ELECTION
Edwards Blazed A Progressive Trail

Returning to where he began, former North Carolina senator John Edwards ended his presidential campaign yesterday in New Orleans's Ninth Ward, imploring his supporters to "not give up on the causes that we have fought for" in the effort "to make the two Americas one." During his campaign, Edwards laid out policy areas that will continue to animate the national debate in 2008, calling "for the United States to reduce its troop presence in Iraq" and issuing "a plea for citizen action to combat poverty, global warming and America's reliance on foreign oil." As CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric said last night, "John Edwards may have ended his presidential campaign. But what he started isn't over. He and his message have left a lasting impression."

PUTTING POVERTY FIRST: No issue was more important to Edwards than poverty and the plight of economic inequality in America, which he sought to cut by a third in a decade and end within 30 years. In his farewell speech, Edwards said that he had obtained pledges from the remaining Democratic candidates, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), to "make ending poverty and economic inequality central to their presidency." Edwards's efforts to guarantee that "his quest for economic justice would be carried forward" is emblematic of the role he played throughout the campaign, boldly challenging his fellow candidates to take on big issues with progressive policy prescriptions. The Center for American Progress shares Edwards's goals, having offered a plan to cut poverty in half in ten years. Last week, the House of Representatives, without objection, approved a resolution by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), declaring that the House supported the goal of cutting poverty in half in ten years.

GUARANTEEING HEALTH CARE: When Edwards unveiled his health care plan "in early 2007, it won widespread acclaim for proposing" to "cover everybody and make health care, once and for all, a right of citizenship." As The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn notes, it was "something no mainstream...presidential contender had proposed since the early 1990s." Soon after he rolled out his proposal, other candidates followed suit, embracing his ambitious goal. The American Prospect's Ezra Klein writes that "the mixture of a progressive, transformative health care plan and a credible candidate instantly reshaped the politics of health care." By proposing a universal health care plan "long before that of any other major candidate," Edwards changed the debate so that "any politician who proposed an overly cautious or incremental plan would lose voters." As The New York Times's Paul Krugman wrote in Feb. 2007, Edwards's plan addressed "both the problem of the uninsured and the waste and inefficiency of our fragmented insurance system," which forced other candidates to "come up with something comparable."

COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE: Declaring that "our generation must be the one that says, 'we must halt global warming,'" Edwards was "the first presidential candidate to call for reducing U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions 80 percent by 2050" and the first to make his "campaign carbon neutral." Following Edwards's lead, both Clinton and Obama made similar commitments to reduce carbon emissions. As he did with health care, Edwards was the first candidate to introduce a detailed energy plan. After Edwards laid out his plan, the League of Conservation Voters applauded it as "the most comprehensive global warming plan of any presidential candidate to date" and encouraged other candidates to follow suit. As The Atlantic's Matthew Yglesias wrote yesterday of Edwards, "his climate change proposal is sweeping enough to meet the standard that scientists tell us is necessary to avert catastrophe," which might sound "bizarre to hail" as an achievement, "but the truth is that" other candidates "weren't on board until Edwards was."

BRINGING TROOPS HOME: In 2002, Edwards voted in the Senate to authorize the use of force against Iraq, a vote that he did not repudiate as both a presidential and vice-presidential candidate in 2004, even though he was a critic of the war. But on Nov. 13, 2005, Edwards penned an op-ed in the Washington Post definitively declaring that "it was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002," saying, "I was wrong." As a presidential candidate, Edwards insisted that "there is no military solution to the chaos in Iraq" and called for "an immediate withdrawal of 40,000-50,000 troops and a complete withdrawal within nine to ten months." Unlike New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Edwards never committed to removing all residual troops from Iraq, but he did take the lead in committing to "withdraw the American troops who are training the Iraqi army and police." As the Center for American Progress's Brian Katulis and Lawrence Korb have argued, "[T]raining and equipping Iraqi security forces risks making Iraq's civil war even bloodier and more vicious than it already is today."

Under the Radar

ENVIRONMENT -- CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATES SUPPORT CALIFORNIA GREENHOUSE GAS WAIVER:  Last month, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson -- acting against the legal and scientific advice of career EPA staffers -- denied California a waiver that would have allowed 16 states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars. In last night's Republican presidential debate, which took place in California, all three top GOP candidates -- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee -- said they supported the states' efforts led by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA). Calling himself a "federalist," McCain said, "I applaud the governor's efforts, and that of other states in this region, and other states across America, to try to eliminate the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change." Though Romey criticized cap-and-trade and other proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said, "I side with states being able to make their own decisions, even if I don't always agree with the decisions they make." After the debate, however, his campaign issued a statement "in which he said that the federal government, not individual states, should set limits on carbon emissions." Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has introduced legislation to reverse the EPA's decision.

