2007

• Too Much of a Bad Thing

  Nicholas von Hoffman : Campaign Finance

  Hillary Clinton's touting her expertise over Obama--but is experience at political attack, mega-fundraising and cronyism really all that desirable?

• South Carolina: Inside the 'Black Primary'

  Bob Moser : African-Americans

  As Clinton and Obama square off in South Carolina, a window opens on the fractured state of black politics. It's been an extended soul search. And it ain't over yet.

• The Obama Effect

  Gary Younge : Civil Rights & Liberties

  Have the dreams of the civil rights movement been realized or deferred?

• Playing the God Card

  John Nichols : Religion

  It's not Romney's Mormon faith that threatens the core values of a secular nation. It's Huckabee's messianic candidacy.

• Bad Sex in the City

  JoAnn Wypijewski : Rudolph Giuliani

  There's something untrustworthy about a man who can't conduct a decent affair. Rudy Giuliani never could.

• Fear on the Campaign Trail

  Glenn Hurowitz : Electoral Politics

  As Democratic candidates strive to keep their messages upbeat and cheerful, they should take a lesson from the environmental movement on the power of fear to motivate political change.

• The Audacity of Oprah

  Patricia J. Williams : Barack Obama

  The combined power of Oprah & Obama could reinvigorate our embattled political landscape.

• Ron Paul's Roots

  Christopher Hayes : Ron Paul

  His phenomenal candidacy is giving the long-fractured libertarian movement a Kumbaya moment.

• Blackwater's Bu$ine$$

  Jeremy Scahill : Blackwater

  Undeterred by scandal, Blackwater's global business is booming and continues to pursue its political agenda from deep inside the Mitt Romney campaign.

• Bush on Iran: Fool Me Twice

  Robert Scheer : George W. Bush

  Despite new evidence on Iran's nuclear ambitions, President Bush is sticking to his story--an inflated threat assessment some leading Democrats have bought into.

• Heartland Forum Tackles the Real Issues

  Christopher Hayes : Media Analysis

  Pushing past TV's divisive debate format, a unusual forum in Iowa Saturday pushed Democratic candidates to really explain where they stand on pollution, immigration and predatory lending.

• Fumbling Florida

  Bob Moser : Electoral Politics

  Have Democrats already blown the biggest swing state?

• War Comes Home to Iowa

  Ari Berman : Hillary Clinton

  The absence of a definitive antiwar candidate has divided the state's peace activists.

• How the Peace Movement Can Win

  Tom Hayden : Progressives, Liberals, & The American Left

  For war opponents, the election year is a moment of great opportunity--and peril. The challenge is to leverage antiwar sentiment into a victory for peace.

• President Rudy's War Council

  Peter C. Baker : Humor

  Norman Podhoretz and Daniel Pipes consider how the newly elected President should proceed in the world arena. The first act of a five-act play.

• Cheering for Ron Paul

  Robert Scheer : Iraq War

  It takes a libertarian Republican to shame Democrats into acknowledging the true cost of this war for ordinary Americans.

• What to Do About Campaign Finance Loopholes

  Deborah Goldberg : Campaign Finance

  Political reporters are fixated on the candidates' endless money chase and the expected flood of corporate funds into shadow campaigns. But they have forgotten why we care.

• Will the Real Generation Obama Please Stand Up?

  Lakshmi Chaudhry : Electoral Politics

  The cranky, quirky and sometimes progressive politics practiced by a generation once considered slackers could be a deciding factor in this presidential election.

• Carter Speaks His Mind

  John Nichols : Film

  A conversation with the former President on Jonathan Demme's new film, Jimmy Carter Man From Plains, and the difficulty of talking about Israel and Palestine.

• Crisis as Opportunity

  : Economic Policy

  The softening economy, foreclosures, bank write-offs, the swooning dollar and stock market are intruding on the politics of 2008. Do the candidates have a clue?

• Clinton Under Fire for Planting Fake Questions

  Ari Melber : Hillary Clinton

  Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign came under fire over the weekend for planting fake questions at town hall events--and the netroots are on to her.

