Stop Campaigning, Mr. President
The President has great campaign skills. But a strategy based on doing what is comfortable rather than what is difficult will doom his second term
Mike Murphy
Articles from Contributor
Can This Party Be Saved?
Why the GOP’s purists and pragmatists need to face the challenge of policy
Goodbye, Mr. Scissorhands: Romney Recaptures Centrist Image
Mitt Romney won more than just a debate in Denver; he won an opportunity to take the presidency away from Barack Obama. If he plays his cards right, he can repeat his own history and become the 45th President of the United States.
Potemkin Conventions: Why Are We Doing This Again?
Remind me: Why are we doing this?
That was the question bouncing around in my head after I spent my first 24 hours in Tampa on increasingly soggy ground. The twin horrors of Tropical Storm Isaac and the Nielsen ratings have …
Romney at the Convention: Whom Will Mitt Speak To?
The Republican Convention is Mitt Romney’s first big opportunity since the primaries to speak directly to general-election voters. Will he focus on rallying the Republican base, or will he try to connect with the swing voters …
After Ames: How Rick Perry Has Realigned the Presidential Race
Updated, 9:03 a.m.
Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann claimed victory at Saturday’s Ames straw poll in Iowa, edging out second-place finisher Ron Paul for the symbolic early-state trophy and crushing …
A Savvy Political Observer’s Guide to the Modern Campaign Fund-Raising Report
There’s lots of spin out there concerning fund-raising numbers for GOP presidential candidates. Federal Election Commission filings are quarterly X-rays of campaign bank accounts, which political junkies pore over like treasure …
How Michele Bachmann’s Surge Reshuffles the GOP Presidential Race
Last week’s Des Moines Register poll tells us — assuming nothing actually happens in Iowa over the next six months — that about 22% of the 125,000 or so Hawkeyes most likely to show up for next year’s Republican caucus will …
Pawlenty’s Poor Debate Showing Risks Donor Flight
I agree with the rapidly emerging CW on the debate: Bachmann did quite well, Mitt is unscathed, Newt is still a non-starter and Tim Pawlenty made a mistake in starting a fight before the debate that he wasn’t prepared to wage in the debate. That said, it is still way too early — even in New Hampshire — for this debate to have much real …
The Great New Hampshire Heist
While most of the media have gone ridiculously aflutter over Sarah Palin’s latest diesel-powered tourist outing slash fan dance, a far more interesting caper is quietly unfolding in New Hampshire. Former New York governor George Pataki is airing a new ad on a Granite State TV station, WMUR. The ad comes from a Pataki-sponsored group …
