President News & Analysis

Friday’s Numbers: Does Anybody Still Care?

by Stuart Rothenberg October 5, 2012 · 9:11 AM EDT

A few months ago, I expected this Friday to be a crucial day in the presidential race. After all, it would be the day when September's unemployment and new jobs numbers would be released, right in the heart of the contest.

But now, it's far from clear that…

Don’t Neglect the Twitter Effect on Debates

by Nathan L. Gonzales October 1, 2012 · 3:19 PM EDT

Amid all the pregame coverage of the first presidential debate, don’t neglect the Twitter effect. The winner and loser could be decided and the post-game narrative and media coverage could be set before the candidates even leave the stage.

Of course, Twitter launched before the 2008 campaign, but…

Race for the White House Shifts Toward the President

by Stuart Rothenberg September 28, 2012 · 1:58 PM EDT

We moved six states last week – all of them toward President Obama. Putting Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin into the “Lean Obama” category pushed the president to 278 electoral votes -- eight more than he needs to be re-elected.


Of course, those three states, and five…

Presidential Ratings Change: Advantage Obama

by Stuart Rothenberg September 21, 2012 · 4:52 PM EDT

We are moving six states in our presidential race ratings: Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin from Toss-up to Lean Obama, and Michigan, New Mexico and Pennsylvania to Solid Obama. 

Deteriorating state poll numbers for Mitt Romney suggest that these states have moved a few points toward the president, and…

In Politics, Expect the Unexpected

by Stuart Rothenberg September 21, 2012 · 3:00 PM EDT

I was on a panel at an event in the nation's capital Sept. 10. The subject was the elections, and another panelist and I discussed the race for the White House and the fight for control of Congress.

Toward the end of the event, someone in the audience…

Death of the Presidential Race Has Been Exaggerated

September 14, 2012 · 12:58 PM EDT

One week after the end of the Democratic convention it’s still hard to know whether the small Obama bounce in polling after the conventions reflects a permanent shift in the presidential race toward Obama’s benefit or is merely a momentary blip on the radar screen.

Some campaign watchers…

Both Parties Roll the Dice on Medicare Issue

by Stuart Rothenberg September 12, 2012 · 11:28 AM EDT

Democrats started licking their chops moments after Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney announced that he had selected Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate.

Whether the reaction came from the national party's House and Senate campaign committees, President Barack Obama's re-election campaign or individual Democratic campaigns…

Convention: Same Goal, Altered Path for Democrats

by Nathan L. Gonzales September 6, 2012 · 11:46 AM EDT

Not long ago, Democrats had it all: the first African-American president sitting in the Oval Office, the first female Speaker of the House and even a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Four years later, the only remaining piece - the presidency - might be taken away from them.

Convention: The Iowa Straw Poll and the National Political Conventions

by Stuart Rothenberg September 5, 2012 · 11:24 AM EDT

Did last week's Republican Convention spell the beginning of the end for national political conventions, at least in their current form? I'm not certain, but it should.

Like the GOP's Ames straw poll, which gets a huge build-up in the media but tells us almost nothing about who…

What a 2004 Poll Tells Us About 2012

by Stuart Rothenberg August 30, 2012 · 11:09 AM EDT

Eight years ago, right before Republicans gathered in New York City from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 to renominate President George W. Bush for a second term, a newly released NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed Bush vulnerable and in a dogfight against his challenger, a Massachusetts Democrat.