All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

As of tonight, George W. Bush -- his administration and its philosophy -- are no longer responsible for the bloody war in Afghanistan.

Tonight, with his pledge to redouble American military efforts in Afghanistan and then thin them out by 2012, President Obama has hoisted that burden into his shoulders.

Failure creates almost unmovable inertia for the rest of Mr. Obama's agenda. So Mr. Obama might just have committed what could be the biggest political blunder of his years in office. And he did so knowingly, deliberately, and without blinders on. Though Americans have grown skeptical about the war in Afghanistan, they've given the president considerable latitude to prosecute it without holding him accountable.

Text of Obama's Remarks
CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan

Mr. Obama's decision leaves them no choice: by setting a firm timetable to begin withdrawing troops, he is urging Americans to form a political judgment about the war's progress at the time the first wave of redeployments begin. This is the question he has brought to the fore: with everything that's going on over here, what the hell are we doing over there?

Often accused of choosing the path of least resistance, Mr. Obama's decision carries political risk.

Read full post…

Updated 9:35 p.m. ET: Below is the full transcript of President Obama's speech outlining his strategy for Afghanistan, as released by the White House:

Good evening. To the United States Corps of Cadets, to the men and women of our Armed Services, and to my fellow Americans: I want to speak to you tonight about our effort in Afghanistan -- the nature of our commitment there, the scope of our interests, and the strategy that my administration will pursue to bring this war to a successful conclusion. It's an extraordinary honor for me to do so here at West Point -- where so many men and women have prepared to stand up for our security, and to represent what is finest about our country.

To address these important issues, it's important to recall why America and our allies were compelled to fight a war in Afghanistan in the first place. We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001, 19 men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 people. They struck at our military and economic nerve centers. They took the lives of innocent men, women, and children without regard to their faith or race or station. Were it not for the heroic actions of passengers onboard one of those flights, they could have also struck at one of the great symbols of our democracy in Washington, and killed many more.

As we know, these men belonged to al Qaeda -- a group of extremists who have distorted and defiled Islam, one of the world's great religions, to justify the slaughter of innocents. Al Qaeda's base of operations was in Afghanistan, where they were harbored by the Taliban -- a ruthless, repressive and radical movement that seized control of that country after it was ravaged by years of Soviet occupation and civil war, and after the attention of America and our friends had turned elsewhere.

Read full post…

President Obama is expected to announce that he will send additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan during his address Tuesday night -- something just a third of the public supports.

According to the latest CBS News Poll conducted November 13-15, slightly more, 39 percent, would like to say the number of troops decreased, and 20 percent want troop levels kept the same.

As was the case with the war in Iraq, views on sending more troops are influenced by partisanship: half of Republicans support a troop increase, but just 17 percent of Democrats do. 34 percent of independents think troops should be increased.

The president will need to convince Americans that sending more troops will improve what most Americans consider to be a bad situation there. Sixty-nine percent of Americans told the CBS News Poll that things are going badly for the U.S. in Afghanistan, and just twenty-three percent -- the lowest measured by this poll -- think things are going well.

The CBS Poll -- conducted prior to the president's address about the future course of the war in Afghanistan -- found just 36 percent think additional troops will make things better in Afghanistan, and 22 percent expect more troops to make things worse. Thirty-one percent expect no difference.

Read full post…

Former Vice President Dick Cheney delivered some more harsh commentary on President Obama's leadership, just as the president prepares to address the nation regarding his new Afghanistan policy.

"I begin to get nervous when I see the commander in chief making decisions apparently for what I would describe as small 'p' political reasons, where he's trying to balance off different competing groups in society," Cheney said in an interview with Politico. "Every time he delays, defers, debates, changes his position, it begins to raise questions: Is the commander in chief really behind what they've been asked to do?"

After a 92-day review of the war in Afghanistan, Mr. Obama tonight will lay out to the American public, in a nationally broadcast address, his new battle strategy for the war in Afghanistan. The new plan is expected to include sending more than 30,000 additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan, as well as an increased emphasis on training for Afghan forces in order to allow the U.S. to leave down the line.

Although the president is facing criticism for some on the left for increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan, Cheney told Politico that average Afghan citizen "sees talk about exit strategies and how soon we can get out, instead of talk about how we win."

When asked whether the Bush administration's focus on Iraq was responsible for the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, Cheney reportedly said, "I basically don't," without elaborating.

Read full post…

Of the 366 statements, remarks and comments President Obama has delivered since taking office, tonight's speech at West Point is his first one billed as an address to the nation.

