It’s been clear for a while that the long Republican primary fight is damaging the GOP in ways that won’t be easily repaired before the fall election. Michael Scherer has nicely laid out the potential effect on the Hispanic vote. …
2012 Election
Romney’s Challenge in Ohio
Just hours after grinding out an ugly win in Michigan, Mitt Romney packed his bags for Ohio, another recession-racked Midwestern state where he’ll have to surmount similar demographic challenges without the benefits of home-field advantage.
Among Super Tuesday’s 10 Contests, One Crucial Test
With 66 delegates at stake, Ohio is not the largest target on Super Tuesday, which will see 10 contests held on March 6. But it is the most important. There are no demographic or regional arguments to explain away a loss for Mitt …
Making Iran a Campaign Issue May Not Prove Easy for the GOP
In Washington, D.C., Iran seems to be on everyone’s minds.
Republican strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie this week made the case in an op-ed in Foreign Policy that in order to win the White House, the eventual GOP nominee should focus on international affairs rather than the domestic economy. “The Republican candidate should …
Campaign 2012, Where Old Media Is New Again
We live in the age of the iPhone, yet the 2012 presidential campaign has so far been run on Betamax. In the Republican primary, new media and mobile technologies are next to incidental, subsumed by a nostalgic embrace of a technology that was cutting edge in the 1960s: television.
Romney Fends Off Fierce Santorum Challenge to Win Michigan Primary
Mitt Romney eked out a victory in the Michigan primary on Tuesday night, staving off a challenge from Rick Santorum to sidestep what would have been a stinging defeat in his native state. The former Massachusetts governor also …
The Final Sprint in Michigan and Arizona
As the GOP race ends in these two crucial primary states, TIME’s photo editors look back at the closing days of the campaign for Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.
A Dozen Things That Will Happen if Mitt Romney Loses Michigan
1. Romney will face inordinate pressure to shake up his campaign team.
2. He will face public questions from elected officials and Republican strategists about his electability and competence that will make past doubts seem …
Barack Obama vs. ‘Folks’ (a.k.a. Mitt Romney)
Barack Obama never mentioned Mitt Romney when he spoke at the United Auto Workers Convention on Tuesday. But when Obama said “folks,” he meant Romney. When Obama said “these politicians,” he meant Romney. And when Obama said “some politicians,” he meant Romney.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Univision
Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, who wrote a column for TIME last week, interviewed controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio last weekend. Standing against the backdrop of Maricopa County’s infamous outdoor Tent City jail, Arpaio …
A Draw in Michigan Won’t Solve Romney’s Problems
In baseball, a tie goes to the runner. But in presidential primaries, a tie goes against the front runner.
In a matter of hours, America will discover if Mitt Romney can pull out a squeaker in his native state of Michigan. As of this morning, Nate Silver, the whiz-kid of poll-based projections, pegs the state too close to call, with a …
Slow Death in Michigan: Why the Drawn-Out GOP Primary Is Nothing Like 2008
After a long, long weekend in Michigan watching Romney and Santorum, I have no strong feelings about who is going to win–put a gun to my head and I’ll say Romney–but I do know that this Republican race has become a victorless crime, a mortal snooze. Those few Republicans who are not so dispirited by this mess that they’re still willing …
The Republican Race Looks Murky, in Michigan and Beyond
If you’re betting on Tuesday’s Republican primaries in Michigan and Arizona, the smart play is to short the pundits. For two months, each decree that a candidate possesses momentum has instead been a death knell.