The race for president is at its most confusing point of the campaign. The post-debate polling picture has indicated that Mitt Romney has made up ground nationally, but polls from the swing states offer a more complicated and still optimistic picture for President Obama. [cont.] Harry Enten, The Guardian Read more »
Romney’s Debate Win Was About Personality More Than Policy
… YouGov polls have been asking Americans to indicate whether they think 16 different adjectives do or do not describe Romney and Obama — such as “bold,” “effective,” “strong,” “patriotic,” “arrogant,” etc. … Romney was dealing with substantial disadvantages on these dimensions before the debate, but after the debate he […] Read more »
There’s No Question, Romney Changed the Game
Before the first presidential debate, this column repeatedly pointed out that Mitt Romney needed something to happen—an event or development that would change the trajectory of this race—or he would lose. As Jay Leno remarked, the only people who thought President Obama won the debate were the NFL replacement referees. […] Read more »
Getting Along
… One of the first debate’s most jarring moments was the impassioned defense of bipartisanship that Romney delivered shortly after he reaffirmed a critical policy position that essentially precluded such cooperation on the biggest legislative challenge awaiting the next president. Obama in turn was utterly opaque, as on many other […] Read more »
The Catholic ‘Swing’ Vote
Catholics are often identified as a major “swing” voting group in American politics. In recent presidential elections Catholics have made up roughly a quarter of the electorate, and, indeed, they have been closely divided between the two parties. But a new analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion […] Read more »
Latino Voters Support Obama by 3-1 Ratio, But Are Less Certain than Others about Voting
Latino registered voters prefer President Barack Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney by 69% to 21% and express growing satisfaction with the direction of the nation and the state of their personal finances but are somewhat less certain than non-Hispanics that they will vote in this election, according to a […] Read more »