Republicans continue to argue about whether the party needs to take steps to prevent the next Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle, Todd Akin and Ken Buck, as well as how it might do so. Those inept and seriously flawed candidates lost races that other Republicans would have won easily. Now, American Crossroads, the brainchild of Karl […]
The path to the U.S. Senate doesn’t get much easier than the one Rep. Edward J. Markey is on. But that smooth path could signal significant potholes ahead. The Massachusetts Democrat was first elected to Congress more than 30 years ago by winning a multi-candidate primary with just 22 percent of the vote, and ever […]
First-term Republican Sen. Mike Johanns’ surprise retirement sets up Nebraska’s second open seat Senate race in as many cycles. Republicans successfully took over Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D) seat in 2012 and will try to keep Johann’s seat next year. Last year, Republicans had a competitive contest for the party’s nomination, and underfunded state Sen. Deb […]
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) announced his retirement on Thursday, setting off a potential scramble for his open seat in New Jersey. But the most important action is likely to be on the Democratic side. One prominent Democrat who has made no secret of his ambition is Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who started making moves toward […]
Oh what a difference one word can make. Take away the “West” from “West Virginia,” and you have a once-red state that surely is now purple, a state carried twice by Barack Obama. But add back the “West” and you have the Mountain State, which has been headed down a different path over the past […]
We may well be at a political tipping point that could mark a dramatic change in American politics. After decades of Democratic Party dominance that began with the formation of the New Deal coalition, Ronald Reagan ushered in an era of relative party parity. But a deep fracture in the GOP, combined with crucial demographic […]
The odds are against Senate Democrats this cycle. But, of course, they were against the party two years ago at this time, and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Executive Director Guy Cecil didn’t merely beat the odds — he slaughtered them. This time, Democrats face better prospects of holding onto their Senate majority next November than […]