Cato on the Republicans: “The fact is, with the exception of Rep. Ron Paul who trails badly in the polls, none of the GOP candidates has a consistent record of standing for small-government. Sooner or later someone needs to point out that being a conservative means more than being anti-abortion or tough on terrorists.”
Sam Smith on the Democrats’ front-runner: In a recent poll, “Democrats favored Hillary Clinton to deal with health care by a two to one margin over Obama and Edwards combined — an absurd judgment given her previous health care legislation that was laughably incompetent and confusing as she attempted to conceal its gifts to the insurance industry…. By 52% to 39% Clinton beats both Obama and Edwards as the one best able to deal with Iraq, even though she is clearly the one with the worst record of doing so this far. By the same margin, she is the one who Democrats think best represent the core values of the party. This may be tragically true in contemporary terms, but before her husband took office the party had dramatically different –and better — values…. This is a party that doesn’t need a candidate; it desperately needs a therapist.”