A new Time poll on Thursday added ammunition to Barack Obama's case that he is the more electable Democratic candidate. In head to head match-up against the presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, Obama scores a 48% to 41% victory, while Hillary Clinton produces only a 46% to 46% draw. But while Barack Obama certainly has […]

At the CPAC conference today, Mitt Romney mercifully brought his campaign of gymnastic flip-flops to an end. Yielding to the inevitability of John McCain's nomination, Romney shuffled off into the Republican sunset. But before exiting the stage (no doubt to return in 2012), Romney regurgitated the bromides, mean-spirited attacks and downright ignorance that characterized his […]

One of the more fascinating story lines in the wake of the Super Tuesday primaries involves rumors that GOP frontrunner John McCain is considering Mike Huckabee as his VP choice. The two didn't merely combine in Tuesday's nationwide vote to send Mitt Romney to the Republican equivalent of the glue factory. Throughout the primaries, McCain […]

Last night, I delivered a presentation at the Ignite Portland event titled "That's Entertainment: Politics as Theater in Campaign '08." Ignite is an eclectic event where a series of presenters each get five minutes and 20 slides (advancing automatically every 15 seconds) to discuss virtually any topic they want. The event organizers captured each of […]

With the make-or-break Super Tuesday primaries just 24 hours away, two breaking stories suggest that candidacies may be made or broken by media interpretation of the trivial. In Connecticut, Hillary Clinton once again teared up at a campaign event. And over the weekend, a questioner at a St. Louis Clinton rally reprised an earlier McCain […]

On Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow, the Fox Network will add its unique brand of right-wing propaganda to the mix of football and ads millions of Americans tune in to see. Before its pre-game show and Super Bowl XLII coverage, Fox stations will first air three hours of Fox News Super Tuesday political "analysis." Since the […]

Thursday's CNN Democratic debate in California revealed two fundamentals truths. First, Democrats as a whole were very well served by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, two candidates who each delivered sterling, civil performances. Their thoughtful exchange stood in sharp contrast to the second inescapable conclusion, the banality of the moderator, CNN's Wolf Blitzer. On a […]

Heading into Super Tuesday, the faith-based candidacy of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is running on fumes. Falling short in South Carolina in what was his last best chance to turn the GOP nominating process into chaos, Huckabee limped to a distant fourth place showing in Florida. Now out of momentum and out of cash, […]

Tonight in Simi Valley, California, Mitt Romney and new GOP frontrunner John McCain will face off in the final Republican debate before the 22 Tsunami Tuesday contests on February 5th. It is altogether fitting that this key battle for conservative hearts and minds occurs at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Romney, after all, claimed the […]

As Floridians head to polls today, a likely dismal showing by former GOP frontrunner Rudy Giuliani will effectively end his campaign. In a rare moment of candor on Monday, the former New York mayor acknowledged as much, telling reporters "Wednesday morning, we'll make a decision." But while pollsters and pundits will attribute Giuliani's epic collapse […]