Borger: Obama's irony, McCain's agony
(CNN) - All presidential decisions are, in the end, difficult and complex. And under any circumstance, the decisions on issues of war (surgical strikes included) are agonizing. The decision to use force - the repercussions, the cost in blood and treasure, the geostrategic implications - is complicated and the implications obviously immense.
But as the Syria story unfolds, there is an almost Shakespearean drama beneath the surface - one of political careers made and broken, of past positions held and almost abandoned. Not to mention the political enemies now finding themselves - awkwardly - on the same side of history.
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Borger: Gingrich inspires another GOP revolt - against himself
Editor's note: Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "AC360°," "John King, USA" and "State of the Union."
Washington (CNN) - It's unusual, to say the least, for a presidential candidate to have a defining campaign moment on Day One of the campaign, but Newt Gingrich never disappoints: Right out of the box on Sunday TV, fresh from his presidential announcement, he declared the House GOP plan for Medicare "right-wing social engineering." Then he went on to explain how he still supports individual mandates in health care - despite the fact that the mandates are the key to the Republican attacks on the president's health care law.
Borger: Candidates shouldn't tweet serious stuff
Editor's note: Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "AC360°," "John King, USA" and "State of the Union."
(CNN) - On January 2, 1960, John F. Kennedy announced his presidential candidacy. In a short statement, he declared that "the presidency is the most powerful office in the Free World" and outlined the issues of the day.
He told voters how he had traveled to every state over the past 40 months, and was convinced that he would win "both the [Democratic] nomination and the election. I believe that any ... aspirant ... should be willing to submit to the voters his views, record and competence in a series of primary contests."
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Borger: Debate rages about role of torture
Editor's note: Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "AC360°," "John King, USA" and "State of the Union."
Washington (CNN) - Osama bin Laden is dead, but the debate about torture lives on.
And the reason the controversy rages is obvious: The question of whether torture led, in one way or another, to bin Laden, according to intelligence and administration sources, is not clearly provable. Most of us don't know the entirety of the information given by the detainees who were waterboarded and those who were not. We don't know the exact sequence of events. And we don't know what information less high-value detainees provided (post-waterboarding) that could have given the CIA clues about how to get to bin Laden.
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Attack on Osama bin Laden was years in the making
Editor's note: Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "AC360°," "John King, USA" and "State of the Union." Watch her on "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday.
(CNN) - In the aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden, a picture is emerging of a long, complex, dangerous and circuitous route to the compound that was the site of the special forces attack.
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Borger: Republicans run away from 2012 race
Washington (CNN) - In conversations with Republican strategists and officeholders, the importance of the upcoming election is never understated: Historic, some say. A must-win for the GOP. An election of great consequence for the nation.
All of which may be true. And all of which leads to the next question: Why are so many Republicans running - away from the race?
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Borger: Is Donald Trump bankrupting the GOP?
Washington (CNN) - At this stage in a presidential campaign, there's always someone (and sometimes it's more than one) who flirts with running and thinks a few things, as in: Why not me? (I'm smarter than the rest of those clowns!) What's the worst that could happen? (I'll be in demand on the lecture circuit!) My fill in the blank (book, TV show) will be assured of take your pick (readers, ratings) and I will be rich.
Or, in Donald Trump's case, richer.
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Borger: Budget good will, vanished without a trace
Editor's note: Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "AC360°," "John King, USA" and "State of the Union." Watch her on "CNN Newsroom" at 2 p.m. ET Thursday and on "The Situation Room" at 6 p.m. ET Thursday.
Washington (CNN) - In a way, President Barack Obama's budget speech Wednesday was all about timing: He had played the adult in a successful congressional lame-duck session in December. He reprised the role in averting the government shutdown crisis.
In the meantime, House Republicans had delivered a politically risky budget, calling for the transformation of Medicare into a voucher program - and no tax increases for the wealthy. They would vote on the highly flammable political proposition in a day or two.
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Borger: Washington, we're done with high school
Editor's note: Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "AC360°," "John King, USA" and "State of the Union." Watch Gloria Borger on "The Situation Room," Wednesday at 6 pm ET.
Washington (CNN) - If life (and politics) sometimes seems stuck in the ninth grade, the recent gyrations between the White House and congressional Republicans is a perfect case in point. The topic: averting a government shutdown. The meeting: on Capitol Hill between House GOPers and Senate Democrats.
Not invited to the party (or so they say): The White House.
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Borger: Is the U.S. now 'just one of the boys'?
Editor's note: Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's "The Situation Room," "AC360°," "John King, USA" and "State of the Union."
Washington (CNN) - To recap: The United States and its allies are scrambling to defeat Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya. There's a no-fly zone, a freezing of assets, threats about prosecution in international courts and an arms embargo. We're trying to get Gadhafi to surrender - and, hopefully, leave.
And, by the way, the president has secretly ordered the CIA to try to figure out just who the rebels are - and whether they're a dependable enough crew, worthy of our money or our arms. "We haven't ruled out arming the rebels," a senior administration official tells me. "But there are a lot of questions that need to be answered first - including whether they are even trained to use what we might give them."
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