Politics And War

Columnist David Broder says President Obama could benefit politically from picking a fight with Iran. Andrew Sullivan says he's nuts.

GOP Needs Bigger Bats Vs. The Blue Monster

David Broder:

In an important article in a recent National Journal, Brownstein notes that there are now 18 states and the District of Columbia that have voted Democratic at least five times in a row, supporting Democrats from Bill Clinton through Barack Obama. Those states -- concentrated in the Northeast, the upper Midwest and on the Pacific Coast -- provide 248 electoral votes, 29 more than the old Republican lock and more than 90 percent of the Electoral College majority.