Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

May 20, 2009

Obama vs. Cheney

Dueling national security speeches tomorrow by President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney come at an interesting time. Though a new poll shows Democrats reaching parity with Republicans on who best handles national security, Obama is facing rebellion among Democrats in Congress over his lack of a clear plan on how to handle the closing the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Politico: "The national security debate -- egged on by frequent charges from Cheney that Obama is leaving the country more vulnerable to attack -- is the only subject on which many Republicans believe they have been able to gain traction against a popular president and the Democratic majority that now dominate Washington."


First Read: "No doubt Cheney will try and respond to the criticisms the Obama administration and other Democrats have been leveling at the former vice president and other Republicans. Of course, Obama's speech comes with a lot of expectations. Many in Washington are already expecting him to somehow calm the critics down on both the left and right with a speech that 1) makes a clearer case why his administration doesn't want to look backwards on interrogations; 2) why Gitmo has to be closed; and 3) and where the Gitmo detainees should be moved."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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