A major subplot of this year’s midterm elections is the competition between the Republican establishment and the tea party wing of the party. The establishment is fighting back, but has the tea party already won? … Most closely watched for clues about the balance of power in the GOP will […] Read more »
President Obama isn’t the Democratic George W. Bush — yet
The Democrats are headed for a trying midterm election; that is, if you believe the multitude of polling in recent weeks. The big question is whether they will lose control of both chambers of Congress — as Republicans did the last time a two-term president faced his final midterm, in […] Read more »
For the midterms, a tilt to the GOP
Democrats hoping improvements in the economy’s course and the Affordable Care Act’s implementation would level the playing field for November’s elections should brace themselves. A nationwide USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll shows the strongest tilt to Republican candidates at this point in a midterm year in at least two decades, […] Read more »
Midterm Election Indicators Daunting for Democrats
With the midterm elections six months away, Democrats are burdened by an uneven economic recovery and a stubbornly unpopular health care law. Perhaps equally important, Barack Obama’s political standing is in some respects weaker than it was at a comparable point in the 2010 campaign, which ended with the Republicans […] Read more »
The Hillary difference
There are two majorities in the country right now. One disapproves of President Obama. The other is still inclined to vote Democratic. The key question for the 2014 elections is whether voting this fall — and Obama’s approval ratings — can come into line with the electorate’s broader Democratic leanings. […] Read more »
Can Democrats leverage Friday’s jobs report?
… Democratic strategists have been arguing for some time that the key to the November elections is to make the economy the focus of their political message. Through polling and focus groups, they’ve come away believing that the contrast between the two parties is best drawn on economic issues and […] Read more »