Archive for 2008
MN Senate Recount: Challenged Ballot Rate Identical in Coleman and Franken Counties
The U.S. Senate ballot recount has been completed in 36 of Minnesota’s 87 counties, according to the Secretary of State’s website as of 8:00 pm Thursday evening. A Smart Politics study of those counties in which 100% of the ballots…
Read MoreColeman Victory Would Renew Minnesota Tradition of Split-Ticket Voting
If Norm Coleman is able to hold onto his narrow lead against Al Franken in the 2008 U.S. Senate recount that began on Wednesday, he would accomplish a feat that has not been seen in Minnesota since before World War…
Read MoreSmart Politics On WCCO-TV’s “Good Question”: Obama and His Blackberry
Smart Politics’ Eric Ostermeier was interviewed by the always-affable Jason DeRusha for his “Good Question” segment on WCCO-TV Tuesday evening. The “Good Question” at issue was, “Why Can’t the President Use E-Mail” – in light of Barack Obama’s recent announcement…
Read MoreMN Senate Election Analysis, Part 2: Norm Coleman’s Metro Slide
On Monday, Smart Politics examined the margin of victory and loss in each county between the DFL candidates in the 2006 gubernatorial and 2008 U.S. Senate races, and found Al Franken most severely underperformed in the Northern counties of the…
Read MoreMN Senate Election Analysis, Part 1: Franken Underperforms in Northern Minnesota
On the surface, there are several similarities between the 2008 U.S. Senate race and the 2006 gubernatorial race in Minnesota. · Both races featured 1-term Republican incumbents facing reelection in Democratic wave election years and, pending a change of fate…
Read MoreIowa Democrats Enjoying Historic Run in House of Representatives
For the first time in modern Hawkeye State political history, Iowa Democrats have made gains in the State House of Representatives in four consecutive elections. Smart Politics examined Iowa election returns for more than fifty years dating back to the…
Read MoreDemocratic Control in Wisconsin At Greatest Level in a Generation
With its takeover of the State Assembly last week, Democrats now control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office in the Badger State for the first time since the 1984 election. Wisconsin Democrats were able to accomplish in 2008 what…
Read MoreEven At 42 Percent, Coleman’s Performance Historically Strong
Should Republican Norm Coleman prevail in the U.S. Senate recount against DFLer Al Franken over the coming weeks, his reelection will be noteworthy in several respects. First, at 42.0 percent, Coleman will have been elected by the lowest percentage in…
Read MoreWill Pawlenty Run For A Third Term?
After flirting with national office in 2008 – as a purported finalist on John McCain’s short list of Vice-Presidential nominees – Tim Pawlenty has the luxury of governing a state in which gubernatorial elections are conducted in presidential off-year…
Read MoreInside Obama’s Landslide: The Young Man Went West
Barack Obama’s near landslide victory over John McCain last week was impressive on a number of dimensions. Most obviously, Obama picked up 9 states that went Republican in the 2004 election: Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada,…
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