When Rep. Dan Benishek, R-Mich., first ran for office, he was a strong proponent of term limits. But now, the two-term Republican congressman’s stance is much less clear. “Career-consumed politicians in Washington got us into the mess we are in today by voting for bills they haven’t read, for the deficits America can’t sustain, and […]
We will know in a little more than a year whether John R. Kasich has a second act, or even a third one, in politics. But don’t be surprised if he does. The Republican governor of Ohio looked like a political defeat waiting to happen in November 2011, after a state ballot measure that he […]
They say that the process of making sausage isn’t pretty, but all that matters is how it tastes. And often, that applies to politics, as well. The political process can be messy, with bad decisions along the way, but if the outcome is popular, the process doesn’t matter at all. That’s why those of us […]
Late last week, Democrats released a poll showing Democrat Gwen Graham running neck-and-neck with GOP Rep. Steve Southerland II. They could have saved themselves a few thousand dollars because you don’t need a poll to show that Florida’s 2nd District will be competitive. But that also doesn’t mean that Southerland is on the verge of […]
President Barack Obama could have saved himself a lot of headaches, and potentially his presidential legacy, if he had done one thing: cultivated a relationship with Congress. It doesn’t have anything to do with courting GOP leadership or caving to tea party conservatives. Multiple congressional Democrats believe the White House would be in a better […]
Local races rarely have an impact on statewide or congressional elections, but a trio of local races this year could have an effect on three competitive House districts next year. The most immediate example is the special election for mayor of San Diego. Republican former City Councilman Carl DeMaio lost the 2012 mayoral election to […]
According to conventional wisdom, there are fewer competitive House races than ever before thanks to partisan gerrymandering. But a closer look at the past 10 elections shows that the 2014 batch of races isn’t far from other non-wave cycles. There are currently 49 House seats rated as competitive by the Rothenberg Political Report. That is […]