Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post congressional reporter Jonathan Weisman was online Friday, June 13 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest news in politics.

The transcript follows.

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Archive: Post Politics Hour discussion transcripts

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Crystal City, Va.: Both McCain and Obama say they will close the camp at Guantanamo Bay; what to they propose to do with these prisoners?

washingtonpost.com: The Trail: Obama, McCain Respond to Guantanamo Bay Ruling (washingtonpost.com, June 12)

Jonathan Weisman: Both have said the maximum-security federal and military prisons would be just as safe as Guantanamo. Beyond the political sloganeering (they want terrorists in your backyard!), the real reason for having these guys offshore at Gitmo was to deny them habeas corpus rights, something that would have been harder to do if they were on U.S. soil. With the Supreme Court ruling, that doesn't matter anymore.

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Rockville, Md.: Is McCain confused, or is the best way to keep troops in Iraq to reduce the level of violence? Kerry seems to think the best thing we can do for a soldier is to bring him home. Does it matter if their work is completed? What use is a soldier at home who cannot be deployed? Defense? If we had waited for Hitler to hit the Atlantic coast, it would have been over. (I do know WWII examples are not popular -- sorry.)

Jonathan Weisman: I'm a little confused by your question. Are you asking whether having troops in Iraq naturally raises casualty rates, or whether having them at home puts us at risk of terrorist invasion?

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Washington: I hope you can answer this question. Are there any Obama campaign offices open in the D.C. metro area, and specifically in Northern Virginia? Thanks!

Jonathan Weisman: I am absolutely sure there is an Obama office in Northern Virginia, but I don't know where it is. Go on his Web site and look.

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Plano, Texas: As always, looking forward to your chat, Jonathan! Now that even the conservative-controlled Supreme Court has, once again, told Bush and his cadre of neocons that basic notions such as indefinite interment without being charged with any crime are contrary to the Constitution, we hear the predictable bleating from the administration and its shrinking group of supporters that there is "no doubt" that this will "weaken" the U.S.'s ability to fight terrorism. What is the reaction on the Hill to this claptrap, which seems to resurface every time the administration doesn't get its way?

Jonathan Weisman: Reaction was predictable -- the Republicans (and Joe Lieberman) who helped write the military commissions act said the ruling would do grievous harm to our security, while the Democrats (including Obama) said the court had interpreted the Constitution correctly. Only Arlen Specter tried to straddle the middle. As he had noted during the debate on the act, the court was bound to strike down any law that summarily did away with habeas corpus. He had tried to find a middle ground at the time, and found no takers. The court did precisely what he predicted two years ago.

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Washington: Jon, when you get a story on A1, do you make a terrorist fist jab with other Post writers?

Jonathan Weisman: I throw a Molotov cocktail.

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Monmouth, Ore.: I am very much for Obama but I could have accepted a Clinton/Obama ticket, as I felt that would have given me 16 years of a Democratic president (eight years of Bush II has made me never, ever want to see another Republican president). Who among possible Obama vice presidents would seem to have the age and potential to win in eight years? Most names, such as Nunn, Webb, Clinton, Biden, etc. would seem to have a McCain issue in eight years. I am 61, so I figure that if I can get 16 years I basically will be able to run out the clock. Thanks.

Jonathan Weisman: Very interesting question, and I hadn't thought about it much. Webb is pretty healthy. Tim Kaine of Virginia is spry. How about Kathleen Sebelius, governor of Kansas?

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Arlington, Va.: Why does the Post have a double standard when it comes to access to the candidates medical records? McCain gave a pool of reporters access to his complete file, and his doctor answered questions until no one asked for more. Obama provides a one-page summary of his records, and his doctor made a statement -- no questions -- and The Post and every other reporter said "okay, we've heard enough." If the Obama campaign is stiffing you on comparable access medical records, please let the your readers know about it.

Jonathan Weisman: I agree with your point. We obviously are giving Obama the benefit of the doubt, since he's 46, but we should be pushing harder. (I guess because many of us are close to his age, we'd like to think we all don't have health issues.)

