Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

November 24, 2009

President to Announce Afghanistan Policy

President Obama is expected to address the nation next Tuesday night to announce his new Afghanistan policy. McClatchy says the plan will send an additional 34,000 troops.

Obama held a two-hour war council meeting last night to finalize his thinking.

Ben Smith notes the White House "has told the story of the long Afghan deliberations in part through a series of Flickr images, released after each meeting."

"The latest symbolism: Budget Director Peter Orszag is now in the picture, second from the right, his presence signaling growing concerns on the Hill and in the White House about the cost of the war, and/or a new avenue of pushback against Pentagon requests."

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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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