Ronald Brownstein

Ronald Brownstein

Editorial Director

Ronald Brownstein, a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of presidential campaigns, is National Journal Group's Editorial Director, in charge of long-term editorial strategy. He also writes a weekly column and regularly contributes other pieces for both National Journal and The Atlantic, and coordinates political coverage and activities across publications produced by Atlantic Media. Brownstein also writes for 2012 Decoded.

Prior to joining Atlantic Media, Brownstein was the National Affairs Columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He has also served as the Times' National Political Correspondent and the author of the weekly Washington Outlook column. Brownstein is a National Journal alumnus, having served as the magazine's White House and National Politics Correspondent from 1983-1986, and then as its West Coast Correspondent through 1989. He appears regularly on national television, including NBC, ABC, CBS, and MSNBC, and served as a political analyst for CNN from 1998 through 2004. His sixth and most recent book, The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America, was published by Penguin in November 2007.

Brownstein was twice named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, receiving that recognition for his coverage of both the 1996 and 2004 presidential campaigns. In addition, he is the recipient of several journalism awards, including the Exceptional Merit in Media award from the National Women's Political Caucus, the Excellence in Media award from the National Council on Public Polls in 2005, and the Journalist of the Year award from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2005. In 2007, the American Political Science Association presented him its Carey McWilliams award for lifetime achievement, granted to honor a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics.

Ronald Brownstein's Latest Posts
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

How the White House Scandals Could Hurt Republicans, Too

By enraging the base and strengthening the faction least willing to compromise with Obama, the IRS and Benghazi affairs could hurt a GOP shot at the presidency. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Can Bipartisan Cooperation Save Us From Stalemate?

Polarization and the breakdown of the committee system have helped spawn the “Gang of Eight” and its cousins. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Why No One’s Winning in Washington

Republicans needed to move to the center. The Democrats needed to fix the economy. Oh well. Read More »

Two Completely Different Ways to Deal With the Upward-Mobility Crisis

Top economists from the Clinton and Bush administrations debate how to revive the economy to keep people from getting stuck.  Read More »

The 1 Chart That Could Sever Obama's Coalition

Continuing economic dissatisfaction could dissolve the powerful electoral coalition that powered both of President Obama's victories. Read More »

Being In the Middle Class Means Worrying About Falling Behind

After years of economic turmoil, most families now believe the most valuable—and elusive—possession in American life is economic security. Read More »
IMMIGRATION

Why the Time Is Finally Right for 'Amnesty'

From rural South Carolina to inner-city Chicago, Americans say they’re ready for immigration reform.  Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Way to Combat Terrorism

America can persevere by embracing diversity. Read More »

Why the Senate Vote May Signal 2016 Problems for the Gun Lobby

The outcome of Wednesday’s dramatic Senate vote on expanding background checks simultaneously demonstrated the difficult geography confronting gun-control advocates in the Senate and the potentially daunting math facing gun-rights...

Read More »
IN THE STATES

How Washington Ruined Governors

They used to care more about problem-solving than ideology. Now state capitals increasingly imitate the national parties.  Read More »
IN THE STATES

The O'Malley Factor

Can Gov. Martin O'Malley ride his Maryland success to the White House?  Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A New Budget for a New Party

Obama's fiscal proposal aligns him with the politics of minority, millennial, and college-educated voters. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Why the Culture Wars Now Favor Democrats

Gay marriage, gun control, immigration—the wedge issues now divide Republicans. Read More »

Why Waiting on the States Could Create a Messy Future for Same-Sex Marriage

In two big cases this week, the justices were hesitant to impose a national standard on gay marriage. But history shows that leaving the issue to the states could leave a long-lasting patchwork. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Man Who Could Turn Texas Blue: Rick Perry

By opposing Medicaid expansion, the governor could hurt the GOP in a must-win state. Read More »
POLITICS

The Great Party Paradox

A year of surveys shows that Americans don't line up consistently behind Republicans or Democrats -- but like a little of each. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Rightward March of the Republicans

Republicans in Congress were supposed to moderate their message. It's not happening. Read More »
EDUCATION

College Costs Further Stratify Class Privilege

The accountability revolution that reshaped K-12 is reaching critical mass for the cap-and-gown set. From president to governors to leading foundations and educators, more voices are insisting that postsecondary schools confront the...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

How Colleges Are Making Income Inequality Worse

Higher education is supposed to reduce class division, but it turns out it doesn't. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

How Both Sides Botched the Sequester Fight

The White House and congressional Republicans each notch tactical wins but fail on strategy. Read More »

