Partisan

When Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley began airing advertisements describing his main opponent as a lobbyist for Big Oil, former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. focused on the bright side. "The first two negative O'Malley ads got us even in the polls," Ehrlich told WBAL-AM. "We think this might put us up by four or five" points. And, sure enough, within days a little-known group called Magellan Strategies published a survey showing that Ehrlich had pulled ahead of O'Malley, though numbers for the two were still within the margin of error.

Both the letters from Michael P. DeCicco ("Health bill stagnation is not Republicans' fault," Feb. 12) and Kathleen Farno ("Republicans to blame for health care bill's flaws," Feb. 15) did an excellent job defending their partisan political positions. But what their responses failed to do is recognize the anger and frustration that non-partisan independents and clear thinking party moderates have with both parties not working together for the betterment of this great country. Instead of the leaders of the Republican and Democratic party blaming each other for the health bill fiasco, it seems to me an apology is needed to the American public by the leaders of both parties in Congress and by President Obama for the bill's failure.

E very president is subject to forces beyond his control. If unemployment were at 5 percent, President Barack Obama would be doing fine. If the Christmas bomber's pants had exploded successfully, Mr. Obama would be in far worse shape. Mr. Obama's progressive base thinks his problems stem from not being ambitious enough. Conservatives argue the opposite. And what about the independents who've been running from Mr. Obama like residents of Tokyo fleeing Godzilla? Everyone has a theory, but one thing is clear: People think Mr. Obama took his eye off the ball.

President Barack Obama engaged House Republicans in an extraordinary televised debate Friday, days after calling for a more bipartisan approach to governing. The tone was civil, but Obama stood his ground as he parried some of the harshest critics of his performance as president. His Republican hosts, aware that the event was being beamed live from a Baltimore hotel, went out of their way to show deference and largely pulled their punches. "You know, I'm having fun," Obama said, to laughter, when asked if he had time for more questions.

President Barack Obama engaged House Republicans in an extraordinary televised debate Friday, days after calling for a more bipartisan approach to governing. The tone was civil, but Obama stood his ground as he parried some of the harshest critics of his performance as president. His Republican hosts, aware that the event was being beamed live from a Baltimore hotel, went out of their way to show deference and largely pulled their punches. "You know, I'm having fun," Obama said, to laughter, when asked if he had time for more questions.

- The political war over the failed Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner showed no signs of abating Wednesday as leaders of both parties escalated their attacks, employing fiery rhetoric in assessing blame for the Detroit incident. Former Vice President Dick Cheney led a Republican offensive to assail President Barack Obama's leadership on national security, charging that the American people are less safe because Cheney believes Obama is "pretending" that the United States is not at war with terrorists.

W hen a prominent Nigerian banker goes so far as to phone an American embassy in October and warn officials about his son's radical views, his disappearance and travel to Yemen, one might assume that U.S. officials would, at minimum, put the young man's name on the no-fly list and revoke his visa. But as has become clear since 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was arrested after his alleged attempt to blow up a passenger jet headed to Detroit on Christmas day, that didn't happen.

Mexico's drug war is entering its fourth year. Its swine flu outbreak began with dozens of deaths and global headlines last spring. This leaves travelers with at least two reasons to study up before booking that Mexico trip. But it doesn't necessarily mean staying home. More than 9,900 people have died in Mexico's drug war from January 2007 to early October 2009, according to the University of San Diego's Trans-Border Institute. Many of the deaths occurred near the U.S. border and far from the resorts and cities that draw thousands of Americans every year.