Campaign reporters have blind spots. I can tell you, for instance, what happens when you go on BarackObama.com, or what happens when you sign up for the Barack Obama Facebook app, or what happens when you tell the campaign you want to donate money online. I cannot, however, tell you what happens after you donate the money online, since I …
2012 Election
Santorum’s Southern Sweep Sets Up Long Showdown With Romney
Rick Santorum eked out a pair of pivotal victories in the Deep South on Tuesday night, winning hard-fought battles in Alabama and Mississippi that cement his standing as Mitt Romney’s chief challenger and could push Newt Gingrich …
What’s Ailing Democratic Super PACs?
The New York Times takes a good look today at Democratic super PACs and their continuing fundraising troubles, tracking down various donors and cash-wranglers to find out where the problems lie. The answers are pretty interesting: There’s run-of-the-mill policy disagreement and radio silence from George “Not Much Difference Between …
Romney Down South: Can Mitt Really Win Over Conservatives in Dixie?
“I’m learning to say ‘y’all’ and I like grits,” Mitt Romney recently told a crowd in Pascagoula, Mississippi. “Strange things are happening to me.” But has the Boston private equity executive turned Republican …
Can an Upstart Occupy-Supporter Compete with Michele Bachmann?
Anne Nolan formally announced her bid for Minnesota’s 6th-district House seat on March 9. The following Monday, she was still her own campaign manager and press secretary, a one-woman-show without an official website. This level of organization places her in a very different league from her competition: Rep. Michele Bachmann, the …
Romney May Not Like Gingrich, but He Can’t Live Without Him
As the Republican primary campaign grinds on, it’s looking likely — though it’s not certain — that Mitt Romney will emerge as the 2012 GOP nominee. He might be awkward and patrician, but he’s got the delegate math, …
The Real Recovery Has Arrived: Who Will Carry the Burden of the Counterfactual in 2012?
In April of last year, Michael Grunwald wrote a sharp piece clarifying Barack Obama’s central re-election challenge: The hallmark achievements of his first term have been prophylactic. While stopping a recession from becoming a depression, reinforcing a health care infrastructure already groaning under the burden and cost of America’s …
Newt Gingrich Probably Can’t Win, but That Doesn’t Mean He’s Going Anywhere
There are two realities on the campaign trail: the one visible to dispassionate observers, and the reality the candidate inhabits. In Newt Gingrich’s bubble, Super Tuesday was a triumph: the benchmark he set was to win his home …
Through Luck or Skill, Democrats Are Winning Tactical Advantages in 2012
Facing the potentially insurmountable challenge of a slow economic recovery in an election year, Democrats have looked for little ways to gain political advantage over Republicans in 2012. Some of their efforts have bombed, like …
Mitt Romney’s High Cost per Vote: $17.14
Politics, like baseball, isn’t fair. In 2011, the New York Yankees had a total payroll of $202 million, nearly six times as much as the payroll for the Kansas City Royals, who had to put the same number of players on the field and play just as many regular-season games. The Yankees, as you know, won more often, but at a much higher cost: …
The Under-Told Story of How Santorum Became a Crusader for the Religious Right
With his narrow defeat in Ohio on Tuesday night, Santorum missed his chance to send Mitt Romney reeling, and to become the arguable front-runner for the Republican nomination. But Santorum didn’t fare poorly enough to slink off …
Sandra Fluke on Her Role in the Contraception Controversy: ‘I Would Do This Again’
Last week Sandra Fluke became famous overnight. But the cascading sequence of events leading to Rush Limbaugh’s tirade against the 30-year-old Georgetown law student began two months ago. At a Republican presidential debate on …
House Primary Upset in Ohio: Signs of a Weak GOP Majority?
Imagine how crazy it would be if Michele Bachmann lost her House seat to a Tea Partyer even more conservative than she was—that’s the equivalent of what happened on Tuesday when three-term Rep. Jean Schmidt lost the Republican primary in Ohio’s 2nd District to political rookie Brad Wenstrup. The upset was big—just last cycle, …