a form of formidable candidate.

One note here, despite the Iowa polls showing Mr. Walker at the top and given our stated conclusion, this column has decided that Iowa in terms of being a bell weather or king maker does not represent the electorate and is hence a poor one.  This is especially true with the Republican base in that state.  When your leader is Representative Steve King, you should simply not be taken seriously.  The Iowa political tradition should be rethought.

(Back to it.) By contrast with Governor Walker, Mr. Bush has had his problems with the Republican base  - common core and immigration as Kathleen Parker mentioned.  There is also New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who definitely has his problems with temperament – the kind Mr. Gates described earlier. And ultimately that's his downfall. There’s former governor Mike Huckabee, the cultural warrior, who hasn't figured out that for the most part, in this country, the culture war has been fought and Mr. Huckabee's side has lost. Young Republicans are more libertarian in a truer sense than Mr. Huckabee ever will be. Naturally then, this leads you to think about the Senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul. The problem with Sen. Paul as a president is that at one moment he has good ideas then comes back with a crazy idea.  In both cases, he’s unable to court any friends. To succeed, a president needs more alliances than what Senator Paul would be able to widely cultivate.

It's kind of what happened to President Obama in a way. Over the course of his presidency, his alliances have dwindled – ebbed and flowed – but ultimately have been reduced. Now he finds himself having to work doubly hard to build up those broad alliances again in the last two years of his term to accomplish anything.  We’ll see how he does.


Panel: Mark Halperin, Bloomberg News; Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post; Savannah Guthrie, NBC Today Show; Jim Cramer, CNBC