Elections & Political Parties

Could Colin Powell run against Barack Obama as a Republican and win? The idea is more than a little fanciful. Alma Powell, Colin Powell's wife, has long opposed her husband's political forays. And of course a presidential campaign would be an ordeal for a man Powell's age, his robust health notwithstanding. It doesn't help that there is no clamor for a Powell presidential campaign.

The worst thing about Sarah Palin's decision to resign the governorship of Alaska is the conclusion she appears to have reached about the political calendar: Even three years before the 2012 elections, the job of potential presidential candidate doesn't leave any time for governing, even a lightly populated state.

As strange as her announcement sounded, Palin's view of the electoral world is clear-eyed. These days, politics trumps governing all the time.

Of all the reactions to Sarah Palin's Friday morning press conference, the most common by far is bafflement followed by gentle and not-so-gentle mockery.

Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial primary made all sorts of national news last month. The more typical stories equated former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe's defeat with the end of the Clinton era. Yet, despite the abundance of coverage, one significant detail has been left out of the generally agreed upon "story" about Virginia's recent gubernatorial primary -- the losing candidates received more votes than the winner.

Clinton's speechwriter that day, Ted Widmer, recalled a feeling of sensory overload.

"It was surreal in many ways - just one sensation after the next," he said. "Sweat was pouring out of every pore in my body. ... I was seeing these people do a lion dance with deafening drums. ... I've been at plenty of unmemorable political speeches. This one was carnival-esque and fun."

As Iranians took to the streets to protest a fraudulent election last month, braving tear gas, batons and bullets, pressure mounted on President Obama to take a tougher stand against the Islamic Republic's repression of peaceful dissent. Some said the president's statements were too soft. Others argued that Obama should refrain from picking sides, lest he present a pretext for hard-liners to label the protesters American stooges.

People began to argue: What should Obama do? I'd like them to ask another question: What should ordinary Americans do?

Sponsored by the New America Foundation and FairVote.

On June 22, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its much-anticipated voting rights ruling in the NAMUDNO case (Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v. Holder). Many long-time experts are sifting through the decision to understand the broad implications for the future of voting rights protections and minority representation in the United States.

Afshin Molavi, an Iran expert at the New America Foundation, a public policy institute in Washington DC, told Al Jazeera that the "Guardian Council is not necessarily an impartial arbiter here".

Molavi pointed out that the council's members are all appointed directly or indirectly by Ayatollah Ai Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, who has backed Ahmadinejad's victory.

With apologies to Nike, if the United States were a for-profit venture, its slogan would be "Just do it." Few would dispute the notion that we are an action-oriented people. From an early age, Americans are bombarded with the message that actions speak louder than words and that talk is cheap. Who among us as a child opening presents on his birthday really believed the moral that it's the thought that counts? Come on!

"There is a rich tradition of conspiracy theory in Iran," said Afshin Molavi, an Iran expert at the New America Foundation, adding that the word ...