Who's Who.

In retrospect, it's clear that Wesley Clark's key mistake was skip the Iowa caucuses in January. So who had the bright idea? Chief among those pushing to bypass the state was communications strategist Chris Lehane, who argued that Iowa wasn't worth the resources it would take to win there, and that the media would give Clark a "bye" for skipping it because fellow candidate Joe Lieberman was, too. But other staffers--including deputy, policy director Chris Kofinis and director of Internet strategy John Hlinko--pushed for a "Potemkin strategy," whereby Clark would aim to place third in Iowa, giving him a major boost going into New Hampshire. But the Lehane camp won, and leaked their decision to the Associated Press in mid-October. "It was a decision that didn't have to be made then," fumes one Clarkiac. "Clinton didn't compete in Iowa, but Clinton didn't say he wasn't going to compete in Iowa. Because politics changes. Dean is at the top of the mountain, and two weeks later he's at the bottom. Where were we?" Meanwhile, John Edwards--who had invested about as much time and money in Iowa as Clark had, and was running neck-and-neck with the former general in October--decided to stay in the running. When the caucuses rolled around, Edwards finished second.

When we last checked in with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, "Who's Who" noted that many key jobs there had been filled with folks with little to no experience in such areas ,as post-conflict reconstruction, transitional economies, and the like--a consequence of the Bush administration's disdain for anyone with roots in the NGO community, the State Department, or the various Clinton-era nation-building projects, and its preference for loyal Republican operatives who could be trusted to toe the White House party line. Thus, Simone Ledeen, the 29-year-old daughter of Michael Lendeen of Iran-Contra eminence, now helps .set economic policy, for northern Iraq, while Dan Senor, a recently-minted MBA who spent a few months working for White House Press...