Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

After months of review, President Obama has made a decision that will not please the base of his party. The majority of Democrats in Congress are opposed to expanding or prolonging the war in Afghanistan. Many Americans share their concern.

This decision to send 30,000 additional troops into combat, which I support, will be second-guessed for the rest of his presidency. And if it doesn't go well, it may cost him his presidency.

For a man who began his campaign as the "anti-war" candidate, this had to be a gut-wrenching decision. Critics will argue President Obama should have learned the lessons of Vietnam and remembered how that war destroyed Lyndon Johnson's presidency .

President Obama was only in elementary school during that period, but many of the leaders in Congress grew up as part of the George McGovern wing of the Democratic Party. The anti-war movement was their introduction to political activism. They are furious that their president is continuing the Bush war effort. Many will call it folly, and some will call it reckless. I call it leadership.

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President Obama greets Michaele Salahi in a reception line at Tuesday's state dinner. The White House says she wasn't invited.

Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

The gate crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi want to be famous as stars of reality television. I am all for that. Give them a reality television series and call it "Trial and Jailtime" in the D.C. criminal justice system. This despicable, desperate, duplicitous couple disgraced the Secret Service and embarrassed the president in his home.

They totally overshadowed the president's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the leader of an important ally. The incident made the Obamas' first state dinner, honoring the prime minister and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, fodder for comedians - and it certainly raises security concerns for other world leaders visiting at later dates.

The gate-crashers need to be held accountable and not glorified.

Unless they have some excuse we haven't heard yet, the Salahis deserve to be charged with criminal trespassing and lying to federal officers for starters. Yes, they dressed for the occasion, but the Salahis are no different, and shouldn't be regarded any differently, than a nut case who jumps over the White House fence and tries to run in the front door. The only difference is that the fence-jumper would be shot ten feet from his entrance point.

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Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

In this past week of very important news - when the president presided over the memorial service for the slain soldiers of Fort Hood and departed on his first Asia trip, and the attorney general made the controversial decision to treat the mastermind terrorist of 9/11 as a criminal to be tried in a Manhattan civilian courtroom - the story of the departure of longtime CNN anchor Lou Dobbs still jumped out.

CNN did its usual first-rate job of covering those other stories, but the Dobbs departure is still somewhat of a mystery. It is a hard story to cover, because Lou is family. And it's far more than a story about changing anchors. It's a story about the direction of the "news business" and cable television's role in that business.

Lou Dobbs is the last of the original news anchors hired by Ted Turner; he started with CNN in 1980. Over the past 30 years, he has been one of the stars and certainly one of the biggest names in the cable news business. As was obvious to anyone who watched or knew Lou personally, he was a big personality who edited and ran his own show.

He evolved over that period from a mainstream Republican who was an expert on the business world to an independent who represented the anger and plight of the working class. His resignation Wednesday caught nearly everybody by surprise, including his staff and certainly his viewers.

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CNN Senior Political Contributor Ed Rollins

Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed the 11th day of the month as the first commemoration of Armistice Day.

It was the first anniversary of the end of the "Great War" and it was hoped we would never go into battle again. Unfortunately that is not how history turned out. The "Great War" became known as World War I. Many conflicts followed. Many more Americans went to war and many gave up their lives.

November 11 was renamed to honor our veterans in 1954 by one of America's greatest military leaders, 34th President Dwight David Eisenhower.

How strange that on the very eve of this day, President Obama was addressing a memorial service for the slain soldiers of last week's massacre at Fort Hood before the thousands of men and women who served with them on the Army's largest military base.

The president is the commander in chief and the task of sending young men and women into combat is the most serious duty he bears. As he ponders the decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, he saw the men and women of our Army up close. These are the soldiers who will be part of whatever decision he makes. And they are fabulous soldiers ready for whatever duty he requests of them.

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U.S. troops on patrol in Paktika Province, Afghanistan

Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

Matthew Hoh, a young man previously unknown to the general public, has become the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war. He was the senior U.S. civilian adviser in Zabul province, Afghanistan.

There certainly have been more famous resignations over a president's war policy. President Lyndon Johnson's first secretary of health, education and welfare and the architect of much of the civil rights and Great Society programs, John Gardner, resigned because he could not support the war in Vietnam and privately told the president he could not support him for re-election.

LBJ's Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance resigned after becoming convinced the war in Vietnam, which he had strongly supported initially, was unwinnable. After his resignation he unsuccessfully urged Johnson not to bomb North Vietnam.

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Maria Shriver, here with husband California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, sponsored The Shriver Report

Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

My mother died last week. Mary Elizabeth Rollins was 91 and had lived a glorious and full life.

As I was flying to California for her funeral, I read the Time magazine cover story written by my friend, the superb writer Nancy Gibbs, titled, "The State of the American Woman." This article no doubt was inspired by a fascinating new report released last week: The Shriver Report, "A Woman's Nation Changes Everything," sponsored by California's first lady and former news reporter Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank.

