On the eve of the first presidential debate, President Obama leads or is at parity with Mitt Romney on virtually every major issue and attribute in what remains a competitive general election, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The new survey also highlights an emerging dynamic in the […] Read more »
The Real Referendum
Republicans came into this campaign believing that it would be a referendum on President Obama, and that still-high unemployment would hand them victory on a silver platter. But given the usual caveats — a month can be a long time in politics, it’s not over until the votes are actually […] Read more »
Democrats, Republicans on different planets when it comes to economy
It seems like only yesterday that Democrats thought Wisconsin’s economy was tanking and Republicans were declaring a new dawn of prosperity. That was during last spring’s recall fight, when a GOP governor was on the ballot. Today, the economy hasn’t changed much, but the politics has. Now it’s a Democratic […] Read more »
Is it Mitt Romney’s fault, if he loses?
On Friday morning, Politico ran an article that chiefly attributed President Obama’s lead to Mitt Romney and his failures. Salon’s Steve Kornacki came to the opposite conclusion and concludes that the fundamentals of this cycle made Romney’s task of deposing Obama quite difficult. So, which is it? [cont.] Harry Enten, […] Read more »
Using Debates to Turn Electoral Tide: Difficult but Not Impossible
History shows that candidates have different ways to score in presidential debates: the forceful put-down, the surprising show of skill, the opponent’s fumble, superior post-debate tactics. But it also shows that to fundamentally alter the direction of a campaign, a candidate usually has to accomplish all those things. [cont.] John […] Read more »
Ten races where Barack Obama could sink Democratic incumbents
There’s been a lot of media attention lately focused on Republican candidates who are distancing themselves from struggling presidential nominee Mitt Romney. But Mitt Romney’s not the only presidential candidate who made turn out to be toxic for some of his own party’s candidates. Barack Obama’s lack of popularity in […] Read more »