Senate News & Analysis

For GOP, the Damage Is Undeniable

by Stuart Rothenberg October 18, 2013 · 10:02 AM EDT

The deal to open the government and raise the debt ceiling may be done, but the damage to the national Republican Party is considerable.

One GOP consultant — who clearly hails from the more conservative end of his party — didn’t hold back recently in slamming the “no…

Republican Senate Hopefuls Vary in Quality, Approach

by Stuart Rothenberg October 2, 2013 · 9:46 AM EDT

I recently interviewed four Republican Senate candidates in the space of one week, and if I had to draw a single assessment from those meetings it would be that there is plenty of diversity in the GOP’s class of Senate hopefuls.The four differed in stature, style and background, and…

Tennant Not a Game Changer Yet for West Virginia Democrats

by Nathan L. Gonzales September 30, 2013 · 9:51 AM EDT

A few weeks ago, Democrats didn’t even have a warm body in the West Virginia Senate race. So getting Secretary of State Natalie Tennant to run for the Senate was quite a catch.

But even though Tennant is a credible statewide elected official, she starts as a significant…

OMG!!! A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN. Or Maybe Not

by Stuart Rothenberg September 28, 2013 · 10:09 PM EDT

Once again, Henny Penny is running around to warn us that the sky is falling. A government shutdown is only [fill in the blank] days, [fill in the blank] hours and [fill in the blank] minutes away. The countdown clock shows the seconds ticking by. The end is near.

5 Things Winning Candidates Say

by Nathan L. Gonzales September 27, 2013 · 9:57 AM EDT

After the overwhelming response to “10 Things Losing Candidates Say," I decided to try to turn it around and point out some common themes from winning candidates.

Of course these phrases don’t guarantee success — a candidate’s party and the partisanship of the state or district will…

Republicans Win Belated Legal Battles, but Elections Can’t Be Undone

by Nathan L. Gonzales September 26, 2013 · 12:14 PM EDT

You can’t rewrite history, but Republicans probably wish you could.

While two high-profile former GOP officeholders — Texas Rep. Tom DeLay and the late Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens — have now had their convictions overturned or dismissed, Republicans are still dealing with the political consequences.

It’s easy…

How Bad Is the GOP Rift? Worse Than Democrats in the 1980s

by Stuart Rothenberg September 25, 2013 · 4:18 PM EDT

Political parties seem to suffer through internal battles periodically, but the current state of the GOP is much worse than what Democrats went through some 25 years ago, when organized labor and old-style liberals fought against the Democratic Leadership Council for the soul of the party.

I still…

Family Politics: When Water Is Thicker Than Blood

by Nathan L. Gonzales September 25, 2013 · 10:36 AM EDT

The relationship between parents and children can be complicated, particularly when both are politicians.

On Monday, state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger announced that he wouldn’t challenge Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan in North Carolina.

In an interview with Reid Wilson of The Washington Post

10 Things Losing Candidates Say

by Nathan L. Gonzales August 28, 2013 · 9:52 AM EDT

It’s August of an odd-numbered year, but the 2014 cycle is heating up. That means dozens of candidates are visiting us at The Rothenberg Political Report in anticipation of the midterm elections.

Some of them will win, but most will lose. So we’ve started taking notes on some…

North Carolina Senate: Blue Like Hagan

by Nathan L. Gonzales August 23, 2013 · 3:00 PM EDT

Kay Hagan could run a perfect campaign and still lose re-election.

In 2008, the Democratic state senator was elected to the U.S. Senate because she was at the right place at the right time. She faced an aging politician who had lost touch with the state, and she…