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Seattle: While I am ecstatic over yesterday's Supreme Court ruling, what are the chances anything happens on the congressional side until Jan. 21, 2009, if ever? I can't see even a resolution saying "terrorism bad" passes without language about "so is waterboarding" being added, and then filibustered, and then vetoed, etc.

Jonathan Weisman: No chance whatsoever. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is once again pushing her bill to close down Guantanamo, but it doesn't have a chance. Not even the Democratic leadership wants to touch it. Congress will be pretty much closed for business in a matter of weeks.

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New Haven, Conn.: Judging by the recent Washington Post article, earmarks flourish -- not wither -- in the sunshine. What happens next? Will there be an attempt to limit the number or dollar amount for each member? Will we simply see more experienced lobbyists kicked off the presidential campaigns/advisory groups? Also, what congressional office has the best softball team/team name?

washingtonpost.com: Earmark Spending Makes a Comeback (Post, June 13)

Jonathan Weisman: I have to raise a point here: The Post this morning questioned the return of earmarks, citing the defense authorization bill. But traditionally, an earmark was an appropriation that had not been authorized by the authorizing committees. So if Congress is not supposed to appropriate funds, nor authorize them, what happened to the Constitutional granting of the power of the purse to the House and Senate?

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Chicago: Thanks for taking my question. How do polls accurately gauge intensity? It seems like there have been tremendous excitement and increased turn out on the Democrats' side this primary season and not so much on the GOP's side. Are polls showing that this disparity in intensity is possibly carrying over to November? How do they do that?

Jonathan Weisman: I don't think polls can show that in the horse-race numbers. If you drill down, you can see things like the fact that Democrats, for the first time in a long time, are by and large saying they want to vote for Barack Obama, not just against John McCain. You can weigh enthusiasm by asking your intention to vote. But I agree that the horse-race numbers -- Obama X percent, McCain Y percent -- isn't going to capture the prospects of a surge in voter turnout.

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Helena, Mont.: McCain can't be bothered to read the court's opinion, but he knows he agrees with Chief Justice Roberts? Was he instrumental in writing the law for the military tribunals, or was that written by that great JAG lawyer Lindsay Graham. and McCain just took his word that it was correct and voted for it?

Jonathan Weisman: I covered the passage of that bill. McCain and Graham were joined at the hip on it (this was before the campaign really took off). He deserves pride of authorship or scorn, depending on your perspective.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: One person who should be very happy with the Gitmo ruling is John McCain. While I am certain McCain will win this, we are certain that someone would file a lawsuit challenging McCain's ability to take the oath of office as president because he was not born in America. A court decision affirming that our Cuban base is American soil only strengthens the argument that the Panama Canal Zone (where McCain was born) indeed was American at the time of his birth (even if it no longer is part of America).

Jonathan Weisman: I don't think he needs to worry. There's a bipartisan bill (with Obama on board) waiting for just such a challenge.

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Los Angeles: Is McCain's "not too important" response about US troop withdrawals from Iraq confirmation he shoots from the hip but doesn't always shoot straight? He says in his new campaign ad that "only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war." Was he aiming at "bring them on," "dead or alive," "I'm a war president" George Bush? In the ad, McCain also says he "hates war." But when you consider him saying 100 years in Iraq "would be fine with me," "my friends, I hate to tell, but you there will be other wars" and singing "Bomb Bomb Iran" as initial response to a serious question about Iran -- at a town hall meeting no less -- one wonders if McCain is ready to be the next president of the U.S. Perhaps McCain should say he did not mean to say or imply that withdrawing troops from Iraq is not too important, and try improving his aim in future responses.

Jonathan Weisman: Much as the Democrats try, they cannot convince me his "not too important" quip was anything more than an inartful restatement of his position. McCain long has said the political problem with the Iraq war stemmed from casualties, that if U.S. troops' presence there yielded the number of incidences in, say, Japan or Germany, Americans would be happy to have U.S. bases in Iraq indefinitely as a stabilizing presence. He said that again, and Democrats have been taking it out of context.

