Afghan Surge Gains Favor; Public Sours on DC

President's miscalculations include scale, momentum

(NEWSER) - Scott Brown’s Senate victory in Massachusetts is the final nail in the coffin of the Obama administration’s first-year political strategy, John F. Harris and Carol E. Lee write for Politico . The miscalculations cover “three major counts":

• Believing 2008 was a game-changer: The Obama team thought the "election represented something seismic." But "the assumption that Obama would be swimming mostly with the current rather than often against it on issues such as health care, financial regulation and global warming was naive in retrospect."

Terrorism trumped health care over vacation, and there's more

(NEWSER) - President Obama is back at the White House after an 11-day vacation in Hawaii, and he has his work cut out for him. USA Today runs down the most pressing issues awaiting the president in 2010.

• Terrorism: The attempted bombing of Flight 253 returned security to the top of the list. Some heads may roll after the near-catastrophe.

If there is one, which we hope there isn't. Good idea, say Dems.

(NEWSER) - In the circus that is the Senate these days, a couple of anti-public-option Republicans—Tom Coburn and David Vitter—rolled out an amendment to the health care bill Friday requiring members of Congress to enroll in any such plan that might come to pass. When Dems didn’t object—Sherrod Brown, Chris Dodd, and Al Franken tried to cosponsor, but were rebuffed—GOP senators upped the ante and added in the president. The amended amendment would extend the mandate to the whole executive branch. More»

Tuesday troop surge announcement comes as approval falters

(NEWSER) - President Obama will announce his decision to send 20,000 to 40,000 more troops to fight in Afghanistan in a speech to West Point cadets next Tuesday at 8pm. His remarks will outline a surge, but administration officials say the president is not making a case for an open-ended war. “We are in year nine of our time in Afghanistan,” says Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. “We’re not going to be there another eight or nine years.” More»

Americans sour on handling of economy, Afghanistan

(NEWSER) - Less than half of Americans polled approve of President Obama’s performance for the first time. A new Quinnipiac survey has his job approval rating at 48%, with 42% disapproving. Other polls have his rating at 53% and 56%, and a Quinnipiac pollster admits the new number “is not statistically different" from his 50% approval rating in October. "Nevertheless,” he tells Politics Daily , “in politics symbols matter.” More»