Justice Scalia Shouldn't Speak to the Tea Party Caucus
There is a big dust-up about Justice Scalia speaking today before House Tea Party Caucus. The controversy comes mostly from the fact that this is Michele Bachmann’s newly formed group. Michele...
View ArticleMichele Bachmann: Minnesota Wild
If Representative Michelle Bachmann runs for president, one thing is certain — it will be a lively race. The Minnesota Republican is known for her use of provocative rhetoric and does not shy from...
View ArticleA Vigorous Debate with No Ideas
The first New Hampshire Republican presidential debate was about a lot of things.For Mitt Romney, it was about running away from his past as governor of Massachusetts. For Newt Gingrich, it was about...
View ArticleAn Iowan Take on New Hampshire Debate: Bachmann Wins
I was in New Hampshire last night for first formal presidential debate and had a chance to talk to many folks the days before the event and afterwards as well.I found New Hampshire citizens not very...
View ArticleBachmann Announces Her Run for President
Tea Party darling Michele Bachmann (R-MN) talked up her home-field advantage as she officially announced her run for presidency this morning in Iowa. Bachmann lived in Iowa (a state she's hoping to...
View ArticleOpinion: Why GOP Candidates Should Support Indie Music
Every campaign season, without fail, a Republican candidate or elected official is asked to stop playing some celebrity musician's music at their campaign appearances. It's a one-day story, liberals...
View ArticleOpinion: Obama's Enthusiasm Gap is a Major Problem
"I'm sure I'll vote for him…but I won't work for him."That common refrain captured the mood toward President Obama's reelection bid at Netroots Nation, the annual conference of progressive bloggers and...
View ArticleOpinion: The Iowa Tea Partier's Case for Michelle Bachmann
In Iowa, we have the unique opportunity to vet presidents in a way like no one else in the country. During this election cycle, I have been fortunate enough to get a behind-the-scenes look at almost...
View ArticleOpinion: Advice to GOP Debaters - You Can't Run on 'No'
You'd think the Republicans would be smiling. The economy shows no signs of turning by the 2012 election, a bad sign for any incumbent. The GOP caucus in the Capitol has ensured that Democrats can't...
View ArticleOpinion: What's Really Behind the 'Bachmann is Stupid' Theme? The Usual...
If it's a political season, as it always seems to be these days, there comes the inevitable chorus of smug liberals proclaiming a conservative candidate "stupid."Did you hear, Michelle Bachmann wished...
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House Races to Watch: Ideological Battle over Bachmann's Neighboring Minn....
Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses the wealthy suburbs west of Minneapolis, should be competitive. Political strategists have often rated the district a tossup, but Republican...
View ArticleOpinion: Why Each GOP Contender Thinks They Can Win Florida
"My fellow Americans…" Those will be the first words of whomever takes the stage on August 30th, 2012 - exactly one year from today - in Tampa Bay, Florida, to address the Republican National...
View ArticleOpinion: The One Way the GOP can Take Advantage of Anti-Incumbency Fever
The Republican race for the White House remains an interesting phenomenon with a large field of candidates and a great deal of action on the racetrack. While Sarah Palin is correct that "polls are for...
View ArticleOpinion: In Reagan Debate, Romney Must Fend off Also-Rans and Contend with...
Presidential primary debates are often more spectacle than substance. With eight candidates jockeying to be heard, there isn't much room for real debate. They will all see the two greatest threats to...
View ArticleOpinion: How Chris Christie Shakes up the 2012 Field? He Doesn't
Several months ago, Republicans began to kvetch about the weak field of contenders who were offering to do combat with Barack Obama for control of the White House. At that time, there were seven or so...
View ArticleFlexing the Money Muscle: Candidates Disclose Fundraising Totals
Here comes the money! Candidates Rick Perry and Mitt Romney have reported their earnings from the three-month fundraising quarter that ended last week.Texas Republican and...
View ArticleOpinion: In GOP Field, Line Between Contenders and Pretenders is Now Clear
"Tonight the light of love in your eyes, but will you still love me tomorrow?"Primaries are exposing and embarrassing for the party involved. They inevitably lead to infighting, dirty revelations, and...
View ArticleOpinion: Palin's Out, and Bachmann's Star Dims
We can barely keep up with the unfolding political events in the past week.The big panic is that with Nevada setting its caucus date for January 14 the whole calendar has been trashed. Iowa has to have...
View ArticleOpinion: Cain, Ron Paul and the Ever-Shifting GOP Sands
Romney and Perry? No! Ron Paul and Herman CainAs we try desperately to make sense of the Republican search for a presidential candidate to beat President Obama each week seems to bring a new fork in...
