Immediately after the November election, all of the reporting suggested that the Romney camp was in total shock. “Shell-shocked,” said one news report. It quoted a Romney senior adviser saying, “I don’t think there was one person who saw this coming.” Well, that wasn’t true — even within the Romney […] Read more »
Did Twitter Kill the Boys on the Bus?
… With Instagram and Twitter-primed iPhones, an ever more youthful press corps, and a journalistic reward structure in Washington that often prizes speed and scoops over context, campaigns are increasingly fearful of the reporters who cover them. Any perceived gaffe or stumble can become a full-blown narrative in a matter […] Read more »
Another clue to Obama’s 2012 victory: Americans weren’t doing so badly
What happens if Americans got wealthier when nobody was looking? There are a number of ways to measure the health of the economy: gross domestic product (GDP) growth, job growth, and how much disposable personal income (DPI) Americans have. It turns out Americans have had more of the latter, if […] Read more »
‘Collision 2012’ Opens Wider Window Into Race Between Obama and Romney
… Washington Post chief correspondent Dan Balz’s new book, Collision 2012: Obama vs. Romney and the Future of Elections in America, is everything one would expect from the worthy successor to the mantle of Balz’s mentor, the late David Broder. Without a trace of snarkiness or the self-righteousness that creeps […] Read more »
Democrats Face The Two States Of Texas: Urban And Rural
… What could be heartening for Democrats, who haven’t won a statewide race since the early days of the Clinton administration, is that the state is trending urban — and those places are starting to turn blue. The bad news is that they’re still getting clobbered in rural and exurban […] Read more »
Is it really the GOP’s anti-immigration stances that turn off Latinos?
Pundits left and right have embraced the notion that the Republican Party has a strong political interest in passing comprehensive immigration reform. As the argument goes, the GOP lost a good shot at the presidency in 2012 because of a pro-Obama shift among Latino voters, which itself was a reaction […] Read more »