President News & Analysis

Handicapping Versus Reporting, Analyzing the Presidential Race

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

As I’ve watched the first few months of the 2008 presidential race, I’ve been struck by how differently the race can be watched and evaluated.

Most print and television political reporters, along with their editors, are approaching the contests for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations as if…

Iowa Straw Poll: Over Long Before It Really Began

by Stuart Rothenberg June 14, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

Less than a month ago in this space, I observed that the fast-approaching Iowa straw poll in Ames on Aug. 11 could offer some interesting insights into the Republican race for president. To quote Emily Litela (Gilda Radner) of “Saturday Night Live” fame, “Never mind.”

The recent announcement…

Obama’s Message Crosses the Atlantic

by Stuart Rothenberg June 12, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

NAIROBI, Kenya — Across the stream of raw sewage and past the piles of trash, Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) message of hope resonates thousands of miles away. In Nairobi’s poorest neighborhoods, the prospect of a President Obama has captured the imagination of the next generation of Kenyans.

The…

Democratic Leaders on Capitol Hill Are Still Playing Iraq Just Right

by Stuart Rothenberg June 11, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

Now that the dust has settled on the Congressional vote on the supplemental appropriations bill and on the ruckus that anti-war opponents of the bill kicked up, it’s time to assess the political implications.

First, Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill played the issue like a Stradivarius. They forced…

Fred, Tommy or Bobby: Which Thom(p)son Will History Remember?

by Stuart Rothenberg June 7, 2007 · 12:05 AM EDT

And Fred makes two. Two Republicans named Thompson running for their party’s 2008 presidential nomination, that is.

Bobby Thomson, the third Thom(p)son mentioned in the title of this column, now lives in New Jersey and is 83 years old. He was born Oct. 25, 1923, making him less…

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…

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…

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 newest hot candidate…

The Ever-‘Present’ Obama

February 16, 2007 · 12:10 AM EST
By Nathan L. Gonzales

Finally and officially, Barack Obama is running for president. His symbolic announcement, in the Land of Lincoln, called for a new era in politics. Obama downplayed his thin federal experience while championing his record on the state and local level, and he talked about the…