Though it probably won’t start for a few more days, the “anti-incumbent election” narrative will grow loud during the next few weeks, as a handful of Members of Congress find themselves in tough races. It won’t matter whether they are defeated in primaries or just squeeze through in tight, nasty contests. And it won’t matter […]
The nominees are in place for the highly competitive Arizona special election to replace former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), as 2010 GOP nominee Jesse Kelly cruised to an expected primary win on Tuesday. Kelly took 36 percent of the vote. His next closest competitor was retired Air Force officer and political newcomer Martha McSally with […]
Three months ago, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney had a very clear message: President Barack Obama had failed to turn the economy around or create jobs and, therefore, didn’t deserve another term. It was a succinct, uncomplicated message, based on easily accessible unemployment and job numbers, as well as on the public’s dissatisfaction with the […]
Republican strategists certainly weren’t pleased with Illinois Rep. Timothy Johnson’s post-primary retirement decision, but why was a Democratic Member of Congress from almost 1,000 miles away so upset? “Shedding a tear for my Center Aisle Caucus co-chair,” Rep. Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted Wednesday night after the Johnson news broke. Even though the Center Aisle Caucus […]
I have found over the years that when a narrative works its way into the collective wisdom, there is no way of changing it. So my goal here is quite modest: to get at least a handful of people to pause, take a deep breath and simply chew over the data a bit before using […]
The Campaign for Primary Accountability (CPA), a super PAC that claims no partisan allegiance and has targeted long-time incumbents randomly, has political strategists on both sides of the aisle perplexed. Can the CPA defeat incumbent members of Congress by swooping into contests at the last minute? Is it really a partisan group masquerading as a […]