News Logging

THE PROCESS worked: That was one conclusion from watching the back-to-back party conclaves that ended Thursday in St. Paul, Minn. Yes, the nominating battle was too long and too expensive, and it wasn't always democratic (see: caucuses, rules of). But on the Democratic side, a large field was winnowed down to the two most formidable candidates, eliminating those less qualified (see: Edwards, John, for example). The survivor, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the first African American nominee of either party, is short on experience but long on intellect, discipline and, as his smoothly run campaign has showed, managerial competence. The Republican convention featured former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who trimmed and retrimmed his positions in tactical calculations that ultimately failed to derail the steadfast Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Mr. McCain is that rare politician who has held to positions of principle at great risk to his career, including this year on the subject of Iraq, and his nomination offered a measure of vindication for that courage.

WITH ALL the emphasis it once placed on promoting democracy in the Middle East, it is striking that the Bush administration's most tangible legacy in the region -- outside of Iraq -- may be the restoration of good relations with one of the more toxic Arab authoritarian regimes. On Friday Condoleezza Rice became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Libya since 1953; she had dinner with Moammar Gaddafi, sponsor of two of the most spectacular acts of terrorism against Americans and a cruel dictator in his own country since 1969.

MAYBE IT'S premature to clear space on Isiah Leggett's desk for a sign that reads, "The buck stops here." But Montgomery County's chief executive has taken a long-overdue shot across the bow at the county's muscular unions. Mr. Leggett announced that county employees would take a limited number of furlough days, or unpaid leaves of absence, to help balance the $4.3 billion county budget for the current fiscal year. Furloughs are a stopgap measure, not a long-term remedy. But by calling for furloughs and by indicating that more significant cuts to compensation are in the offing, Mr. Leggett rightly acknowledged that stagnant county tax revenue isn't going to rebound anytime soon. He also sent a powerful message to the unions: The county's purse strings are tightening, and the outsized pay increases unions have come to expect are on the way out.

THE PROCESS worked: That was one conclusion from watching the back-to-back party conclaves that ended Thursday in St. Paul, Minn. Yes, the nominating battle was too long and too expensive, and it wasn't always democratic (see: caucuses, rules of). But on the Democratic side, a large field was winnowed down to the two most formidable candidates, eliminating those less qualified (see: Edwards, John, for example). The survivor, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the first African American nominee of either party, is short on experience but long on intellect, discipline and, as his smoothly run campaign has showed, managerial competence. The Republican convention featured former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who trimmed and retrimmed his positions in tactical calculations that ultimately failed to derail the steadfast Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Mr. McCain is that rare politician who has held to positions of principle at great risk to his career, including this year on the subject of Iraq, and his nomination offered a measure of vindication for that courage.

WITH ALL the emphasis it once placed on promoting democracy in the Middle East, it is striking that the Bush administration's most tangible legacy in the region -- outside of Iraq -- may be the restoration of good relations with one of the more toxic Arab authoritarian regimes. On Friday Condoleezza Rice became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Libya since 1953; she had dinner with Moammar Gaddafi, sponsor of two of the most spectacular acts of terrorism against Americans and a cruel dictator in his own country since 1969.

MAYBE IT'S premature to clear space on Isiah Leggett's desk for a sign that reads, "The buck stops here." But Montgomery County's chief executive has taken a long-overdue shot across the bow at the county's muscular unions. Mr. Leggett announced that county employees would take a limited number of furlough days, or unpaid leaves of absence, to help balance the $4.3 billion county budget for the current fiscal year. Furloughs are a stopgap measure, not a long-term remedy. But by calling for furloughs and by indicating that more significant cuts to compensation are in the offing, Mr. Leggett rightly acknowledged that stagnant county tax revenue isn't going to rebound anytime soon. He also sent a powerful message to the unions: The county's purse strings are tightening, and the outsized pay increases unions have come to expect are on the way out.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN's energy policy was pretty clear before he accepted the Republican nomination for president Thursday in St. Paul, Minn. He wants to build more nuclear power plants, develop clean coal technology, increase the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, and expand offshore drilling. Despite the swipe Mr. McCain took at his Democratic opponent, there's not much difference between his energy policy and that of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

THE GOOD news about democracy is that as elected government has spread and deepened its roots around the world during the past two decades, poor people and neglected ethnic groups in many countries have gained power. In countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico, government policies have shifted to accommodate the newly enfranchised, and their lives have improved. The downside is that the expansion of the political system has, in a few countries, touched off cultural or class warfare that has undermined the new freedom. In some cases, such as Venezuela and Bolivia, populists claiming to represent a poor or indigenous majority have won elections, then sought to entrench themselves in power and eliminate competition from the old elite. We've had a lot to say about the harm Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Bolivia's Evo Morales have done to their countries.

TALK ABOUT adding insult to injury. The lawyers who successfully challenged the D.C. gun ban are now asking the city's taxpayers to pay their legal fees. The tab: more than $3.5 million.

IN ACCEPTING the Republican nomination for president last night, John McCain confronted a different challenge from Democrat Barack Obama's test in Denver last week. His task was not to introduce himself to the American people or to assure them that he has the necessary experience. Rather, Mr. McCain faced the unusual situation of distancing himself from the Republican president he hopes to succeed and, to some extent, from the party whose nomination he was accepting. In doing so, Mr. McCain offered a significantly different rationale than the one he presented in launching his candidacy 17 months ago. He subordinated what had been his major theme -- leading America in "a global struggle with violent extremists who despise us" -- to one that hearkened more to the John McCain of the 2000 primary campaign: a renegade fighter for the bread-and-butter concerns of ordinary Americans against "the old big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd." Mr. McCain mentioned Iraq only briefly, and President Bush even less. He warned of the continuing threat of al-Qaeda, but he devoted more time to Russian aggression against "the brave people of Georgia," even while assuring voters that they "need not fear a return of the Cold War" in a McCain administration. But Mr. McCain's recalibrated message, reinforced and perhaps required by his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, focused much more on dealing with the nation's domestic woes. Being a "maverick," Mr. McCain said, means that "I understand who I work for. I don't work for a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I work for you."