To quote from the report: This is not just a women's story. This is a report about how women becoming half of the nation's workers "changes everything" for men, women, and their families.

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Fred Armisen plays Barack Obama on SNL.

Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

Since its debut on October 11, 1975, "Saturday Night Live" has spoofed, ridiculed and hammered presidents and other political figures without regard to political affiliation or any other sensitivities.

The perfect parroting of Sarah Palin after her vice president nomination, by the immensely talented Tina Fey, started the downward spiraling of the governor. People started looking at her in a different light, and she was judged as a less serious candidate.

Saturday's skit portraying President Obama as a man who made a lot of promises and hasn't been able to fulfill many - if any - has been analyzed over and over with a constant rerun of the "SNL" clip.

In the comedy skit, the president is asked about unrealized campaign promises, including closing Gitmo, combating global warming, allowing openly gay people to serve in the military, withdrawing from Iraq, improving the status of the fight in Afghanistan, reforming health care and several others. On screen the response on a check list was: that each item was "not done."

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President Obama is the first U.S. leader to head a United Nations Security Council meeting.

Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

The president had his first foray into the byzantine world of U.N. politics last week and walked away cheered on by the anti-America crowd.

He appeased the delegations led by tyrants and petty dictatorships by condemning President Bush and spelling out how his administration is going to be different.

President Obama was applauded by Castro, Chavez, and Gadhafi (no friends of ours) when he said he wanted a "new era of engagement in the world." Are either of those three dictators going to be better world citizens or kinder, gentler leaders as a result of Obama's outreach? Put me in the doubtful column.

No American president has ever stood before the U.N. body and condemned his predecessor or American foreign policy in such a way. President Bush, like every president before him made some mistakes, but he did not deserve this put down. And let's not forget America was attacked on September 11, 2001, and thousands of American lives were lost. President Bush and his team got us through all that and kept us safe for the rest of his terms. And I hope Mr. Obama realizes the "haters" of America are still out there.

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Ed Rollins says some missteps got President Obama's week in NY off to a clumsy start.

Ed Rollins
CNN

On the international stage, this week is President Obama's most important since taking office.

He arrived in New York on Monday and by the time he finishes chairing the Global Conference of 20 (world leaders) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this weekend he will have earned his pay check (not that a president doesn't earn it every week).

Unfortunately, the president stepped on his international story over the weekend when news surfaced that the White House had informed New York's Gov. David Paterson not to run for re-election and signaled that the White House wants Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to replace him.

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Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

The president is making a major address to the Congress and the country Wednesday night. This speech is high risk for him.

Selling a plan that is not completely developed and without accurate numbers of what it's going to cost ordinary Americans is not a surefire recipe for success.

This is not a campaign speech. The president does campaign speeches well and obviously they worked for him in the past. I am sure President Obama and his team have already found out that governing is a lot harder than campaigning. So this is speech should be about facts. Mr. President:

Leave out the emotion and the polarizing comments about how bad the insurance companies are and how doctors and hospitals are ripping us off.

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Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

The political arena is an emptier place today. A brave and courageous warrior has left the battlefield. He will not be quickly forgotten or replaced.

With the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, a political dynasty comes to an end. His idealism and his legislative accomplishments will live on and another generation will be inspired by his life's works, but for the foreseeable future there will be no one like Ted Kennedy in the Senate or on the national stage. And no one on the horizon is there to take his place. Not even President Obama.

The great liberal Lion of the Senate has roared his last howl and American politics will be much less for his passing.
I say this as a Republican and a Reagan conservative who opposed most of what Ted Kennedy spent his entire life trying to accomplish. But he was first and foremost a worthy opponent who with the help of his extraordinary Senate staff always came prepared.

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Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

My 14-year-old daughter graduated earlier this week from middle school (8th grade) and she begins high school in the fall. As I watched her and her classmates receive their diplomas, I reflected on the world they are going to inherit from us.

As with most fathers, there is nothing more important to me than my child. Lily is my only child and she blessedly came into my life as an infant by way of China. Like the children of many older fathers, she took on a disproportionate role in my consciousness.

Because I became a father after my days as a Washington power player were over - Lily never knew what I did and still doesn't, and couldn't care less - she had no competition for my time and attention. But as she became my focus, she also became my barometer. I looked at the world through the eyes of my child. And planning for her future is all-important.

As I look ahead four years to when Lily and her classmates will complete their high school education, we will have a much fuller picture of President Obama.

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Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

Almost everybody cheers for the underdog - maybe not those born to upper-class standing with great advantages, but those of us who weren't always want the little guy to be victorious.

We want hard work and extra effort to be rewarded. Standing at the front of the East Room of the White House Tuesday morning were two Americans who clearly had started life as underdogs.

One is now our president, son of a Kenyan. The other is the daughter of Puerto Rican parents who is about to sit on the highest court in the land. Both were born without privilege. Both were raised in households with little cash, but much love. Both were raised by strong, devoted mothers who worked hard to support them.

