Even by the standards of the friday afternoon news dump tradition, yesterday’s news that Gen. David Petraeus had resigned from the CIA was a stunner. The most heralded military officer of his generation fell from grace after it was revealed
My father was an infantry officer in Vietnam, very early in the conflict. He left the theater in 1964, before the massive American military build-up, but could already see the writing on the wall. He remarked to me that he
Rarely has so much been spent to so little effect. In 2010, when the Supreme Court stood up for free speech and struck down limitations on campaign spending, the left and the media terrified themselves, imagining a flood of money
President Barack Obama will never again have to face voters. Nothing he does will have to be calibrated for how it plays in swing states or with Independent voters. He is now governing solely for his own legacy. This is
Andrew always pointed out that politics was far downstream from media and pop culture. By ceding the media and pop culture space, conservatives were always at an extreme disadvantage whenever a specific political debate arose. They could occasionally win certain
The chief reason I’m confident of a Romney victory tonight is I believe there will be a massive GOP turnout. Virtually all of the polling, especially at the state level, is based on a false premise that Democrats will come
The Community Voters Project is a “non-partisan” lefty organization whose mission is to register people to vote, with a particular emphasis on minorities. In the 2008 election, they had offices in 10 states and registered around 300,000 minority voters. So
Could President Obama win reelection tomorrow? Sure, its possible. Is he so favored to win reelection that any argument that Romney will win is irrational and a denial of reality? Of course not. But, certain nether-regions of the left and
This afternoon, Pew Research is out with its final poll of the 2012 campaign. It finds that Romney continues to hold the edge on voter turnout. By solid margins, Romney supporters are more engaged in the campaign, are following news
A week after Hurricane Sandy struck New Jersey, the state is still struggling to recover. Hundreds of thousands are still without power, thousands are displaced from their homes and basic food, water and gasoline are scarce. Despite Obama’s promise to
The predicate for Obama winning reelection on Tuesday is that he replicates the strong Dem turnout that swept him into office in 2008. That election saw a greater percentage of young, minority and Hispanic voters than previous elections. It also
This morning, because the sun rose in the East, Nate Silver again increased his odds of Obama winning reelection. Silver now estimates Obama’s chances of reelection at a precise 83.7%. Now, I realize Obama’s improved chances don’t actually have anything to
Today, pollsters are rushing forward a slew of new swing state polls ahead of the campaign’s final weekend. Its an attempt to set a final narrative ahead of voting on Tuesday. PPP is out today with a new poll of
This morning, the Romney campaign announced that Paul Ryan would go to Minnesota on Sunday for a pre-election campaign rally. Its a clear sign that the Romney campaign thinks Minnesota is winnable. Where campaigns spend their time in the closing
At the start of the campaign season, Democrats and the left had high hopes of defeating Iowa Rep. Steve King. Few members of Congress spend more time under the left’s skin, making him something of a hero to us. Iowa
The 2012 Presidential campaign will be decided in the tree-lined cul-de-sacs that dominate the American landscape. Rural voters are reliably Republican and urban voters are reliably Democrat. But, suburban voters are the swingy-est of voters. In many states, they decide
One of my criticisms of the media polling this year is that, whether intentional or not, they paint an unrealistic portrait of the electorate this year. In the vast majority of cases, media polling shows Democrats matching or even exceeding
Montana State District Judge Kathy Seeley heard oral arguments on Monday concerning a $500,000 contribution from the Montana Republican Party to Rick Hill’s campaign for Governor. She refused to issue an immediate ruling, causing the case to drag on for
Independents are the critical, deciding factor in American politics. Unaffiliated with either party, they are the voters candidates need to build a national coalition. The candidate who wins Independents wins the election. George W. Bush drew even with Independents against
At the start of the general election campaign, the Obama camp gamed out its strategy assuming that states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan were safe states. There were no plans to spend resources in these states nor send surrogates
Richard Carmona is running for the U.S. Senate in Arizona. He is a trauma surgeon and former U.S. Surgeon General. For better or worse, he has been a fixture in Arizona health care for decades. As I noted last week,
Montana Democrat Senator Jon Tester is locked in a tight reelection battle with GOP Congressman Dennis Rehberg. It has long been seen as one of the more competitive Senate races in the country, and potentially pivotal to determining control of
Earlier today, my colleague, Tony Lee, reported on a new poll from Oregon showing Obama up just six points over Mitt Romney. Surprisingly, Obama’s support was only 47%, well below the 50% threshold deemed safe for incumbents. To say that
Over the past several days, my colleague Joel Pollak and I have noted that the ground seemed to be shifting in deep blue Minnesota. Although no Republican presidential candidate has won the state since 1972, there were signs that the
Rasmussen released its latest survey of battleground Ohio this morning. The poll finds Romney surging into his first-ever lead in the Buckeye state. He now leads President Obama by two points among likely voters, 50-48. Importantly, Romney’s support has crossed