View ArticleOpinion: Instead of Econ Fixes, Tonight's Debate Will Show GOP Infighting
Tonight's GOP debate, sadly, will be more defined by what we won't see than what we will - an apt parallel to the "Party of No" approach to governing in America.What won't we see in tonight's GOP...
View ArticleOpinion: Cain's Flukey Win in Iowa Poll Says More About GOP Shuffling
The latest Iowa Poll has 23 percent of likely caucusgoers saying Herman Cain is their first choice, with Mitt Romney trailing with an indistinguishable 22 percent. Romney gets the vote of just 10...
View ArticleWatch: Perry's "Oops" Highlight of GOP Debate
1. Let's just get this one out of the way: Rick Perry, listing the three government cabinets he'd like to axe as president... stalled out at number three. "I will tell you, it is three agencies of...
View ArticleGOP Foreign Policy Debate: A Live Tweet Recap
This — the so-called "Commander-in-Chief" debate, hosted by CBS News and National Journal — was by far the most boring of the debates to date, at least if your standard for interesting is "sudden...
View ArticleOpinion: Bachmann, Paul and Huntsman Unfairly Excluded from Debate Questions
Think what you will about Ron Paul or Michele Bachmann or Jon Huntsman, they all have a legitimate point in their complaint that they were deliberately left out of the CBS debate on Saturday night.The...
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GOP Book Report: Highlights from the 2012 Campaign Reads
All but one GOP candidate released a book during this election cycle - Rick Santorum's last and only book came out in 2006. So what did voters learn about the candidates—their biographies, their...
View ArticleOpinion: The Questions We Should be Asking the GOP Candidates
We are now recovering from gazillionth GOP presidential debate, and there is no end in sight. The ratings show that people are enjoying watching the contenders slug it out, but they can obscure the...
View ArticleOpinion: Huntsman's Failure Shows GOP's Extremism Problem
It’s only a matter of time before it’s Rick Santorum’s turn.Why not? Why shouldn’t Rick get his moment at the head of the GOP pack? The merry-go-round of candidates who have shared the top spot...
View ArticleOpinion: Are You Smarter Than a Frontrunner?
Slammed as the Stupid Party, the GOP turns to Newt Gingrich as its new egghead savior.With just under five weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses mark the official start of the Presidential primary...
View ArticleOpinion: What the Cain Train Derailment Means for the GOP Field
In suspending his campaign Saturday, onetime presidential contender, short flash-in-the-pan, and former Godfather’s Pizza executive Herman Cain thundered, “I’m not going away!” Here's why that might...
View ArticleOpinion: Iowa Debate Report Card - Newt Wins by Not Losing
GOP Drake University Debate Results – Steffen Schmidt Saturday night's GOP debate in Des Moines, Iowa consolidated Newt Gingrich’s front-runner status. Although targeted by all the contenders and...
View ArticleRomney Tries to Reassure New Hampshire Voters
After taking a week off to campaign and fundraise elsewhere, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney returned on Sunday to New Hampshire, the only early state where he still holds his lead over...
View ArticleOpinion: Romney, Gingrich and the French Connection
"In France, for instance, I'm told that marriage is now frequently contracted in seven-year terms where either party may move on when their term is up. How shallow and how different from the Europe of...
View ArticleOpinion: Tonight's Debate is Ron Paul's Moment
There are those of us who watch politics the way other devotees tune into sports. Instead of checking out box scores, we scan the poll numbers. In both worlds, the players become celebrities - we...
View ArticleOpinion: Debate Report Card - Paul Flops, Bachmann Attacks, Perry as Tebow?
I had the opportunity to again live-blog the GOP debate in Sioux City, Iowa for WNYC and the Des Moines Register, and I must say from the get go that I was disappointed. It was largely an oops-free...
View ArticleOpinion: Be Thankful for Iowa
It's one week from showtime - the January 3 Iowa Caucuses are almost here. We are putting on our best faces, cleaning up the more than 1,700 caucus precinct sites, and getting ready for the national...
View ArticleOpinion: Let's Keep Our Paranoid Politics From Destabilizing America
The 2012 presidential election is turning out to be one of those tense and paranoid contests, much like the atmosphere surrounding the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was so hated and feared...
View ArticleOpinion: In Obama and Senate Wins, 2012 is Year of the Woman
There were many important results on election night and I was with a huge group of voters in Des Moines, Iowa as we covered the returns live. I talked to dozens of Iowa voters and can report some of...
View ArticleOpinion: The Ames Straw Poll is Woodstock for Politicos - Don't Kill it!
This week, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, a Republican, said that it's time to kill off his party's Ames Straw Poll. Held every four years in the summer before the Iowa caucuses, the poll is both a...
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