BEFORE it was clear whether Rick Perry would stay in the race or drop out, Erick Erickson, a conservative talking head for CNN and managing editor of Redstate.com, said, "If Rick Perry leaves the Republican race, there will not be a candidate in the field who authentically represents smaller government."
But what about Ron Paul?
For conventionally right-wing party stalwarts like Mr Erickson, Ron Paul doesn't count as real Republican, because of his principled anti-war stance. Of course, that makes him a more authentic representative of smaller government,
MAX BOOT, who seems never to have met a use of American military force he didn't like, is worried about Barack Obama's vague new military strategy. America's forces are to be lighter, as one war (Iraq) has ended and another (Afghanistan) is to be wound down. Most people would think such reductions, in both dollar and head-count terms, make sense.
Not to Mr Boot, who takes a look at historical reductions in forces in his article "Overspending the Peace Dividend". Each cutback, he argues, has left America unprepared for future conflicts. Here are the numbers he cites, in terms of percentage reductions after a major conflict:
Revolutionary war: 71%
Civil war: 95%
First world war: 91%
Second world war: 88%
Korean war: 31%
Vietnam war: 43%
Cold war: 38%
Those are indeed some striking numbers. Could Barack Obama be thinking of reducing the forces by 95%?
In the shadow of the Heartland Co-op grain elevator on Walnut Street in Dallas Center, population 1, 623, Iowans got ready to vote in their Republican caucus.
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