Joel Kotkin and Fred Siegel believe the Democrats have lost their historic focus on the concerns of middle-class Americans, an error-in-judgement about which Sen. Schumer already warned his party. (H/t McQ.)
Speaking of the middle class, Michael Bowen asks for reactions to a presumably hypothetical health-coverage conundrum.
In case you (naively) hoped there might be a sense of balance maintained in the upcoming primaries, Ben Smith warns of the onset of the “vaguely-named 527s.”
Two perspectives on McCain, and between them (perhaps) an accurate portrait of what makes him the presidential candidate who can never quite reach the finish line. The first is by Jonathan Martin on the campaign trail with the Senator. The second is by Brad Porter, from a letter he wrote Andrew Sullivan.
Speaking of Sullivan, two readers take issue with some of his thoughts on Huckabee.
John Cole and Steve Benen challenge the spin of the Administration (and certain of its apologists) re: recent developments in stem-cell research.
Justin Gardner discovers another ray of hope for the GOP, although it’s once again outside the Beltway.
Diana Butler Bass chimes in on religious tests for public office. From her conclusion:
We should not be electing a theologian-in-chief. We need to elect a good president.
As a Christian, I also know that getting the answers right on a doctrinal test are no guarantee of a person’s moral disposition or fitness for leadership. Indeed, one’s orthodoxy can bear little relationship to one’s practice of faith. Experience, vision, compassion, good leadership, and an ability to govern well are the only tests upon which Christians—or other religious folks—should vote.
Of course, voters have the right to ask about candidates’ religious views, and politicians have the right to talk about those views. But when such rights verge on becoming a faith test, then we begin to sacrifice the wisdom of our political system in favor of a testimony that more rightly belongs in church. And a big part of that wisdom is that our president does not make theological affirmations that exclude millions of Americans on Inauguration Day.