Political Crumbs
The Second Time Around
Former Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez became the seventh major party or second place gubernatorial candidate in Colorado to get a second chance at the office when he narrowly won his party’s nomination last month. Two of the previous six candidates…
Read MoreHow Are the Plurality Winners Doing?
Nearly 40 percent of plurality winners of U.S. Senate elections lose their seat in the next election cycle. Will that happen to any of the three such incumbents on the ballot in 2014? Recent polling suggests Democrats Al Franken of…
Read MoreBennie’s Little Blunder
When asked for specifics in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash explaining his earlier remarks that much of the opposition to President Obama’s policies was based on the color of his skin, 11-term Mississippi U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson stated, “I’ve…
Read MoreRespect Your Elders?
With retirement announcements this year by veteran U.S. Representatives such as 30-term Democrat John Dingell of Michigan, 20-term Democrat George Miller of California, and 18-term Republican Tom Petri of Wisconsin, it is no surprise that retirees from the 113th Congress…
Read MoreSmall Club in St. Paul
Mark Dayton is one of just three Minnesotans ever elected to three different statewide offices. Dayton, of course, had previously served as State Auditor (1991-1995) and U.S. Senator (2001-2007) before winning the governorship in 2010. At that time, he joined…
Read MoreFinal Four Has Presidential Approval
By edging Michigan in the final seconds Sunday, the University of Kentucky guaranteed that one school in the Final Four this year would be located in a state that was not carried by President Barack Obama in 2012. (Connecticut, Florida,…
Read MoreRed Records in the South
Republicans are heavily favored to win gubernatorial races in Oklahoma, Alabama, and Tennessee this cycle and, should incumbents Mary Fallin, Robert Bentley, and Bill Haslam cruise to victory, they will tie or extend GOP records for their respective states. Oklahoma…
Read MoreThree for the Road
A new Rasmussen Poll shows Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in a dead heat with likely 2014 Democratic nominee Mary Burke. Walker is seeking to win his third consecutive election after prevailing in 2012’s recall contest. Eight of his predecessors accomplished…
Read MoreFrom Red to Blue
Barack Obama has delivered an address before a joint session of Congress eight times since taking office five years ago. During his first three speeches (February 2009’s inaugural address to Congress, September 2009’s address on health care reform, and the…
Read MoreTom Latham’s Exit Revisited
Tom Latham’s surprise announcement last month that he would retire from the U.S. House at this end of this term was also an unusual exit in modern Hawkeye State history. Over the last 50+ years since the 1962 cycle, only…
Read More