Memo to President Obama

So what [will] success look like? I've said this before, but I'd put my money on three things:

* Withdrawal from Iraq. Sure, sure, Obama will leave a few 'residual troops' in place. I get it. But it's time to get out.

* Serious healthcare reform. Obviously I'd prefer reform even more serious that what Obama has proposed, but his plan is a good start if it doesn't get watered down too much.

* Carbon pricing. Obama needs to pass a real energy plan that includes a version of cap-and-trade with teeth. (A carbon tax would also be fine, but I don't think that's politically feasible.) Price signals work, and increasing the price of carbon has to be the backbone of any attempt to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. We're already too late on this, and getting the rest of the world on board may take decades, but we have to start. We're condemning hundreds of millions of people to death if we don't.

So those are my big three: Iraq, healthcare, and carbon. Get something serous done on those issues, and Obama's administration will be a big success. Fail on them, and it's not clear to me that any combination of other new programs will be enough to salvage it.

Kevin Drum - Mother Jones

So sayeth Kevin Drum. I would make only one change -- change "Withdrawal from Iraq" -- which I take to be a given, no matter who wins, to "No more Iraqs."