It’s not as if Democrats aren’t already looking at a tough election in 2014. They have lots of red state Senate seats to defend and few obvious GOP targets in the House. They have to prepare for the likelihood of a rough and messy implementation of the health care law […] Read more »
I.R.S. Targeting of Conservative Groups Could Resonate in 2014
My rule of thumb is that a vast majority of alleged political scandals will have less electoral impact than the conventional wisdom initially holds. … But the recent admission by the Internal Revenue Service that it targeted conservative organizations with terms like “Tea Party” or “Patriot” in their names when […] Read more »
The IRS and AP controversies spell trouble for Obama and Democrats
The Justice Department has “secretly obtained” two months of conversations between Associated Press (AP) officials in a move called “unprecedented”. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Cincinnati office singled out new conservative groups for extra scrutiny over the past couple of years. One of these controversies alone would have caused a […] Read more »
Sanford Joins ‘The Underachievers’
In winning his special election victory on Tuesday night, incoming Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) joined a dubious but sizable bipartisan House caucus: The Underachievers. … Sanford is in the club because he won about 54% of the vote in the special election, but Mitt Romney won about 58% in the district […] Read more »
South Carolina Special Election Won’t Tell Much About 2014
Here’s a prediction: If not on Tuesday night, then certainly by Wednesday and maybe even through Thursday or beyond, one party will be crowing that its victory in the special election for now-Sen. Tim Scott’s former seat in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District is a sign that it is doing […] Read more »
The Math on 2014 Midterms
… The 2014 midterms are still a long way off, but a few trends are emerging from the numbers around the open seats. The Democrats clearly have the tougher job in terms of number of seats to defend, but the larger demographic patterns may offer some help. The Republicans, meanwhile, […] Read more »