• Gender Card: Hillary Shuffles the Deck

  Susan Faludi : Hillary Clinton

  Mainstream media pundits claim she's playing the victim. In fact, she's running like a man, playing out a national fantasy to rescue America.

• Bill Richardson

  Rocky Anderson : Bill Richardson

  The broadest experience, smart on Iraq.

• Barack Obama

  Michael Eric Dyson : Barack Obama

  A visionary candidate for a new America.

• Dennis Kucinich

  Gore Vidal : Dennis Kucinich

  A farsighted populist and pacifist.

• Mike Gravel

  Richard Kim : Mike Gravel

  An inconvenient truth-teller.

• Christopher Dodd

  Bruce Shapiro : Christopher Dodd

  Strongest on human rights and civil liberties.

• John Edwards

  Katherine S. Newman : John Edwards

  Like FDR, he's the real deal.

• Hillary Clinton

  Ellen Chesler : Hillary Clinton

  A progressive who can win--and govern.

• Joseph Biden

  John Nichols : Joe Biden

  The best fighter, the most quick-witted.

• Time to Choose

  Executive

  Eight Nation contributors make the best case for their candidate.

• Blue Tide In Kentucky--and Virginia

  Bob Moser : Virginia

  Democrats gained steam in Tuesday's off-year elections, making it even more obvious that two significant Southern states are up for grabs in 2008.

• Cracking the Code

  Thom Hartmann : Progressives, Liberals, & The American Left

  How can the left be as adept as the right-wing spin machine at communicating its political agenda? Learn how to use the tools.

• Why We Need International Law

  Oona A. Hathaway : US Foreign Policy

  It's time to undo the damage and reaffirm America's historical commitment to international law.

• Jobs, Justice and Democracy

  Afshin Molavi : Middle East

  Mideast policy must include development.

• Facing Hamas and Hezbollah

  Helena Cobban : US Foreign Policy

  US diplomacy in the Middle East has been held hostage by a refusal to engage with these two popular movements.

• Combating Muslim Extremism

  Juan Cole : Islam & Muslims

  American politicians should stop implying that Muslim nations and individuals are more dangerous than any other group of human beings. They should also stop calling their religion "fascist."

• The Iranian Challenge

  Trita Parsi : US Foreign Policy

  To change Iran's behavior, we must first change our own.

• Avoiding the Toughness Trap

  William D. Hartung : Nuclear Arms & Proliferation

  Candidates should rethink their commitment to outmoded security tools and veiled nuclear threats against nonnuclear states.

• The New Right-Wing Smear Machine

  Christopher Hayes : Media Analysis

  A web-savvy form of conservative propaganda, written anonymously and forwarded via e-mail, is altering the political landscape.

• A Values Voters Schism

  Sarah Posner : Conservatives & The American Right

  The Christian right is embroiled in an internal culture war, pitting true believers against pragmatists looking for a candidate to satisfy the antitax and neoconservative wings of the GOP.

• The New GOP Means Business

  Bob Moser : Republican Party

  Forget Values Voters. With Bushism discredited and mainstream Republicans looking for candidates with business savvy and competence, Democrats may be facing far more formidable foes than they imagined.

• Hillary's Mystery Money Men

  Russ Baker & Adam Federman : Lobbies/PACs

  The men behind the money that made Bush now want to claim the Clinton campaign. Is someone cooking the books at Hillary Inc.?

• A New Latino Agenda

  Roberto Lovato : Latinos

  Latino voters will go to the polls in 2008 with a hemispheric vision, a new sense of power and concerned about Iraq, immigration and the environment.

• Rudy's Bird of Prey

  Ari Berman : Lobbies/PACs

  Giuliani's conservative kingmaker knows all about the ugly side of Third World debt. He invented it.

• Rudy's Dirty Money

  Ari Berman : Lobbies/PACs

  A closer look at the Texas energy interests fueling the former New York mayor's presidential campaign.

• Why We Act

  Ketan Ramakrishnan

  We need a President willing to choose morality over hyper-Americanism.

• Let Dennis Debate

  : Dennis Kucinich

  Kucinich may be too idealistic to be a presidential contender, but his voice needs to be heard.

