Let us pause to praise this brief political moment of mutual admiration. Mitt Romney’s campaign staff stands in awe of Barack Obama’s political talents. “President Obama is a uniquely gifted speaker, and is widely regarded …
2012 Election
From Cesar Chavez to the Denver Debate: Mexican-American Voters Finally Have Their Say
Fifty years to the week after Chicano activist Cesar Chavez put Mexican Americans on the political map, their long-overdue electoral clout will be felt at Wednesday night’s presidential debate
The Calm Before the Debate
Not much happening on today’s Sunday talk shows. Lots of debate spinning, of course — the first debate is always good for challengers, we’re told. (It wasn’t in 1996, when Bob Dole debated Bill Clinton — but hey, that was Clinton.) And lots of handwringing over the Obama Administration’s reputed obfuscation of the terrorist attack on …
How Obama Is Leveraging the Power of the Incumbency in Swing States
President Obama has a soft spot for the state of Ohio, a crucial swing state that every Republican President has won en route to the White House. And as Jeffrey Markon and Alice Crites wrote recently in the Washington Post, Obama has used the powers of the incumbency to a startlingly effective degree in his effort to keep that state blue.
Voter-Registration Fraud Exists
A lot of people on the left have been decrying GOP efforts to pass voter ID laws nationwide this year, arguing there is little or no voter fraud and that Republicans are just trying to suppress likely Democratic voters. Well, at least with regard to voter registration fraud, those critics are wrong: it may well exist.
See the …
Ad War Update: Obama and Romney at Your Kitchen Table
You know the presidential campaign is getting serious when both candidates stop stabbing each other with sharpened Pinnochio noses long enough to speak directly to you, the voter. “If I could sit down with you in your living room or around the kitchen table,” Obama says in a new direct-to-camera ad, “here’s what I’d say”:
Memo to Romney: Forget Ohio, Florida is Everything
There’s been ample talk this month about how Mitt Romney might “shake up” or “turn around” his campaign. A lot of it involves things like bringing in new strategists, tweaking the campaign’s message or maybe “unleashing” Paul …
The Frustrations of Fact Checkers
Midway through a Wednesday morning panel discussion with the nation’s top political fact checkers, FactCheck.org’s Brooks Jackson asked his colleagues if they could think of a case where candidates this cycle have “paid a price” …
Romney Fights for Ohio, Regardless of the Polls
Before Mitt Romney set foot in Ohio for a two-day bus tour this week, his campaign was spinning the state of the presidential contest there. On a flight between Newark and Dayton on Tuesday, Romney political director Rich Beeson …
‘The Pollsters Are Biased’ Is the New ‘The Reporters Are Biased’
Good news, folks! Now you can have your own facts! Even better, when it comes to campaign polls you don’t like, you can now have your own numbers!
Obama Comes to New York for Barbara Walters and, sorta, the United Nations
Though Gotham is full of visiting heads of government and state, the President is meeting no one this time around. Is it insurance against possible gaffes? Or just a broader excuse not to meet the Prime Minister of Israel?
What Rush Thinks About…
when his team is losing.
Mitt Romney Discloses 2011 Tax Returns, ‘Vigorous’ Health
Mitt Romney released his tax returns for 2011 on Friday afternoon, reporting nearly $2 million in owed taxes on $13.7 million in income, a 14.1% effective rate. The returns showed that he gave a hefty $4 million to charity, but only claimed a deduction on a little more than half of that.