By
Stuart Rothenberg
| April 1, 2013, 3:11 p.m.
Over the years, I’ve complained about the tone of our political discussions, including some of what supposedly passes for political analysis. Too much of it is merely political advocacy cloaked in pseudo-analysis, and it drives me nuts.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 29, 2013, 11:05 a.m.
Correction, 2:12 p.m. | There probably isn’t a better demonstration of the nation’s partisan political polarization than the makeup of the Senate. Only 17 states have split delegations, while 33 states have either two Republicans or two Democrats (or two senators who caucus with the same party, in the case of independents).
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 28, 2013, 4:09 p.m.
My colleague Nathan Gonzales has written a terrific piece on KentuckySecretaryof State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the young Democrat mentioned as a potential challenger to veteran GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell. He explains her election as Kentucky secretary of state and her family’s connection to the Clintons, among other things.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 27, 2013, 3:28 p.m.
Whether you are a staunch supporter of the National Rifle Association or an enthusiastic backer of the effort by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein for stronger gun control laws, it now should be clear who is winning — indeed, who has won — the latest skirmish in the gun control wars.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 25, 2013, 1:35 p.m.
I certainly agree with pollster Andrew Kohut’s overall assessment of the Republican Party’s image and positioning problems in his March 24 Washington Post piece. I, too, have written about the GOP’s problems.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 22, 2013, 10:57 a.m.
Hoping to hang on to retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s open seat, Democratic strategists are passing the word that attorney and energy company executive Nick Preservati is looking closely at the 2014 Senate contest in West Virginia.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 20, 2013, 7:10 p.m.
“I am not a member of anyorganizedparty — I am a Democrat,” humorist Will Rogers said many years ago. But if Rogers were alive today, he’d undoubtedly see his party as a model of organization and unity when compared to the GOP.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 20, 2013, 11:22 a.m.
A recent National Journal item caught my attention. Entitled “Expanding the Map,” it began: “When Republicans gloat about the seven Democratic-held, red-state Senate seats up in 2014, Democrats can note that only six of their incumbents have lost since the 1990s.”
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 19, 2013, 12:30 p.m.
Can Democrats win back the House in 2014? Not unless a strong recruiting cycle and national events give them a big boost. My column in Tuesday’s Roll Call looks at the top Democratic opportunities around the country — district by district — and finds the party well short of the three to four dozen serious targets that it needs. (For Rothenberg Political Report House ratings, click here.)
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 18, 2013, 7:11 p.m.
Three weeks ago, I discussed whether the House is likely to flip control next year by looking at historical trends and “big picture” questions. Those trends show that the Democrats’ task is a challenging one.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 15, 2013, 2:46 p.m.
My colleague Jessica Taylor notes in a new piece on the Rothenberg Political Report that the House campaign committees are relying more and more on “recruitment programs” and “candidate programs” to woo candidates into races, to make sure that they develop quality campaigns and to generate local and national media attention to enable them to raise money. Her piece, which looks at recent “win-loss” records for the past couple of cycles, is worth reading.
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 13, 2013, 6:47 p.m.
In what can only be regarded as an interesting gamble, Wisconsin Rep. Paul D. Ryan and House Republicans this week are proposing an economic agenda oddly similar to the one they have been offering for the past two years.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 12, 2013, 4:21 p.m.
Two of the Republican Senate hopefuls in Massachusetts are out with new campaign videos.Do yourself a favor and give them a look.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 12, 2013, 1:07 p.m.
Every election cycle the party campaign committees, and many in the national media, make a big deal about party fundraising.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 11, 2013, 7:26 p.m.
As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush continues to do nothing to end speculation that he might run for president in 2016, his Florida ally, Sen. Marco Rubio, twists in the wind.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 11, 2013, 7:10 p.m.
Moments after the Rothenberg Political Report reiterated its “Safe” rating of the now open Michigan Senate race, I started hearing complaints. Some of the questions raised were reasonable — so reasonable that I thought I’d use this space to explain why my colleagues and I decided not to move the race immediately to a more competitive category.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 10, 2013, 10:39 p.m.
If Democrats are going to have any chance of netting 17 seats during the 2014 midterms — and taking back control of the House — they are going to have to do a much better job in a handful of districts where their recruiting fell far short in 2012. Here are four districts where they have much room for improvement.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 6, 2013, 5:01 p.m.
While the fight for the House of Representatives will take center stage next year, another battle could be almost as important for the two parties: control of a handful of big-state governorships.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| March 4, 2013, 6:20 p.m.
Elizabeth Colbert Busch hopes to win a special election for Congress this year. That’s possible but also unlikely, as it would take something close to a political “perfect storm” for the Democrat to win the reliably Republican House seat in South Carolina.
By
Stuart Rothenberg
| Feb. 27, 2013, 7 p.m.
The strategy was pretty clear from the start.
