Archive

For Some Americans, Politics Is More Than a Presidential Debate

by Stuart Rothenberg June 4, 2007 · 12:30 PM EDT

GREENVILLE, Miss. — Two things stand out as one drives south on Highway 61. First, the road is flat. Very flat. Don’t even bother looking for a mountain or a hill. Second is the corn. Acres and acres of corn, which gets taller and taller, fuller and fuller as the miles roll by. Though it’s only…

Immigration Reform Legislation Still Faces an Uphill Battle

by Stuart Rothenberg May 29, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

“This bill would allow 12 million-plus illegal aliens to remain in this country indefinitely and provides them, as well as their immediate families, a path to citizenship. This is amnesty. …”

No, that’s not the view of Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, a leader in the fight against illegal…

Louisiana Senate: Rove Seeks Challenger to Landrieu

May 25, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

Without fanfare or national media attention, White House strategist Karl Rove went to Louisiana the weekend before last to woo State Treasurer John Kennedy (D) to the GOP and into the 2008 Senate race against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).

Republican insiders see Landrieu as the most vulnerable…

For Bush, Sticking With His Iraq Policy Now Is the Only Choice

by Stuart Rothenberg May 24, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

Democrats and even more than a few Republicans seem increasingly frustrated that President Bush hasn’t been persuaded by their arguments or by the midterm election results to change policy in Iraq. They shouldn’t be. The president has little alternative but to dig in, given both his view of the…

The Webs They Weave: Campaign Committees’ Net Strategies Evolving

by Stuart Rothenberg May 22, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

These aren’t your grandparents’ — or even your parents’ — campaign committees.

Howard Dean’s run for president in 2004 uncovered the financial potential of the Internet, but just three years later, the subsequent explosion and popularity of blogs, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook have the campaign…

New Print Edition: New Mexico 1 & Ohio 18

May 21, 2007 · 3:47 PM EDT

The new May 21, 2007 print edition of the Rothenberg Political Report is on its way to subscribers. The print edition comes out every two weeks and the content is not available online. Subscribers get in-depth analysis of the most competitive races in the country, as well as quarterly House and…

For Republicans, Iowa Straw Poll Could Offer Some Answers

by Stuart Rothenberg May 21, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

You wouldn’t know it from the media coverage — or, rather, the lack of media coverage — but it is less than three months until the Aug. 11 Iowa straw poll in Ames, the GOP’s first major test of candidate strength for the party’s White House hopefuls.

No delegates are at stake and it’s wise to…

Is Edwards Following the Dean and Gephardt Models Too Closely?

by Stuart Rothenberg May 17, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

It wasn’t very long ago that I wrote in this space that, in the argument as to whether the Democratic contest for president is a two-person or a three-person race, I was a member of the “John Edwards is in the Democratic top tier” camp.

I argued his strength in Iowa, clear message and personal…

Cornyn and Dole: Two (Vulnerable) Peas in a Pod?

by Nathan L. Gonzales May 14, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

Democrats are not so quietly passing the word: Republican Sens. John Cornyn (Texas) and Elizabeth Dole (N.C.) are vulnerable in 2008. Should we believe them, or are the two GOP incumbents so safe that they aren’t really worth watching?

Cornyn was elected to the Senate a little more than four…

The Media Shouldn’t Ignore Organized Labor in the Democratic Race

by Stuart Rothenberg May 10, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

It’s been a quadrennial happening for decades. Every four years, Democratic presidential hopefuls waddle up to one of the party’s holiest of political shrines, the AFL-CIO, and seek the blessing of organized labor. The national media covers the developments as religiously as it fawns over the…