He'll use it to unveil his new strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan. He'll announce deployments of upwards of 30,000 additional troops; explain how the government will provide the $30-billion a year in funding for them, and also make it clear the U.S. military commitment there is not open-ended.

It's unusual but not unprecedented for Mr. Obama to deliver an address to the nation from a venue other than the White House.

His immediate predecessor, President George W. Bush, delivered 23 addresses to the nation during his 8 years in office of which 7 originated from sites other than the White House:

• August 9, 2001: Stem Cell Research – Bush Ranch
• November 8, 2001: War on Terrorism – World Congress Center, Atlanta
• September 11, 2001: First Anniversary of 9/11 – Ellis Island, N.Y. Harbor
• October 7, 2002: Threat Posed by Iraq – Cincinnati Museum Center
• May 1, 2003: End of Major Combat Operations in Iraq – USS Abraham Lincoln, 30 miles off coast of San Diego
• June 23, 2005: War in Iraq – Fort Bragg, N.C.
• September 15, 2005: Response to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans

Read full post…

In the morning, President Obama and Vice President Biden will receive the Economic Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. Later, the president will meet with Nobel Laureates and their families in the Oval Office. He will also meet with senior advisers in the Oval Office. Following that meeting, the president and vice president will meet with Secretary Gates in the Oval Office.

Mr. Obama and Biden will also meet with Congressional Leadership in the afternoon to discuss the administration's strategy in Afghanistan. Below is the list of invited congressional leaders:

House:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader, D-Md.
Rep. John Boehner, Republican Leader, R-Ohio
Rep. James Clyburn, Majority Whip, D-S.C.
Rep. Eric Cantor, Republican Whip, R-Va.
Rep. Ike Skelton, Armed Services Committee Chairman, D-Mo.
Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, Armed Services Committee Ranking Member, R-Calif.
Rep. Howard Berman, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, D-Calif.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member R-Fla.
Rep. David Obey, Appropriations Committee Chairman, D-Wis.
Rep. Jerry Lewis, Appropriations Committee Ranking Member, R-Calif.
Rep. Nita Lowey, State & Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chairman, D-N.Y.
Rep. Kay Granger, State & Foreign Operations Subcommittee Ranking Member, R-Texas
Rep. John "Jack" Murtha, Defense Subcommittee Chairman, D-Pa.
Rep. Bill Young, Defense Subcommittee Ranking Member, R-Fla.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, Intelligence Committee Chairman, D-Texas
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Intelligence Committee Ranking Member, R-Mich.

Senate:
Sen. Harry Reid, Majority Leader, D-Nev.
Sen. Dick Durbin, Majority Whip, D-Ill.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, Republican Leader, R-Ky.
Sen. Jon Kyl, Republican Whip, R-Ariz.
Sen. Carl Levin, Armed Services Committee Chairman, D-Mich.
Sen. John McCain, Armed Services Committee Ranking Member, R-Ariz.
Sen. Daniel Inouye, Appropriations Committee Chairman and Defense Subcommittee Chairman, D-Hawaii
Sen. Thad Cochran, Appropriations Committee Ranking Member and Defense Subcommittee Ranking Member, R-Miss.
Sen. John Kerry, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, D-Mass.
Sen. Richard Lugar, Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member, R-Ind.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chairman, D-Vt.
Sen. Judd Gregg, Foreign Operations Subcommittee Ranking Member, R-N.H.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Intelligence Committee Chair, D-Calif.
Sen. Kit Bond, Intelligence Committee Ranking Member, R-Mo.

Mr. Obama will then travel to the United States Military Academy at West Point to address the nation. Following the speech, the president will sign the United States Military Academy at West Point guest book at the superintendent's quarters before returning to the White House in the evening.

Read full post…

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

** A new objective in Afghanistan...

** CBO report boosts Democrats' health reform argument...

** Huckabee in hot water for commutation...

AFGHANISTAN: "President Obama travels to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point tonight to lay out his expected troop buildup in Afghanistan. Before leaving D.C., he will meet with Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates and he and Biden will also meet with congressional leaders to talk about the administration's strategy in Afghanistan.

"President Obama plans to send 30,000 to 35,000 additional soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Monday, the largest single U.S. deployment since the 2003 invasion of Iraq," report the Los Angeles Times' Christi Parsons and Paul Richter.

"The additional troops, Obama's second major escalation of the conflict this year, will bring the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to about 100,000. But even as he dramatically escalates the war, Obama is expected to emphasize that there are limits to the length of U.S. military involvement in the region, White House officials said, though he is not prepared to set concrete deadlines for withdrawal.