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Gen Y: Bob Novak wrote today: "Even for the feckless Senate, last week was extraordinary. When Republicans contended that Reid broke his pledge to confirm three of President Bush's appeals court nominees by Memorial Day, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell retaliated by requiring the entire climate-change bill to be read into the record (consuming more than 10 hours). A half-century ago, when I covered the Senate under Lyndon B. Johnson, such an event would have been headline news. Last week, it was barely noticed." Is that true? That would have been "headline news"?

washingtonpost.com: Decline of the Senate (Post, June 12)

Jonathan Weisman: It is indeed true, but in this era of partisan gamesmanship, it barely merits a shrug. The fact is, though, that if that had happened last year -- when the Democratic control of Congress was fresh and the presidential campaign wasn't consuming all the oxygen -- it would have been bigger news.

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Seattle: Is McCain for or against Social Security privatization? I've read quotes saying he's absolutely for both.

Jonathan Weisman: He has said he was for making private investment accounts a part of a Social Security fix. He hasn't given us much details.

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Poplar Bluff, Mo.: Jonathon, potential appointments to the Supreme Court is always of importance to presidential candidates. Justice Kennedy, a Reagan appointee, is now the swing vote on the court. Do you believe that McCain, if elected president, would appoint justices in the Kennedy mode?

Jonathan Weisman: If you take him at his word, he has said he would appoint justices in the mode of Scalia, Alito and Roberts. It was an early offering to the social conservatives who were not with him.

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Fairfax, Va.: One of the Republican arguments against the recently defeated bill to limit price-inflating speculation and to implement a windfall-profits tax on oil companies was that the firms simply would pass the cost of the tax on to consumers. Is that a truthful claim, or are there ways in which the legislators could prevent the oil companies from passing on the costs to the public? Also, why so little Post coverage of the bill, specifically the original Post story that was actually an AP story and was not followed up by analysis pointing out the different positions the parties took. Nor was there any reporting connecting the bill with either Obama or McCain. Why was such important legislative activity given such short shrift by The Post?

Jonathan Weisman: First off, no, there's no real way to stop them from passing it on to consumers. All Congress could hope for is that, given the magnitude of the oil companies' profits at the moment, they would not need to and would come under tremendous public pressure if they did.

Second, here's the problem with Hill coverage right now. The Post once had three reporters on Capitol Hill. First my colleague, Shailagh Murray, went onto campaign coverage. Now I am covering the campaign. Paul Kane is trying mightily to hold down the fort, with help from Ben Pershing -- our Hill blogger for washingtonpost.com -- and from beat reporters, such as our energy reporter. But it's tough.

If you guys want more reporters, buy the newspaper, don't just read us online.

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Mt. Lebanon, Pa.: So Republicans are keeping climate change bill stuck on the floor of the Senate. Doesn't that stop all the budget bill debating? Including the supplemental money for Iraq and Afghanistan? And when does that money run out? Next month? Good on Republicans -- starve the troops into submission. Thanks much.

Jonathan Weisman: Not really. The Republicans understand that if the bill is going nowhere, Majority Leader Reid will pull it, which he has the authority to do. They are just preventing it from coming to a final, up-or-down vote.

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Shiner, Texas: No Democrat is going to give up his U.S. Senate seat to become Obama's vice president; the same is true for the Republicans. Those seats cost too much and they're too hard to win in the first place. Conservative parties like these two aren't going to take chances this election season. Too risky. So please update the conventional wisdom. It always proves too little and much too late.

Jonathan Weisman: I totally disagree with you. If you were offered the vice presidency and a real shot at the White House, you'd take it. Besides, no one has to give up his seat -- John Kerry is still in the Senate, and next year either Obama or McCain will be in the Senate.

