“Ultimately, I’m a lobbyist for freedom,” a man in a yarmulke tells a pretty girl in the basement of a cavernous Marriott in northwest Washington. The man could have been attempting to network or to flirt — a seminar on how to …
2012 Election
Mitt Romney’s Sweet Spot: Just Conservative Enough
Why is Mitt Romney having trouble winning over the conservative Republican base? One reason is his lack of political finesse, an air of dorky rich-guy aloofness that reminds some people of John Kerry. More important, however, is his ideological profile. In almost every important way, Romney’s policy platform is more moderate than those …
Conflict Over Obama’s Contraception Rule Intensifies
The Administration’s decision to require Catholic charities and universities to provide free birth control through employee health coverage is several weeks old, but the maelstrom of dissent it’s created is widening. Republicans, who charge that the measure violates such organizations’ religious freedoms, have allied with Catholic groups …
Rick Santorum’s Unlucky Timing
The morning after his three-state sweep of Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, Rick Santorum is finally getting a bit of credit. But for a guy who’s now won more nominating contests than any other Republican presidential candidate (if you charitably count Missouri’s meaningless pageant), Santorum stands to reap few rewards for his efforts. …
When Can We Call Ron Paul’s Caucus Strategy a Bust?
For a guy with a grim worldview, Ron Paul is great at spotting the green shoots when it comes to his own political fortunes. When he fell to third in Iowa, he told the crowd that “we are going to keep scoring.” In New Hampshire, he told supporters that their “irate minority” was “going to continue to grow by leaps and bounds.” After …
Was Tuesday Night Really So Terrible for Mitt Romney?
I’m wondering if Tuesday night’s results in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri really were so atrocious for Mitt Romney. As Alex Altman noted last night, there’s one obvious upside: Rick Santorum’s big night complicates the anti-Mitt movement, ensuring that conservative opposition to Romney remains divided. Tuesday night’s results might …
Santorum Stuns Romney with Three-State Sweep, Stealing Momentum in GOP Race
For the candidates vying to claw their way back into the Republican nominating fight, there are no symbolic victories. The Missouri primary is a $6 million beauty contest inexplicably wedged onto the political calendar ahead of …
Obama Administration’s Contraception Ruling Fits with Re-Election Needs
According to a memo published by the moderate think tank, Third Way, and highlighted by The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, the 2012 election will come down to a fight over truly independent voters who cast ballots for Obama in 2008. If Obama can hang on to these voters, he wins. If he cedes too many to Mitt Romney, he loses. Other factors …
Obama Flip-Flops on Super PACs. Now He Is Consistent.
Reversals in politics are typically cast as character blights. So for politicians preparing major flip-flops, the best defense is often a character-defining offense.
Obama’s Prospects in Swing States Deteriorated in 2011
Most Americans won’t have the power to choose the next President because they live in states so tilted towards one end of the political spectrum that the election outcome, barring calamity, is not in doubt. Mitt Romney doesn’t really have a chance in California. Barack Obama is not going to win Texas.
What matters instead is a group …
On Reagan’s 101st Birthday, Republican Revisionism
Monday, Feb. 6, was Ronald Reagan’s birthday, and once again Republicans paid homage to the Gipper — perhaps the only Republican, apart from Abraham Lincoln, about whom no GOPer dares speak ill. Reagan is to Republican candidates what Kim Il Sung is to North Korean apparatchiks. It’s not good enough to say you love and admire Reagan; …
With Tuesday Caucuses, Santorum Gets a Second Chance to Shine
It’s drawn none of the hype lavished on the early GOP primaries, but more delegates are technically on the table in the Tuesday, Feb. 7, nominating contests than on any other day so far this cycle. For the first time, the …
What Will Mitt Romney Talk About if the Economy Gets Better?
For the better part of two years, Mitt Romney has been relentless. “Four years ago, candidate Obama came to Nevada, promising to help,” he said in his victory speech after the Nevada caucuses on Saturday night. “Today, Nevada unemployment is over 12%, home values have plummeted, and Nevada’s foreclosure rate is the highest in the nation …