• How Different Are the Top Three Dems?

  Katha Pollitt : Hillary Clinton

  Clinton, Edwards, Obama: behind the branding, they're more similar than you think.

• Clinton and Obama: Running on Ambien

  Barbara Ehrenreich : Hillary Clinton

  Can America survive the tedium of its black and female candidates?

• For Hillary, There's No Such Thing as Dirty Money

  Nicholas von Hoffman : Hillary Clinton

  Will her talent for raising campaign cash turn into a liability?

• Biden One-Ups Bush

  Robert Scheer : Iraq War

  Instead of spending even more money armoring soldiers' vehicles, he should work harder at trying to end the war.

• The GOP's Iraq Problem

  Robert Dreyfuss : Republican Party

  Iraq has become a liability the GOP can hardly afford.

• The Richardson Surge

  John Nichols : Bill Richardson

  Bill Richardson's edgy, opinionated and sometimes risky campaign is clicking because of his exit-now strategy from Iraq.

• Poverty Is Hazardous to Your Health

  Katha Pollitt : Health Care Policy

  With the exception of John Edwards's plan to eradicate poverty, the concerns of the poor seem to have fallen off the progressive agenda for 2008.

• Restore Integrity to Federal Elections

  Lawrence Norden : Electoral Reform

  The House must act now to create universal voting standards and restore confidence in our electoral system.

• Democrats Sizzle in Iowa

  Ari Berman : Hillary Clinton

  It felt a bit like Election Day in Iowa this weekend, as Democratic candidates at Senator Tom Harkin's Steak Fry served up appetizers of the campaign to come.

• The Presidential Pageant

  Eric Alterman : Media Analysis

  Here they go again: Bigfoot media are crafting the narratives that will distort the candidates, the issues and the entire presidential campaign.

• GOP Clutches at Iowa Straws

  Marc Cooper : Republican Party

  The Iowa straw poll offered a penetrating glimpse into the crisis facing the Republican party.

• The Economy Debates

  Katrina vanden Heuvel & Robert L. Borosage : U.S. Economy

  Want to know the real differences between the candidates? Listen to what they say about the economy.

• Hillary's Labor Gambit

  Ari Berman : Hillary Clinton

  Senator Clinton has a pro-worker voting record. So why are unionists skeptical?

• How the Democrats Blew It in Only 8 Months

  Alexander Cockburn : Democratic Party

  Are we better off or worse since the Democrats won back Congress?

• Things Fall Apart

  : Transportation

  The Minneapolis bridge collapse should prod all presidential candidates, especially Democrats, to come up with real plans to fix our crumbling infrastructure.

• At YearlyKos, Netroots Come of Age

  Ari Melber : Internet & New Media

  Hillary filibustered them, Obama wooed them, Edwards took them seriously. Now that the Democratic establishment is paying heed, can the netroots remain true to their egalitarian roots?

• President Rudy

  Jon Wiener : Rudolph Giuliani

  How much worse a president would Rudy Giuliani be than George W. Bush? Author Kevin Baker counts the ways.

• Fred Thompson, Neocon

  David Corn : Conservatives & The American Right

  He has a strong claim on the neoconservative heart, and if he ends up in the White House, the moribund neocons will rise again.

• The Populist Moment?

  : Ethical Economics

  Economic populism is the new flavor in politics, but it won't be authentic unless it's driven by and for the people.

• Purple America

  Bob Moser : Democratic Party

  Democrats are poised to seize a historic opportunity to win back voters in the South and West they started losing four decades ago.

• The Swift-boating of Mitt Romney

  Max Blumenthal : Conservatives & The American Right

  Christian conservatives play the porn card in an attempt to discredit Mitt Romney and advance the cause of Fred Thompson.

• Bloomberg's Day

  Micah L. Sifry : Michael Bloomberg

  Michael Bloomberg doesn't actually have to run for President to tilt the race his way.

• High Stakes on Health

  Robert L. Borosage & Katrina vanden Heuvel : Health Insurance

  Campaign '08 is heading for a great debate: Will individualized plans or a broad public guarantee of coverage replace our broken corporate system?