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Philadelphia: "Americans will be happy to have U.S. bases in Iraq indefinitely as a stabilizing presence." But the Muslim extremists will not. Our permanent presence is an agitator. We never were told that permanent military bases were part of the plan when we were lied into this war. Having bases in Saudi Arabia was a contributing factor in bin Laden's attack on Sept. 11. I know the press loves McCain, but he is wrong, and you all love to give him the benefit of the doubt. Get over him, because he is getting over on all of us.

Jonathan Weisman: That is, of course, the counterargument to McCain's position, not saying, "ha ha, he said 'it's not important!' "

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Occupying Iraq as Korea, Japan, etc.: Well, the polls show that Americans are not okay with indefinite occupation of Iraq, even if we are not having the casualties. If this is McCain's view and he is certain that the American public agree, he should be more forthright about it instead of constantly hedging here and there.

Jonathan Weisman: I don't think he is hedging. The voters have a clear choice on this.

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Re: Your Response to Los Angeles: Haven't we had enough of a president who is known for "inartful" statements? When speaking for the U.S., shouldn't we expect the president be precise, rather than others having to explain what he is supposed to have meant?

Jonathan Weisman: You get to vote, and on the language front there seems to be a clear choice.

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McSame or not?: Jonathan, I asked this question of Paul Kane yesterday, but wanted to get your thoughts, too, if possible: Can you point to one or two major policy differences between McCain and Bush? It seems to me that McCain agrees with Bush on economic policy, tax policy, foreign policy, national security policy, judicial policy, health care policy, immigration policy and housing policy. What else is there?

Jonathan Weisman: He will say he agrees with President Bush on most policies, but he does want to ban torture, he does want to close Guantanamo and he does want mandatory regulations of greenhouse gasses.

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Iowa: If McCain's main concern is casualties, what does he think about Defense Secretary Gates noting that in May the "coalition" had more casualties in Afghanistan than in Iraq? Starting another war when you haven't concluded the first one can't be a recommended military tactic.

Jonathan Weisman: Okay, printed as-is.

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Hill: I am on the Hill quite a bit, and have been for more than a decade. How is it that I haven't been able to spot you? Are you incognito, like a restaurant reviewer? Do you only stick to the high-powered, highly lit hearings with generals and such? Where's the love for the smaller, hard-working House committees?

Jonathan Weisman: For the past few weeks, I've been in the office, Hill. But for years, I have been prowling the halls of Congress, especially the Capitol. Trust me on this. Maybe I just look like another white guy in a suit.

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Fed Up to Here: This just in: The Obama Camp is concerned that he's having trouble attracting the support of left-handed Hispanic kayakers, a key segment of the vote in the swing state of New Hampshire. Jonathan, tell your colleagues to do us all a huge favor and not bother with any apologetic retrospective articles after this election decrying the tendency of the news media to concentrate on the horse race at the expense of every issue of importance to the people in this election. You just have no credibility anymore as an institution. It's self-parody at this point; the ludicrous fake example I just gave is barely distinguishable from stories that are being printed this very day! Maybe less coverage would be a good idea?

Jonathan Weisman: Well, that was nice. How did you sleep last night?

I'm looking at our front page today -- a story on the Guantanamo/habeas decision, an analysis of its impact on detention policy, a cataloguing of the re-emergence of earmarking on Capitol Hill, a piece on Medicare fraud, another on the Chinese getting a taste of their own medicine with Olympic knockoffs and nary a horse-race/Brittany/gotcha article among them.

So what's your point?

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San Clemente, Calif.: As much as Americans hate U.S. casualties in Iraq, the $12 billion or so monthly cost of the war might also cause political problems. I think that McCain's idea for a decades-long extension of the U.S. presence will be a very tough sale.

Jonathan Weisman: And yet, in the most recent polls, he has a narrow lead over Obama on the question of who could best handle Iraq. Obviously with many, there is a trust element.

