Presidency
Will 2nd Time Be a Charm for Mitt Romney as He Attempts to Buck History in 2012?
Only five candidates have been elected to the White House on their second attempt
Read MoreWhich States Have the Most Split-Ticket Voting in Presidential-U.S. Senate Election Cycles?
Montana is the only state in the nation to split its presidential-U.S. Senate ticket in a majority of elections
Read MorePresidents’ Day Special: Will Obama’s Youth Be an Asset Again in 2012?
At five consecutive cycles, the U.S. is in the midst of its longest period in presidential election history in which the younger candidate has won the popular vote
Read MoreMeet the New Bellwether States: Ohio and Nevada
Ohio has the longest current streak in the nation with 12 consecutive elections voting for the winning presidential candidate; Nevada has the highest rate over the last 100 years at 96 percent (24 of 25 cycles)
Read MoreCan Mark Dayton Give Barack Obama a Boost in Minnesota in 2012?
History suggests having a DFLer in St. Paul is unlikely to be a decisive factor, but may be worth +1.4 points to Obama in next year’s presidential race
Read MorePresidential Battleground States by the Numbers Since 1968
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania lead the way with nine races decided by single-digits over the last 11 presidential election cycles; Missouri and Oregon are next with eight
Read MoreHow High Is Too High? Unemployment and the 2012 Presidential Race
Ronald Reagan got reelected in a landslide in 1984 with an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent, while George H.W. Bush was defeated in 1992 with a nearly identical 7.4 percent rate
Read MoreExperienced ‘Outsiders’: Do Ex-Elected Officials Make the Strongest Presidential Challengers?
Incumbent presidents have won only 50 percent of elections against former elected officeholders over the last 220 years, compared to 76 percent against sitting elected officials and those never elected to political office
Read MoreObama’s SOTU: Uniting the Country…through Pronouns?
Obama’s 2011 State of the Union incorporated the 2nd largest percentage of first-person plural pronouns since FDR
Read MoreKeeping It Simple: Obama Records 2nd Lowest Flesch-Kincaid SOTU Grade Level Score Since FDR
President’s 2011 SOTU speech was written at more than a half a grade level lower than 2010’s score, which was the 4th lowest in 75+ years
Read More