"Obama will announce his newest Afghan strategy in a televised speech tonight before cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It represents his second attempt to forge a joint strategy for dealing with Taliban fighters and other insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In addition to the military buildup, aides say the president's speech will lay out plans for civilian efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and benchmarks for measuring progress."

Read full post…

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has a formidable task ahead of him this month as he tries to get 60 senators to allow for a vote in favor of his comprehensive health care reform package. The White House doesn't intend to let him go at it alone, however.

The Obama administration has been coordinating its health care messaging with Democratic leaders in the Senate according to various reports. Reid will "get backing from war rooms on Capitol Hill and in the White House, where operatives with a coordinated strategy stand ready to amplify the floor debate," Politico reports.

Meanwhile, the White House released today a video featuring Vice President Joe Biden, who asks, "Who do you trust?" when it comes to explaining what health insurance reform means. The video features physicians and nurses advocating for reform.

Reports last week said President Obama assigned a blog post from the Atlantic's Ron Brownstein, which praises the Senate health care bill, as required reading for all White House staff working on health care.

The White House has been working furiously on the issue behind the scenes all year, and the Associated Press reported last week exactly with whom. Administration officials have met with hundreds of lobbyists and others involved in the debate this year, the AP after obtaining 575 visitor records from the White House.

For more on the status of the current health care debate, check out CBSNews.com's latest Health Care Progress Report.

CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to hear some harsh criticism this week when members of a congressional panel consider whether to support President Obama's nomination of Bernanke for a second term. To defend himself, the Fed chief can at least point to a new list from Foreign Policy magazine naming Bernanke the top "global thinker" of 2009.

In its first annual list of 100 thinkers who formed "the big ideas that shaped our world in 2009," Foreign Policy honors Bernanke with the top spot "for staving off a new Great Depression."

"The Zen-like chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve might not have topped the list solely for turning his superb academic career into a blueprint for action, for single-handedly reinventing the role of a central bank, or for preventing the collapse of the U.S. economy," according to the special report. "But to have done all of these within the span of a few months is certainly one of the greatest intellectual feats of recent years."

The magazine lists President Obama as the no. 2 "global thinker," "for reimagining America's role in the world."

"He is an unapologetic wonk with a professorial bearing, a 'radical incrementalist' (in the useful term of his detractors) who assesses, seeks advice, considers, seeks counsel again, and then tinkers. He is also a president with big ideas, particularly in his foreign policy," according to Foreign Policy.

The third "thinker" listed behind Bernanke and Mr. Obama is Iranian political scientist and reformer Zahra Rahnavard, "for being the brains behind Iran's Green Revolution and the campaign of her husband, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi." The rest of the top 25 on the list include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Central Command commander Army General David Petraeus, former Vice President Dick Cheney, journalist Malcolm Gladwell and Pope Benedict XVI.

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

** The president takes it all on, from Afghanistan to jobs...

** A message on Afghanistan for Americans and for Pakistan...

** The Senate health care debate gets started...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: "The White House says Afghanistan and climate change will top President Barack Obama's agenda when he meets with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd [at 11:10am ET today]," reports the Associated Press.

"[Today's] meeting comes a day before Obama delivers a national address from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where he's expected to announce an increase of up to 35,000 U.S. troops as part of a revised strategy for the war in Afghanistan. Australia has about 1,550 troops there, the largest contribution of any country outside of NATO.

"The meeting also comes ahead of global climate talks in Denmark. Rudd's government wants to slash Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent below 2000 levels by 2020 if tough global targets can be agreed upon at the Copenhagen summit."

Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman, "Critical Decisions This Week on Batch of Obama Initiatives": "A cascade of events this week, involving high-profile topics from Afghanistan to health care to jobs, is challenging the Obama White House's strategy of launching so many initiatives so fast in its first year."

New York Times' Jeff Zeleny, "Vital Tests for Obama on Mandate of Change": "In a narrow sense, President Obama’s handling of the critical issues of health care and Afghanistan in the weeks ahead will test the depth of his support among Democrats and determine whether he can draw Republicans to his foreign policy.

"But more broadly, how he manages those two challenges will provide the biggest trial yet of his ability to use the mandate he claimed more than a year ago to bring about substantial change in a political system that often conspires against it.

"He is heading into this pivotal moment with his job-approval ratings down and much of his initial shine tarnished by months of political combat."

Read full post…