Rebutting a Newsweek Story on Obama | Newsweek Politics: Conventions

INTERNATIONAL
No End of Free Trade
12/4/2008 12:00:00 AM
Early in 2008, Democratic congressional leaders put a hold on trade deals the Bush administration had negotiated with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. In the presidential campaign that played out the rest of the year, leading Democratic candidates and the party's ultimate winner, President-elect Barack Obama, pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as part of an overall bid to restore "fair trade" principles to such deals, including greater labor and environmental protections. In the electoral season's final months, the country plunged into a financial crisis, by some indications further deepening the misgivings Americans were expressing about globalization and free trade. The mood has aroused concerns among some economists about a shift toward protectionism at a time when most economists say open markets are vital for economic revival. Some analysts, however, see an opportunity for trade advances in the new administration. They note the Democratic Party's support for the Doha multilateral trade round and say the new team of political leaders might be better positioned to reform trade policy and promote free trade.
Land Of Contradictions
Marc Gellman 11/18/2008 12:00:00 AM
The great spiritual, moral and social challenge of post-election America is to find some way to reconcile the contradictions of a country where in the same week Barack Obama was elected and Marcelo Lucero was murdered. Marcelo was killed in a town not so far from my hometown, by a gang of violent teens. His murder was not provoked. It was a pure act of hate, and our extended community is still stunned by the intensity of the savage bigotry that lives next door.
LETTERS
Peace of Mind
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM
Readers marveled at what cognitive neuroscientists are uncovering about the biology of the brain and its impact on human feelings, part of our HEALTH FOR LIFE package. One pointed to the intangible, transcendent "dimensions of consciousness." Another stated simply: "Science reveals more mysteries than it explains."
MEMO TO THE GOP
A Way Out of the Wilderness
Karl Rove 11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM
Yes, we lost the election. But in a year when all currents were running against Republicans and our campaign was lackluster and erratic, Barack Obama received only 3.1 points more than Al Gore in 2000 and only 4.6 points more than John Kerry in 2004. The Democratic victory becomes durable only if Republicans make it so with the wrong moves.
THE LAST WORD
The Final Repudiation
George F. Will
In a Presidential contest replete with novelties, none was more significant than this: A candidate's campaign—for his party's nomination, then for the presidency—was itself virtually the entire validation of his candidacy. Voters have endorsed Barack Obama's audacious—but not, they have said, presumptuous—proposition, which was: The skill, tenacity, strategic vision and tactical nimbleness of my campaign is proof that I am presidential timber.
PERSPECTIVES
Quotes From the Week of 11/10/08