… Though broad measures of the economy are showing signs of improvement, a closer look at important indicators among individual groups reveals that voting blocs critical to Democrats in recent elections are not yet feeling the benefits. … Midterm elections tend to be fueled more by mood than by policy, […] Read more »
Republicans Have Edge on Top Election Issue: the Economy
American voters rate the economy as the most important issue to their vote for Congress this year, and give the Republicans in Congress a slight edge over the Democrats as best able to handle it. Voters give four other issues lower, but still above-average, importance — the federal deficit, taxes, […] Read more »
Why G.O.P. Will Shift to Talking About Fixing the Heath-Care Law
In response to polling data showing that the Affordable Care Act has become more popular, a prominent Republican pollster said that he expected Republicans to change how they talked about the law. “After the primaries, expect a shift in Republican candidates’ rhetoric against Obamacare,” said Bill McInturff, a partner in […] Read more »
Democrats Have Advantage on Issues, but It Won’t Save Them in November
Democrats know they face a difficult midterm campaign landscape, but they can cling to one seeming reason for hope: The public agrees with them more than with Republicans on the issues. … This apparent political advantage is less important than it might seem, however. For instance, Democrats had greater advantages […] Read more »
Conservatives seek to regain control of Republican agenda
Although many Republicans are optimistic about their chances in this year’s elections, some of Washington’s leading conservatives gathered Thursday to privately vent frustrations about what kind of party they will be left with after November. The group, alarmed by a resurgence of the GOP establishment in recent primaries and what […] Read more »
The Known Unknowns
… Ultimately, the two sides are counting on two very different things happening this fall. Republicans are counting on the national political environment to sweep the GOP to victory. … Democrats, meanwhile, are counting on making this an “all politics is local” election. … So, who’s right? No one can […] Read more »