ADMINISTRATION -- MUKASEY: WATERBOARDING WOULD BE TORTURE IF DONE TO ME: During his first oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused to say whether waterboarding is torture and should be outlawed, even though he had previously called the tactic "repugnant." While Mukasey declined to give a legal opinion on the matter, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) asked, "Would waterboarding be torture if it were done to you?" Mukasey replied: "I would feel that it was." Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who voted to confirm Mukasey last November, said he was "disappointed" in Mukasey's hedging on waterboarding. Mukasey did say that a "special Justice Department probe into the destruction of CIA videotapes could be expanded to include whether harsh interrogation tactics depicted on the tapes violated federal anti-torture laws." Mukasey also refused to answer whether President Bush's "Terrorist Surveillance Program" had violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Sen. Arlen Specter explained that the question was a no-brainer because FISA "expressly mandates you have to go to a court to get an order for wiretapping. There's really no dispute about that."

RADICAL RIGHT -- BOLTON: CHENEY'S INCREASED POWER AN 'ENTIRELY POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT': In an online chat with the Washington Post yesterday, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton -- who is "known to be close to Vice President Dick Cheney" -- was asked if the way Cheney "has dramatically altered the role and power of the vice presidency" was "a positive change." Noting that "Cheney's role reflects a continuing evolution of his office," Bolton responded, "I think this is entirely a positive development." Bolton, who was part of the team of lawyers that fought the 2000 Florida recount on behalf of Bush and Cheney, shares many of Cheney's views on expansive executive power. For instance, in 2006, when Bolton's Senate confirmation was set to fail, he and Cheney sought "some way to bypass the Senate." Cheney's power grab since 2001 is egregious. In 2001, Cheney convinced President Bush to strip foreign terrorism suspects of "access to any court." In 2002, he cut Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice out of the development of a policy narrowly defining "torture" to mean only suffering "equivalent in intensity" to the pain of "organ failure...or even death." In 2005, Cheney told reporters that Bolton would have "a great deal more credibility" at the United Nations because of his Cheney-like views.

Think Fast

A new poll finds that Americans have "a decidedly dour view of how things are going in the country" and "great expectations for the next president's ability to get things done." "Fully three-quarters" of the public believe the president has influence over health care costs, and "two-thirds of those under age 35 believe it's still possible to change the way Washington works."

Next week, President Bush is expected to call for deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid in this year's budget, as lawmakers will have to work to "spare doctors from a 10 percent cut in Medicare fees that would otherwise take effect on July 1."

Yesterday, Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA) demanded that former attorney general John Ashcroft testify "about his appointment to oversee a Justice Department corporate settlement." Their letter asks Ashcroft to appear at a Feb. 26 hearing, noting that he had ignored previous requests.

Gen. David Petraeus will likely call for an operational "pause" in withdrawals when he testifies before Congress in April. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and top military officers have said "they would like to see continued withdrawals throughout this year, but Bush has indicated he is likely to be guided by Petraeus's views."

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), who co-chairs the Progressive Caucus, said she will "reintroduce legislation calling for a troop withdrawal from Iraq and urge leadership to move the measure in the wake of the economic stimulus package that has been the center of attention for several weeks." 

NATO forces in Afghanistan are in a "strategic stalemate," according to a new military assessment. "Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan," said the report by the Atlantic Council of the United States, chaired by former NATO commander Gen. James Jones.

And finally: Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) recently blew Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) "chance to win a few dollars -- legally -- on his beloved New York Giants in the NFC championship game against the legendary Green Bay Packers on Jan. 20." The day before the game, Schumer asked Weiner -- who was in Las Vegas -- "to put $50 on the Giants for him at one of the casino's sports books." The good news for Schumer was that the Giants won. The bad news? "I forgot to place your bet," Weiner confessed.

Good News

"Prompted by what he called the increasingly vocal hostility of some religions to science, and some scientists to religion, the president of the United Church of Christ has appealed for both groups to communicate more openly and to recognize, as he put it, that each has something to contribute to the other."

State Watch

CALIFORNIA: In an "effort to reduce industry's reliance on toxic compounds," state environmental officials announce increased development of "green" chemicals.

NORTH CAROLINA: Duke University basketball fans bleed blue, live green.

FLORIDA: "For the first time in 20 years, a whopping 41.3 percent of Florida voters went to the polls to vote in a presidential primary."

SCIENCE: "California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin -- are leading the world in financial and political support for stem-cell research."

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: The right wing attacks U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad for not defending John Bolton's honor as "a lack of testicular fortitude."

THE BLOTTER: Key 9/11 Commission staffer held secret meetings with Karl Rove and scaled back criticisms of the White House in the report.

HORSE'S MOUTH: Video retrospective of Elizabeth and John Edwards taking on conservative media stars.

ERIC BOEHLERT: Fox News is in for a very rough 2008.

Daily Grill

"I would say the security situation is good."
-- Secretary of State Robert Gates, 1/30/08, on Afghanistan

VERSUS

"The prospect of again losing significant parts of Afghanistan to the forces of Islamic extremists has moved from the improbable to the possible."
-- Report from ret. Gen. James Jones and former U.N. ambassador Thomas Picker, 1/31/08