Public opinion surveys are snapshots, not forecasts. Still, they can clarify the challenges and opportunities that individuals and organizations face. The latest round of polls yields a clear conclusion: President Obama has reached the nadir of his presidency and risks diminished relevance for the remainder of his presidency. A politician […] Read more »
Obama’s Image as ‘Strong and Decisive Leader’ Takes a Hit
After six messy weeks — defined chiefly by the partial government shutdown and troubled rollout of the federal government’s healthcare exchange website — President Barack Obama’s reputation with the American public has faltered in some ways, but not in others. Most notably, for the first time in his presidency, fewer […] Read more »
Can the Obama coalition be recreated in 2016? Maybe.
Here’s what the 2008 and 2012 elections taught us: President Obama built a national political coalition — the three main pillars of which were African Americans, Hispanics and young voters — that Republicans couldn’t come close to touching. Here’s what the 2010 election taught us: That Obama coalition is not […] Read more »
For Obama, and Democrats, it’s crunch time
President Obama likes to say he will never again be running for office, but every Democrat knows he will be on the ballot figuratively in 2014, and 2016, as well. Right now they are rightly nervous about that prospect. A month ago, political Washington was transfixed by the errors committed […] Read more »
A game changer for campaign reporting
The Gamble by John Sides & Lynn Vavreck Game Change 2012 by John Heilemann & Mark Halperin … Modern campaign journalism was born the day Theodore White published “The Making of the President 1960.” White was the first to frame a campaign as a novel, portraying the candidates as protagonists, […] Read more »
A Closer Look at Self-Insured Voters and their Impact on 2014
In recent weeks, more than four million individuals and families who rely on the individual marketplace for health insurance received notices that their health insurance plans will no longer be available due to new requirements stemming from Obamacare. While the negative impact of Obamacare reaches beyond a single group, many […] Read more »