Senate News & Analysis

Obama Wins First Round, With More Bouts to Come in 2013

by Stuart Rothenberg January 4, 2013 · 11:14 AM EST

We’ve just seen Round One in what amounts to a political heavyweight championship fight between Democrats and Republicans. Get ready for the next 11 rounds.

Though they were unhappy with a package that included more spending and higher taxes on the wealthy, Republican realists understood that defending tax…

The New Year Can’t Come Soon Enough for the GOP

by Stuart Rothenberg December 22, 2012 · 9:00 AM EST

As the end of the year approaches, it’s difficult not to see the two parties heading in very different directions.

Democrats have emerged from the 2012 elections stronger, while Republicans look poorly positioned and divided.

Politics, of course, is famous for its ups and downs, its unexpected…

Group DeMint Founded Has No Plans to Replace the Departing Senator

by Nathan L. Gonzales December 21, 2012 · 9:00 AM EST

Sen. Jim DeMint’s Senate successor has already been announced, but the influential political action committee he founded has no plans to replace him.

The Senate Conservatives Fund helped vault the junior senator from South Carolina to the national stage when he founded it in 2008. But while DeMint’s…

Looking Back on 2012 Cycle’s Long and Winding Road

by Stuart Rothenberg December 19, 2012 · 9:00 AM EST

Wow, what a political cycle. It was filled with twists, turns and surprises.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucuses — until he didn’t (almost two weeks after the actual balloting, when former Sen. Rick Santorum was certified as the winner).

After finishing a distant…

South Carolina Senate: DeMint’s Surprise

by Jessica Taylor December 14, 2012 · 2:58 PM EST

Establishment Republicans in Washington breathed a sigh of relief with the surprise announcement last week by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint that he would resign at the beginning of the year to take the helm of the Heritage Foundation. 


But with GOP Gov. Nikki Haley set…

The Best and Worst of the 2012 Campaigns, Part II

by Stuart Rothenberg December 14, 2012 · 10:30 AM EST

My last column included awards for a number of 2012 campaign and candidate categories, including the luckiest candidate and the biggest upset. But those only scratched the surface in an election year during which candidate quality mattered a great deal. Part II of my guide of the best and…

Best and Worst Of the 2012 Campaigns: Part I

by Stuart Rothenberg December 12, 2012 · 11:18 AM EST

As another election year draws to a close, it’s time again for me to pick the cycle’s winners and losers, my most and least favorite candidates, and those who distinguished themselves by skill or by old-fashioned dumb luck.

After three successive partisan wave elections, the overarching takeaway from…

Handicapping 2014: A Pause Could Add Perspective

by Stuart Rothenberg December 11, 2012 · 4:58 PM EST

The tendency to begin analyzing the next election cycle even before the votes have been counted in the last one shows no indication of abating, unfortunately.

While I have chosen to defer a detailed, race-by-race look at the 2014 elections (both in this column and in my newsletter)…

DeMint Surprise Exit Sets Up S.C. Scramble

by Jessica Taylor December 6, 2012 · 12:46 PM EST

South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint’s shocking news on Thursday that he would step down from the Senate to lead The Heritage Foundation sets off an uncertain scramble in the Palmetto State for virtually all of the state’s top three offices in 2014.

With DeMint, a second-term senator…

For the Fiscal Cliff Talks, It’s Back to the Future Again

by Stuart Rothenberg December 5, 2012 · 1:46 PM EST

Anyone who hoped that Democrats and Republicans could find a quick way to avoid the upcoming fiscal cliff should by now know that we are heading for another of those buzzer-beater endings — if Congress and the White House beat the buzzer at all.

While President Barack Obama…