The issue of the war in Iraq seemed to have disappeared from the campaign trail in recent weeks and months, with some declaring that the so-called surged has worked, others stating the war has ended, and the major news networks simply ignoring the war. Proponents of the war and the surge frequently cite the military progress that has been accomplished but ignore the lack of political reconciliation that the surge was ostensibly created to fix. But according to Spencer Ackerman at the new Washington Independent, even those security gains now seem at risk:

Iraq security statistics over the past 13 weeks, obtained exclusively by The Washington Independent, tell the tale. In Baghdad, improvised-explosive device (IED) detonations explosions in Baghdad have ticked up slightly to 131 in January from 129 in December—and the last week of January is not included in these latest figures. Countrywide, there was an increase in IED explosions to 2,291 in December from 1,394 in November, followed by a dip to 1,270 in the first three weeks of January. But the week ending on January 25 saw seven suicide explosions Iraq-wide, the most since the week ending Dec. 21, 2007.

It is too early to conclude that the security gains of the surge are unwinding. But they’re being put under stress in a manner not seen since the so-called “Surge of Operations” began in mid-June. Some speculate that the insurgency, knocked on its heels by the changing tactics of U.S. forces in mid-2007, is beginning to adjust, a few months before the surge draws to a close. “I think there’s some credibility to that argument,” said Brian Katulis, a national-security expert at the liberal Center for American Progress. “It all begs the question of what’s the grand endgame.”

Meanwhile, John McCain wants 100 more years in Iraq and is already looking forward to our next war.

Let’s end the war and bring our troops home.

Openers blog, the political blog for the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich will drop out of the race for the White House.

Here is video of the announcement.

For more coverage of Dennis Kucinich, go to the Openers blog.

While most politicians cite “spending more time with their family” as the reason why they give up their political aspirations, in Dennis’s case, spending more time with his wife probably is (and should be) the actual reason. Oh, how I miss the sites in New Hampshire.

Hillary Clinton has won the Nevada caucuses. The margin was extremely close given Obama’s poll numbers over the past nine months. Now it’s on to South Carolina.

If you’re like me then you probably recently received an email that calls into question Senator Barack Obama’s past and religious affiliations. Here’s an excerpt in case you haven’t seen it:

When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya. His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a radical Muslim from Indonesia. When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia.

Obama attended a Muslim school in Jakarta. He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, he was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school.

Obama’s political handlers are attempting to make it appear that Obama’s introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son’s education. Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Osama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta. Wahabism is the radical teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world.

Since it is politically expedient to be a Christian when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background.

Let us all remain alert concerning Obama’s expected presidential candidacy.

This email has saturated inboxes across America and was even mentioned during last night’s Democratic debate in Nevada.

This morning a group of Jewish community leaders published an open letter in The Politico defending Senator Obama and debunking the insinuations which are made in this email.

From the Politico:

January 15, 2008

An Open Letter to the Jewish Community:

As leaders of the Jewish community, none of whose organizations will endorse or oppose any candidate for President, we feel compelled to speak out against certain rhetoric and tactics in the current campaign that we find particularly abhorrent. Of particular concern, over the past several weeks, many in our community have received hateful emails that use falsehood and innuendo to mischaracterize Senator Barack Obama’s religious beliefs and who he is as a person.

These tactics attempt to drive a wedge between our community and a presidential candidate based on despicable and false attacks and innuendo based on religion. We reject these efforts to manipulate members of our community into supporting or opposing candidates.

Attempts of this sort to mislead and inflame voters should not be part of our political discourse and should be rebuffed by all who believe in our democracy. Jewish voters, like all voters, should support whichever candidate they believe would make the best president. We urge everyone to make that decision based on the factual records of these candidates, and nothing less.

Sincerely,

William Daroff, Vice President, United Jewish Communities
Nathan J. Diament, Director, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League
Richard S. Gordon, President, American Jewish Congress
David Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee
Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center
Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Phyllis Snyder, President, National Council of Jewish Women
Hadar Susskind, Washington Director, Jewish Council for Public Affairs

This smear campaign is dishonest and disgusting. If you receive this email please respond and debunk the lies.

Mitt Romney has won the Michigan primary with 39%. Sen. John McCain has placed second with 30% and Mike Huckabee has come in third with 16% of the vote. CNN results can be found here.

Wow! I just received an email in my inbox from Tagg Romney, Mitt Romney’s son, alerting me to a new video that I must check out of the Romney clan from this past summer living it up in beautiful Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. In the video, Mitt is celebrating a “day off” with the Romney’s. In the flick, he is seen mowing the lawn, surfing the interwebs, cooking s’mores, lighting fireworks and most of all, letting his hair down and taking his shirt off.

I worked on the 2002 race up in Massachusetts and I’ve seen this play before. Days before the election, the Romney camp released an ad on television showing Mitt gallivanting around topless, playing with his sons and his grandkids . This television ad was widely credited as being one of the reasons he was able to beat out Shanon O’Brien for the Governor’s seat that year.

Now, six years later, Mitt is running again and while the office he’s seeking has changed, the tactics have not. As Michiganders head to the polls today to decide Mitt Romney’s fate, the question remains: are voters in 2008 looking for tried and tested or are they willing to take the best and the buffest?

We ran into Bob Novak last week in New Hampshire and he made it very clear that he didn’t want to answer our questions. Check out the video.

This is funny:

We just did a brief interview with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, co-hosts of the MSNBC’s morning show, “Morning Joe.” We got an up-close look at their playful (flirtatious???) banter and got to ask them both a few questions about the race.

Ever the politician- Scarborough ducked away as Mika answered a question to talk to Time Magazine columnist Joe Klein. Such is life in the press room.