Unlike the Democrats, who almost always at least flirt with off-beat presidential hopefuls and sometimes even pick a nominee who started as a long shot for their nomination, Republicans have, over the past 50 years, generally preferred “the next guy in line” when they select their White House nominees. Ronald Reagan in 1980, George H.W. […]
If a campaign ad airs and no one hears it, does it exist? Partisan strategists are determined to find out. As part of a new “Drive to 25” campaign, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee unveiled an “advertising and grassroots campaign” to hold Republican incumbents “accountable for choosing a partisan plan that will cost jobs,” according […]
Our current streak of “wave” elections — where one party experiences a net loss of at least 20 House seats and the other party has minimal losses — now stands at three (31 seats in 2006, 20 seats in 2008 and 63 seats in 2010), a remarkable string given our recent history of single-digit swings. […]
With Cong. Denny Rehberg set to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, Republicans got their best possible candidate to take on first-term Sen. Jon Tester (D). Rehberg has been elected statewide in Montana’s at-large congressional district for a decade and early public polling shows him running even or slightly ahead of the incumbent. For […]
President Barack Obama’s standing is too often being treated as the political equivalent of a bull market. His approval is rising. He is receiving praise for his rhetoric and strategic positioning. He has drawn kudos for personnel changes. Suddenly, we are told, his political future is bright. But anyone who follows the stock market knows […]
If you weren’t buried in the avalanche of polling last cycle, beware: More numbers are on the way. Daily Kos, one of the country’s best-known liberal blogs, recently started its weekly State of the Nation poll measuring President Barack Obama’s job approval rating and other national atmospherics. But the site’s founder is going one step […]
If the producers of AMC’s popular “Mad Men” television series ever need someone to replace Jon Hamm, the actor who plays Don Draper, they need look no further than Speaker John Boehner. The 11-term Ohio Republican, 61, is significantly older than Draper (Hamm is just short of his 40th birthday), but he has the advertising […]
President Barack Obama spent the weekend talking about the need to “win the future” in what sounds like the beginnings of a re-election slogan. But a conservative activist in Oregon owns the winthefuture websites, virtually ensuring that Republicans will define the catch phrase in their own way. Obama talked about “how we’ll win the future” […]