On the Radar: June 14, 2011

The 14 Biggest Ideas Of The Year
By Gwen Ifill, Washington Week
As the junior member of The Washington Post’s political team in 1988, I was naturally assigned to cover the candidates least likely to win. That task took me to campaign rallies headlined by two ordained ministers—the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Pat Robertson. These two had little in common. One occupied the left fringe of his party; the other the right of his. Read more

Romney Smiles, For Now
By Jeff Zeleny, The New York Times
Mitt Romney walked away emboldened – and untouched – from his first Republican presidential debate, but he said Tuesday that his rivals were not likely to treat him so gently as the campaign intensifies, and he conceded that the criticism over his health care plan was not likely to go away. Read more

Analysis: Mitt Romney leaves GOP Debate Unscathed
By Charles Babington, Associated Press
If Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich and other Republican presidential hopefuls feel they need to close the gap on front-runner Mitt Romney, they didn't show it at the New Hampshire debate. Read more

Republican Presidential Candidates Attend New Hampshire Debate
By Karen Tumulty and Philip Rucker, The Washington Post
The leading contenders for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination appeared together onstage for the first time Monday. But they used the debate to train their fire on President Obama rather than to define their differences. Read more

The Mitt Show
By John Dickerson, Slate
Newt Gingrich likes American Idol." Tim Pawlenty is a Coke fan. And Mitt Romney, demeanor notwithstanding, likes it spicy. These tiny gleanings emerged at the first major Republican debate, when moderator John King asked whimsical this-or-that questions before the commercial breaks. The two-hour forum raised a few of those types of questions itself: Current field or Rick Perry? Obamneycare or Minnesota mumbles? Michele Bachmann or Sarah Who? Is it me or is it hot in here? Read more

Romney Survives First Test In Debate With GOP Rivals
By Dan Balz, The Washington Post
Mitt Romney easily survived his first test of the 2012 campaign here Monday night, cruising through a debate with six Republican rivals who were more interested in attacking President Obama than in turning their fire on the former Massachusetts governor. Read more

Political Insiders Give Debate Nod To Romney, Bachmann
By James A. Barnes, National Journal
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the winner of the first major presidential debate tonight according to a survey of Republican and Democratic political operatives, campaign consultants, and party strategists, in a special National Journal Political Insiders Poll conducted tonight. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann also had a good evening. Read more

Obama Offers Training Plan Designed For High-Tech Jobs
By Helene Cooper, The New York Times
Confronting the challenge of running for re-election while the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, President Obama convened a session of his new jobs council on Monday, offering a proposal to train 10,000 American engineering students a year in a program focused on filling high-tech jobs. Read more

Obama Asks Businesses For Help As He Vows To Cut Regulations
By Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg
President Barack Obama told almost two dozen current and former corporate leaders he’ll work with businesses to reduce hurdles to job creation, including regulations, while asking their help lobbying Congress on measures to boost the recovery. Read more

Debt Talks At Crucial Stage
By Janet Hook and Carole E. Lee, The Wall Street Journal
Deficit-reduction talks led by Vice President Joe Biden face their biggest test starting Tuesday when the group begins three days of politically sensitive discussions, including a proposal for a government spending cap that is bitterly opposed by the White House. Read more

The West Is Still Waiting For Its Libya Gamble To Pay Off
By Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times
Hope isn’t a strategy. But it was a major part of NATO’s decision to launch an air war against Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi almost three months ago. Read more

Emerging Nations Seek Non-European IMF Chief
By Tom Gjelten, NPR
A new director of the International Monetary Fund is due to be chosen by the end of this month. But while the institution's reputation has been tainted by the scandal that followed the arrest last month of its previous chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, in New York in connection with the attempted rape of a hotel maid, there's no shortage of interest in the top job. Read more

Clarence Thomas Takes Hard Line On Defendants
By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY
Twenty years ago, when a senator asked then-appellate Judge Clarence Thomas why he wanted to be on the Supreme Court, Thomas said he often looked out his courthouse window at arriving prisoners and said to himself, "But for the grace of God, there go I." Read more

Posted: Tue, 06/14/2011 - 12:16pm