Say what you will about the ultra-hardline reproductive politics of Todd Akin and Paul Ryan, but at least those two have always been true believers. Mitt Romney, not so much. As his former strategist Michael Murphy put it in 2005, "He's been a pro-life Mormon faking it as a pro-choice friendly." But Romney's public transformation […]

Four years ago, Barack Obama beat John McCain among women voters by a healthy 13 point margin. That gap was doubtless made larger by McCain's shameful performance in the final presidential debate, when during an exchange about reproductive rights he used air quotes to mock the very idea of the "health of the mother." Now, […]

On Tuesday, Cathedral Age, a magazine produced by the Washington National Cathedral, published its interviews with President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. In "Faith in America," the quarterly asked each candidate questions about their perspectives on the role of religion in the public life of the nation. While Obama unsurprisingly praised the separation of […]

The Republican presidential nominee was once a strong supporter of Roe v. Wade, but underwent a just-in-time pro-life conversion to seek his party's nomination. Kowtowing to the GOP's evangelical base, he named a hardline social conservative who opposed abortion in all cases, including rape and incest. Then the week before the Republican National Convention made […]

So it's come to this. Less 24 hours after airing his latest demonstrably false, racially-driven ad about welfare, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney accused President Obama of waging a "campaign of division and anger and hate." By any measure, Romney's is an amazing--and cynically conscious--case of projection. After all, with a wink and nod Romney […]

Mitt Romney's new ad accusing President Obama of declaring a "war on religion" with the Affordable Care Act isn't without risks for the Republican presidential nominee. Even leaving aside the over-the-top hyperbole, it turns out that Romney put similar contraception policies in place during his tenure as governor of Massachusetts. But much more dangerous for […]

Admittedly, the young Barack Obama was a pothead and tried cocaine. Apparently, the young Mitt Romney was a bully who liked to pretend to be a cop, a firefighter and a gangster. But whether or not early Obama dabbled in dope or Romney was, well, a douchebag, doesn't really matter. Or, at least, doesn't matter […]

Earlier this month, Team Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul explained her candidate's rule for determining the fairness of press coverage of his Mormon faith. "Our test to see if a similar story would be written about others' religion," Saul declared, "is to substitute 'Jew' or 'Jewish.'" That revelation prompted Jeffrey Goldberg to ask, "What If Mitt […]

Mitt Romney's religion is back in the news this week thanks to a flood of articles saying it shouldn't be. While the Los Angeles Times reports "Obama and Romney shun confrontation on religion," Richard Cohen of the Washington Post declared "Mitt Romney's faith is his business." Two weeks before Cohen's colleague Jason Horowitz asked "Is […]

Just in case you had forgotten, the campaign web sites of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney want to remind you it's Mother's Day. The Obama site includes a card you can sign for the First Lady and a video of the President paying tribute to his mom and grandmother. Meanwhile, Team Romney is offering "Moms […]