Two weeks out, and Iowa is doing its Iowa thing–anyone, and I mean anyone, can win these caucuses. We’ve seen late surges before–Obama and Huckabee in 2008, Kerry in 2004 and so forth–but this is a case where multiple candidates are neck and neck, something I haven’t seen since the Democratic race in 1988.
2012 Election
Newt the Impeacher: Will 2012 See Gingrich’s Role in the Clinton Scandal Relitigated?
Kenneth Starr! Linda Tripp! The blue dress! And Newt Gingrich!
Bill Clinton’s impeachment may have riveted the country for more than a year, but today it feels like ancient political history. And yet the prospect of Newt …
16 Days Till Iowa: The Race Distilled
The Des Moines Register has a comprehensive piece today about all the terrible things that could happen to Newt Gingrich between now and the caucuses, but the real news of the morning was the interviews that Romney gave Fox and Gingrich gave CBS–together, they represent a perfect distillation of what the Republican presidential race is …
17 Days Till Iowa: Let’s Talk Obama
After a youth spent immersed in the romance of The People, with the populist movement of the 1890s and the united front of the 1930s among my favorite periods in American history, I’ve come to have grave doubts about populism over the past 30 years. No, it’s actually been longer than that: If you read classic works of American history, …
18 Days Till Iowa: Last Night’s Debate Part II–Newt Edition
Last night’s debate was particularly fraught for Newt Gingrich, but I don’t know if it was for good or ill. Will Iowans remember him fumbling around trying to rationalize his $1.6 million relationship with Freddie Mac in the first half of the debate…or will they remember the red-meat eloquence of his second-half answers about the …
18 Days Till Iowa: 4 Important Answers From Thursday’s Debate (Part 1)
Last night’s Fox News debate in Iowa was a far more complicated thing than previous sessions. Most of the candidates had nice moments, Newt Gingrich had some tough ones. I have no idea how it will impact the race. But there were 4 moments, 4 answers to questions posed by the rigorous Fox News moderators, that deserve some further …
Mitt Romney, Nikki Haley and the Endorsement Derby
So Mitt Romney just won the endorsement of South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. Clearly a big deal, right? Newt Gingrich is beating him by 17 points in the latest poll out of the state, which could be a crucial barometer of conservative sentiment if Newt hangs onto his vaporous lead in Iowa and Romney cruises through New Hampshire as …
What You Missed While Not Watching the Final Iowa Debate
-1 minutes. “Coxcomb” is the O’Reilly Factor word of the day. It means “foolish dandy who is overly impressed by his own accomplishments,” and it flashes on the Fox News screen, just a moment before the start of the …
The Final Iowa Debate: A Snap-Shot of the Republican Race
Thursday night’s Republican presidential primary debate in Sioux City, the last before votes are cast next month in Iowa, played out as a microcosm of the current race. As his rivals’ attack ads are beginning to chip away at Newt …
Romney as Rambo: Will Mitt’s Offensive Cause Collateral Damage?
The Romney campaign has been in full attack mode all week, mercilessly trashing its latest mortal enemy, Newt Gingrich. Every couple of hours a new email arrives from the Romney campaign with a subject line like, THIRD TIME’S A CHARM: GINGRICH IS RELIABLY UNRELIABLE ON THE RYAN PLAN (that one landed at 8:02 a.m. this morning, recapping …
19 Days Till Iowa: Previewing The Zany Debate
The Republican presidential debates have been a fabulous spectacle, wildly entertaining, often substantive, absolutely great for democracy–and, now, symmetrical. Tonight’s Fox News debate, the last before the Iowa precinct …
20 Days Till Iowa: The Paul Boomlet
This is one of those days when you can feel the zeitgeist twitch–is it possible that Republicans are already cooling on Newt Gingrich? Well, yes. Newt is the ultimate political impulse buy. He’s terrific at the periphery of the Republican debate, but when he starts moving toward the middle of the stage, and getting more time, and saying …
Newt Gingrich’s Electability Gap
Whether it’s on the state or national level, Gingrich is currently the candidate causing conservative hearts to flutter. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday found him with a 10-point lead over Romney among Republicans, 28% to 18%. When Independents were factored in, that lead dipped slightly to seven points. But when all voters were …