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New York: John McCain tells us that we should be grateful for the fact that Iraqis are grateful for the fact that we are helping them resist the "al-Qaeda" presence that they are resisting because they were resisting us and they were wasting effort on that resistance and failed to resist "al-Qaeda," who they hadn't needed to resist before we showed up because they weren't there before to be resisted. Apparently, McCain can take a nothing war and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile. How does he do that?

Jonathan Weisman: I feel like breaking into song. See above answer -- as it is the one policy area that he actually leads Obama on, he seems to be holding his own.

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Boston: Are earmarks really a bad thing? As I understand it, Congress appropriates funds to the various departments (Education, FEMA, etc.). Without earmarks, it is spent as they seem fit. Under certain administrations, which control the leaderships of the departments, the spending becomes questionable.

Jonathan Weisman: I agree, to a point. Surely earmarking has gotten out of hand, but to shut it down completely seems absurd. I have a next-door neighbor who is developing a defense technology. He says he can't even get in the door at the Pentagon to show off what he's got, but he can get an audience with the congressman representing his company's district.

Should my neighbor have no chance to appeal for federal assistance through his elected representative?

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Helena, Mont.: Do you have an opinion about McCain's town hall yesterday, which he touted as being "Democrats, independents and Republicans" but later admitted was only his supporters? Shades of Bush!

Jonathan Weisman: When you get grief from Fox News on said issue, you know you may have a problem.

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Rochester, N.Y.: Harper's is reporting that your colleagues David Broder and Bob Woodward earn five figure honoraria for speaking before business groups. When are you gonna start getting some of that action? You're the most entertaining guy in these chats. How can I book Jonathan Weisman to speak before my business group or nonprofit?

Jonathan Weisman: I've been thinking the same thing! I gotta get me an agent!

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Princeton, N.J.: While there are many factors controlling the price of oil, the one man most responsible is Phil Gramm, who snuck thru the "Enron Loophole" that allows any form of energy to be traded in unregulated "dark" markets. The same traders who worked for Enron in the California debacle are working for the oil speculators. (Don't give me supply and demand. Did 135,000,000 Chinese buy Hummers in the past six months?) Phil Gramm is one of McCain's main advisors.

Jonathan Weisman: Wow, I didn't know Phil Gramm was that powerful! I have, in a front-page story, made note of Gramm's Enron loophole. Congress has been trying to close it of late, but it keeps getting blocked in the Senate.

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Princeton, N.J.: Talking about judgment on Iraq, will we get a summary of McCain's statements early on that the war would be a cakewalk, etc., etc., etc.?

Jonathan Weisman: Such statements have been widely showcased, but I agree that The Post should do an out-take Iraq story.

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Hill again: Yes, but I would be able to spot you, as I'm sure that you emanate the power that comes from writing for The Post. Besides, you seem taller than the average guy on the Hill...

Jonathan Weisman: I most certainly am not taller than average, at 5-foot-9, and I hope I'm not radiating anything.

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Chicago: Hey Jonathan, What do you make of the Bobby Jindal exorcism story? Is that it for his current vice presidential ambitions? Does it in some strange way make him more appealing to the base, and ergo improve his chances?

Jonathan Weisman: It makes me laugh. I actually know Bobby Jindal from way back. He worked at my wife's company, McKinsey, when she joined up, and I used to talk to him when he was executive director of the Medicare commission in the Clinton years. The guy is flat-out brilliant, exorcisms or not.

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Philadelphia: I think the point of "fed up to here" is that the latest polls show Obama winning just about every demographic group, including independents, Catholics, blue-collar, women, Hispanics and those who voted for Clinton in the primary. He also is leading in Ohio and Pennsylvania according to an averages of the four most prominent pollsters. These leads are all in categories or states that the press keeps telling us Obama can't win or will have trouble winning.

Jonathan Weisman: I guess we should stop covering the campaign. The guy's got it in the bag!

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He does want to close Guantanamo: Right now he's on C-SPAN bashing the Supreme Court. So which is it, he wants Gitmo closed or he wants it open? Maybe he wants to just have it both ways -- and that, Jonathan Weisman, is a politician.

