We live in an age in which pragmatism is hot and ideology is not. Barack Obama is being praised for the centrists he is appointing to his Administration. It is said that the Obama team includes “the best and the brightest,” individuals driven by empirical evidence rather than political philosophy. “They [the American people] don't

Some thoughts on the task ahead for the GOP: 1. Right now the attention of the country is (understandably) riveted on Obama and the Democratic Congress. There's not a great deal Republicans can, or even should, do about that. Democrats hold the reins of power; their fate is now largely in the hands of Democrats.

Regardless of what happens Nov. 4 — whether Barack Obama wins handily or John McCain ekes out a victory — Democrats are almost certain to increase their margins in the House and Senate. In the aftermath of this election, Republicans and conservatives need to examine what has gone wrong and why. To be useful, those

In early January 2007, 71 percent of Americans said the Iraq war was going moderately badly to very badly. Indeed, the war had been unpopular for much of the previous years, at times deeply so. But by this past September, a nationwide Pew survey found “a striking rise in public optimism about the situation in

**A complete version of this article with footnotes is available as a pdf download here.**  As my Ethics and Public Policy Center colleagues, Peter Wehner and Yuval Levin, documented in an insightful Commentary essay last year, the United States has made substantial, if unheralded and under-reported, progress on a number of social indicators in recent

Yesterday General David Petraeus handed over the flag of his command, known as the Multi-National Force in Iraq, to General Raymond Odierno. The ceremony, held at the U.S. military headquarters at Camp Victory on the western outskirts of Baghdad, was moving and memorable. Graced by the presence of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, it marked

Bob Woodward has written his fourth book in six years on the Bush presidency. They have ranged from fairly glowing (Bush at War) to excoriating (State of Denial). The latest, The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, while less harsh on Bush than State of Denial, is still plenty critical. Based on interviews

There is a lot of discussion these days about Sarah Palin and her qualifications to be Vice President. The fair-minded skeptics are represented by writers like David Brooks; he argues that good governance requires acquired skills and, most of all, prudence. And prudence, in turn, is acquired through experience. Over the years my own views

There is a lot to say about Sarah Palin's performance last night, but perhaps the place to begin is with this observation: Boy did Democrats choose the wrong hockey mom to pick a fight with. 1. It's always difficult to judge these things in real time, but my sense is that what happened last evening

The choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has electrified many conservatives and strengthened John McCain's claim that his administration would be far more reform-minded than Barack Obama's. At the same time, it has triggered accusations that Gov. Palin is far too inexperienced to be vice president, and has little knowledge of national security issues. Mrs.