Katie Connolly

When Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize in October, the critical clamor was near-deafening. Obama didn't deserve it. Obama hasn't done enough. Obama hasn't done anything.

I've had the opportunity twice in the past couple of months to sit down with Sen. John McCain and discuss his position on Afghanistan for a story in this week's issue of the magazine.

Barack Obama and John McCain couldn't agree more on Afghanistan. Except when they don't.

The focus on Afghanistan strategy shifted today to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, where the Senate Armed Services Committee is hearing testimony from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm.

There are two big news items from Obama's speech tonight: a surge of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan and a withdrawal of combat troops by the end of 2011. What you consider to the most important will probably depend on your political stripes─and the president best be prepared for incoming from both sides.

Reports started trickling out last night that the president will announce tonight that he is sending an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan bringing the total U.S. military presence in the war-torn country to more than 100,000.

President Obama meets with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at the White House today. It's the second time the leaders have met privately. The two looming agenda items are Afghanistan—Obama will probably want an extended troop commitment from the Australians—and climate change.

The White House this morning announced that President Obama will attend the Copenhagen climate talks, ending months of speculation about whether he'd risk going and coming back empty-handed, or bearing the brunt of European disdain over America's lack of progress in curbing carbon emissions.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), the man who famously summarized the Republican health plan as "don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly," has started an online petition to urge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to change the 60-vote filibuster rule.

Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh make deeply offensive comments on a near-daily basis on their respective radio programs. Mostly, I don't feel the need to draw attention to them.

Why Blanche Lincoln is a health-care holdout.

It's official: Harry Reid has corralled enough votes to bring his health-care-reform bill to the floor. Blanche Lincoln became the 60th Democrat committed to voting to allow debate to open on the bill, following her moderate colleague Mary Landrieu, who also announced today that she'd vote aye.

As his hopes of winning the congressional election in New York's 23rd district fade, conservative candidate Doug Hoffman is clearly getting desperate. Today he's blaming his loss on "ACORN, the unions, and the Democratic party" who he alleges, without a shred of evidence, tampered with votes to rig the election against him.

Over at The Daily Beast today, political strategist Mark McKinnon makes a compelling argument for why the 2012 election could be tailor-made for NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

This week, to coincide with the release of Sarah Palin's book Going Rogue, NEWSWEEK's editors decided to print two essays (one by Evan Thomas, the other by Christopher Hitchens) about the former Alaska governor and have her image grace our cover.

Last week, in his Absurdly Premature 2012 Watch Column, erstwhile Stumper Andrew Romano mused about the DNC's treatment of Tim Pawlenty, who is steadily becoming target No. 1 for their oppo researchers.

I've been a little hesitant to weigh in on the debate about what it means that President Obama bowed when he met Japanese Emperor Akihito. It seems that the folks who are outraged by the bow are just seizing on it as yet another outlet for an increasingly unhinged disdain for anything and everything the president does.

Sarah Palin may be stealing headlines with the release of her memoir this week, but it was two contrasting stories about the original polarizer, Hillary Clinton, which caught my attention this morning.

Every now and then there comes a piece of news so shrouded in the stench of hypocrisy that it renders satire unnecessary, news that exemplifies the twisted logic of the political calculation.

Today, just before jumping on Air Force One for his nine-day trip to Asia, the president announced that he'll convene a "jobs summit" in December. Amid rising joblessness, the summit will ostensibly aim to figure out ways to create new jobs and stem the flow of recession-induced layoffs.

Seeing as it is Veterans Day, I thought it worth pointing you to a couple of interesting stories concerning veterans:Politico reports that Harry Reid has some harsh words for his GOP colleague Tom Coburn, who has put a hold on a bill that calls for funding for veterans' health care and provides for their families and caregivers.

Over at The Vine, Mark Murro and Jonathan Rothwell are considering the locational nature of climate-change politics, which is something I have been thinking about for a while.

Anti-abortion members in the House got a big win Saturday with the passage of the Stupak amendment. The amendment aims to prevent federal funds from being used to procure abortions, following current federal policy that bans Medicaid from offering elective abortions.

Last week I wrote that gay marriage is a generational issue. I argued that over time, as generations shift, opposition to gay marriage will become a thing of the past, an anachronistic viewpoint that will one day be as dated as Don Draper's marriage. Today I noticed this handy illustration which bolsters my point (from Lisa Wade, via Matt Yglesias): 

Joe Lieberman angered a lot of liberals recently with his declaration of opposition to Harry Reid's opt-out public-option provision. But liberals who also care about climate-change legislation may want to temper their rage.

Earlier this week Holly wrote a really interesting piece about the electoral parallels between now and 1993—and the fact that the GOP is hoping for a dramatic Democratic defeat in next year's midterms, similar to what happened in 1994.

Make no mistake: tonight's losses in Virginia and New Jersey should worry the Democratic Party. Just one year after their historic presidential victory, it turns out that ballots without the name "Obama" don't have the same magnetic allure for voters, especially if said voters are young, black, or Hispanic.

A new Palin book hits shelves today, with lots of juicy details on the Alaska governor's accelerated ride to the top of the GOP. In Sarah From Alaska, Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe, reporters from CBS and Fox, respectively, who covered her campaign, document Palin's roller-coaster rise and uncover more than a few interesting nuggets along the way.

1. In Virginia, things look pretty dour for Creigh Deeds. Although Obama won the state last year, Deeds has few of the traits that excited Democrats to vote for Obama in droves.

Sen. Joe Lieberman Talks to NEWSWEEK