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Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

The past week has not been what one would call a great week for our political leaders.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave one of the worst press conferences that I can remember a House leader ever giving.

She accused the Central Intelligence Agency of deliberately misleading her in an oversight briefing in September of 2002.

In the press conference, where she stumbled with her notes, the Speaker declared war on the CIA. "Liar, liar" and "They didn't tell me," were her profound defenses for her not speaking up about waterboarding and her knowledge that it was being used. At the time, she was the ranking minority member of the Intelligence Committee and was briefed along with then-Chairman Porter Goss, a Republican.

Goss, who went on to become the CIA director, recalls it differently. That began a back-and-forth with the Speaker's Democratic allies jumping to her defense. In the other corner, former Speaker Newt Gingrich and House Republican leaders demanded she apologize and/or step down as Speaker. So much for a different tone in Washington.

Her final retort that, "They mislead us all the time," must have made the recruiters at Langley very happy. Not.

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Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

My message to the national media and political pundits on their premature obits on the Republican Party: Quit throwing dirt on our graves!

We may be feeble, but we are not dead and to paraphrase a quote from the Terminator: We'll be back.

Being older than dirt myself, I have a perspective others might not have. I have been amazed recently at all the stories in the media regarding the perceived end of the Republican Party. It might be wishful thinking on some of their parts. This week's Time magazine cover story titled "Endangered Species" is the epitome.

The defection of Sen. Arlen Specter to the Democrats after polls showed he would lose badly in a Republican primary, and the rocky start of new Republican National Chairman Michael Steele has created a feeding frenzy.

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Jack Kemp, a former congressman from New York, was the GOP's vice presidential candidate in 1996.

Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

The world of politics has many players but few giants. One of the giants left the stage last week.

I was privileged to have had Jack Kemp as a friend. Our friendship was not unique, because Jack Kemp had thousands and maybe tens of thousands of people who thought of themselves as his friend.

He gave his friendship willingly and with a spirit of generosity. Those of us who knew him are saddened by his passing and the political world is a whole lot emptier because he's gone.

When Jack entered a room he filled it with an energy and fervor and his presence was felt big-time. Every conversation with him became a debate, even if you agreed with him on an issue. Jack Kemp had no casual thoughts.

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Program Note: Tune in tonight for full coverage of the First 100 days at 7 p.m. ET.

Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

Today is the 100th day of the Obama administration. Judging a president after 100 days is not realistic - and may be absurd.

After the first hundred days, President Carter was viewed as potentially great, and President Clinton was viewed as a one-termer. Obviously, it didn't turn out that way.

No one can predict after a few months whether a presidency will be successful over the long four-year term, or eight years if he gets re-elected. We have no idea what lies ahead.

In a way, it is like judging a marathoner after he has completed the first few blocks of a race. You can tell whether he is running easy or smart or whether his stride and pace is correct, but you certainly can't predict whether he will win or finish the race strong.

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Program Note: For more on the torture memo debate tune in tonight on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Some groups want Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the issue.

Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

Like so many politicians I have known, the man we elected president wants to be loved. He wants to be loved passionately and daily by the 69 million who voted for him and even some of the 60 million who voted for John McCain.

He wants to be loved by the Democrats on the Hill and even the Republicans who have still not given him any love.

He wants to be loved by the Europeans who have made a career out of badmouthing U.S. presidents and their policies.

The real example of searching for love in all the wrong places was last week's lovefest south of the border when, in effect, he appeared to be hugging Castro, Ortega and Chavez who have spent their lives fighting everything the United States stands for.

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Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

A president makes many decisions, but none is more important than those he makes as commander in chief. Committing young men and women to war zones where their lives are at risk is a decision that can't be easily reversed, and the consequences can be fatal.

The second type of difficult decision a president faces is setting the rules of engagement; allowing American troops to do their job even if that means taking the life of the enemy.

Ronald Reagan, a president I served, was beloved by the American military. He rebuilt a military crippled by the nightmare of Vietnam. After the humiliating evacuation from that costly war, we had planes that couldn't fly and ships that couldn't sail due to missing parts and deferred maintenance.

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Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

President Obama has returned from his first trip abroad with praise ringing in his ears from the media elite and barely a word of protest from the Republican opposition.

It truly was an extraordinary introduction on the world stage for our celebrity president, and his only rival for attention was the first lady.

He is a true talent and performs with the best of them. You can like the man and disagree with his policies, but you're a fool if you underestimate him. The headlines said it all - from California's Sacramento Bee: "President's overseas debut a love feast!" The Washington Post: "Obama portrays another side of the U.S." The Fort Wayne Journal: "Obama rallies troops in Baghdad."

But in spite of the rave reviews and talk of a brand new relationship with the world, it was also a week of reality. Great leaders are always looking at the past and learning from those who go before them. As William Shakespeare said: What is past is prologue.

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