http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/milanalysts/13%20Apr%2007/06-F-01532%20doc%2011.pdf

Page 7 - Not too egregious, but definitely shows that the Pentagon sees these analysts as tools to spread a particular point of view (emphasis added):

...the strategic target remains our population. We can lose people day-in and day-out, but they're never going to beat our military. What they can and will do if they can is strip away our support. And you guys can help us not let that happen.

Posted at May 12, 2008 4:50 PM in response to Pentagon Military Analyst Doc Diving Thread

Just got back from his speech in Albany, OR 2-3 hours ago. There was only one explicit mention of Hillary Clinton--a reference to the gas tax holiday. But even then, it was only couched in terms of "Senator McCain and Senator Clinton think this is a good idea"; as he continued on the topic, though, he ONLY focused on McCain's support of it.

In a half-hour stump speech and a half-hour town hall Q&A session, no other mention of Clinton.

Posted at May 9, 2008 9:33 PM in response to Obama's Speech On Economy Is All About McCain -- No Mentions Of Hillary

I think Obama's fated to earn a pandering charge no matter what he does from here. As an example, if he nominates a female VP candidate--any female VP candidate--he'll be accused of trying to woo back the female vote. (Likewise if he nominates a white Southerner, Richardson, etc. for their respective demographics.) Better to earn the epithet over something substantive, and something that's a primary focus of many voters this season.

There are other substantive reasons to go with Clinton's plan, at any rate. It wouldn't be hard for him to give hard facts as to why he's choosing her plan over his initial one (while, ideally, incorporating some original ideas as well).

Additionally, by conceding that another Democrat made a more forceful argument in the "marketplace of ideas" revolving around health care--one so forceful that it changed even his mind--he gets to further bolster his insistence that the Democratic Party has regained the "party of ideas" label. Comparing this to the Republican "debate" on health care--"just how DO we convince people that doing nothing is a plan?"--only wins over more independents.

Posted at May 7, 2008 8:33 PM in response to The Post-HRC Strategy

As someone pointed out a month ago, if Clinton's argument was that the experienced candidate is the best one, then any Democrat remaining will lose to John McCain. It was a bad road to go down--it's what led to silly intonations like "the CinC threshold"--and one that she should be ashamed of going down.

To address this more positively, it's worth noting that the job of President of the United States is such a daunting one that I don't think anyone is "ready on day one," at least not in any meaningful way. Experience is generally worth a lot, but only if one can demonstrate that his or her experience helped one develop superior judgment. The "judgment threshold" is one that McCain clearly hasn't passed, and judging from her record on Iraq and the management of her campaign, Clinton hasn't made it far past that threshold, either.

Posted at May 7, 2008 8:18 PM in response to Experience is BS