Jonathan Weisman: He doesn't want to give prisoners at Guantanamo habeas corpus rights -- he wants to try them under the rules of his Military Commissions Act. That is not contradictory to his desire to close Gitmo.

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Washington: Now that we are out of the primaries I hope some folks will wake up about what is being said and spun. Poor Sen. Clinton was boxed in by a pro-Obama media. No one really has challenged his positions. For example I am tired of hearing he "always has been against the war in Iraq" -- he was a state senator with no access to the flawed intel briefings that Clinton and McCain received. His being against the war is about as significant as you and I being against the war.

The other thing that Obama and his left-leaning supporters do not understand is this is a volunteer military. Having been in the military myself, we sign on the dotted line to protect and serve. If I or my family were overly concerned about deployments, they would seek other employment. Another misstatement is to talk about the casualty count -- the number is insignificant, we lose more troops to training accidents than wars, or think how many are killed every year by drunk drivers.

Jonathan Weisman: Okay, where to start? Maybe I'll just let you have your say. I have been hearing about casualty statistics ever since the opening days of the Iraq invasion, but obviously most Americans do not agree with you that 4,000-plus dead and tens of thousands wounded are insignificant numbers. That's a political question, whether you want to compare it to past wars or not.

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New York: For years we've been hearing the McCain-is-a-straight-talker narrative from all sorts of folks, but now that YouTube is biting him in the keister on a regular basis -- immediately confirming denied quotations and defunct "maverick" positions -- we're told that McCain just needs to "get up to speed, to recognize he's living with new rules." But wouldn't it be better/easier if John McCain just learned not to lie in the first place?

Jonathan Weisman: Oy.

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San Diego: Jindal may be brilliant, but does David Brooks think he'd fit in at the salad bar in Applebee's?

Jonathan Weisman: I do wonder whether McCain would want Jindal as a running mate if he is getting some (I hope not much) advantage from the racist vote.

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Shiner, Texas: You have to give up your seat if you win! Then, what happens? Some states have a special election. In some states the governor appoints a replacement. Maybe there are other methods elsewhere. Why run the foolish risk? In a nation of 300 million, we don't need to pick just from the same feed lot of 100 cows. From a whiner in Shiner who knows his cattle.

Jonathan Weisman: And you are saying that if you win the vice presidency, you'd rather stay a senator? I don't think so.

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Central Massachusetts: Hi Jonathan. Any more scoops on the Democratic National Committee's move to Chicago? In The Trail you indicated it was "unprecedented." What happens in November, after the election? What are party leaders saying about this behind the scenes? What does this mean for fundraising? Does the Democratic National Committee typically get absorbed into a nominee's infrastructure during campaign season? Thanks!

washingtonpost.com: The Trail: Obama Shakes Up the DNC (washingtonpost.com, June 12)

Jonathan Weisman: I take back the "unprecedented" thing -- the move has been remarkably swift, but pieces of the DNC (mostly fundraising) went to Nashville in 2000, and a big chunk went to Little Rock in 1992.

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Atlanta: Have the Democrats been taking McCain out of context? They are criticizing his position that it is okay if we stay in Iraq for 50 years as long as we aren't taking casualties. He envisions it like Korea or Germany. Democrats feel that $10 billion dollars a month and an overstretched military not ready for the next war is too high a price to pay to stay in Iraq indefinitely. Also, bin Laden still is roaming free and we need to pay more attention to Afghanistan before that blows up even more. Is this out of context, and if so, could someone explain it in context?

Jonathan Weisman: You have not taken him out of context -- they have.

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Nebraska: What do you think the chances are of Obama joining McCain for a couple of town halls? I understand why the so-called "one man gaffe machine" would be reluctant to participate, but I think it would be an interesting forum.

Jonathan Weisman: Okay folks, last question. McCain would love to knock Obama off his pedestal, bring him down to the forum where he does better, and stop him from giving stirring speeches with a teleprompter.

Don't count on it. See you at the debates in the fall.

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