What Unites Obama's Coalition — and What Could Divide It

One conclusion that jumps from the Pew Research Center/ USA Today national survey released Thursday is that the coalition that reelected President Obama last fall remains in step behind him — and is largely unified behind the key...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Young and the Powerless

Social Security and most of Medicare are exempt from automatic spending cuts. That means the sequester falls hardest on America's youth. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Courting the Twenty-Somethings

In many ways, the president steered his party toward issues that matter to that growing generation. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Why the GOP's Resistance to Medicaid Expansion Is Eroding

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer wants her state to join the expansion, key to Obama's health care reform. Will other Republican governors follow suit? Read More »
IMMIGRATION

Bush's Immigration Failure Offers Obama a Lesson

The failed 2006 effort to revamp laws serves as a cautionary tale for the current push. Read More »
POLITICS

With New Support Base, Obama Doesn't Need Right-Leaning Whites Anymore

For decades, Democrats shaped their policies around fears of the culturally conservative white voters to the GOP. But Obama’s winning coalition has altered that calculus. Read More »
POLITICS

Why Obama Is Giving Up on Right-Leaning Whites

For decades, Democrats shaped their policies around fears of losing right-leaning white voters to the GOP. But Obama’s winning coalition has altered that calculus. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

On Immigration, What Obama Can Learn From Bush's Failed Efforts

The failed 2006 effort to revamp immigration laws serves as a cautionary tale for the current push. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

For Obama, Social Equality Will Come Easier Than Economic Equality

President Obama wants more social tolerance and economic opportunity. One goal is more achievable than the other. Read More »
POLITICS

How the Democrats Are Taking Over California

Demographic shifts and coastal liberalism have given huge power to Democrats. They control the state – but there's restlessness on the left. Read More »
POLITICS

Why the Democrats Are Golden in California

Demographic shifts and coastal liberalism have given huge power to Democrats. They control the state – but there's restlessness on the left. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Iconoclastic Jerry Brown Goes Back to Square One

The California governor is responding to demands for more government by preaching an “era of limits.” Read More »

Expect Obama to Be More Aggressive in His Second Term

Obama's forceful moves on controversial fronts represent a calculated gamble that the evolution of the U.S. electorate has reached a critical tipping point.  Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Democrats and Republicans Missed a Big Opportunity

Over the long term, the fiscal-cliff deal will make it harder for both the Left and the Right to achieve their goals. Read More »
POLITICS

It's Not Just Partisanship That Divides Congress

The same demographic trends that helped Republicans keep the House will hurt their shot at the presidency. And the trends that propelled Obama to reelection will impede Democrats from retaking the House.  Read More »
CONGRESS

The Fiscal Cliff's Greatest Threat Is to American Unity

The fiscal cliff was an opportunity to push off partisanship. But, following incentives, legislators only increased it. Read More »

A Role Reversal: Dems Grow More Unified While Cracks Form in the GOP

The endgame over the fiscal cliff, like the first stirrings of debate about gun control and immigration, all capture a subtle but potentially consequential shift in the Washington dynamic. Read More »
ECONOMY

How the Fiscal Cliff Battle Is Really Just a Battle of Demographics

Washington’s battle over the fiscal cliff is best understood as a confrontation not only between Democrats and Republicans, but also as an early skirmish in what could be a decades-long struggle for resources and influence b...

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Behind the Fiscal Cliff is a Demographic Struggle

Washington’s battle over the fiscal cliff is best understood as a confrontation not only between Democrats and Republicans, but also as an early skirmish in what could be a decades-long struggle for resources and influence between...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

After 22 Years of Budget Inflexibility, Can the GOP Re-embrace Compromise?

The party spent two decades transforming from belt-tighteners to tax-cutters. To win, it may have to go back. Read More »
POLITICS

Poll Reflects Stark Political Divides and the Long Path Ahead for Washington

After a campaign season of unprecedented expense and duration, taming the federal deficit and avoiding the fiscal cliff top the public’s To Do list for President Obama and Congress, the latest Allstate/ National Journal Heart...

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HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Though More Optimistic, Americans Are Still Sharply Divided

The latest Heartland Monitor Poll highlights Washington’s challenge in winning support for legislation from more than a narrow and fleeting majority of the public. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Immigration Reform Is Back on the Agenda

For the first time since 2007, Republicans are calling for action. Read More »
POLITICS

Senate Democrats Prove to Be More Unified Than GOP Peers

The same dynamic that powered the Democrats’ unexpected Senate gains this fall could also give the party more leverage to drive its legislative agenda through the chamber in the months ahead. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Senate's Democratic Coalition Is Growing More Unified

The party's major Senate candidates did a better job than their Republican rivals of bringing together their base. Read More »
POLITICS

Transformation vs. Restoration: Which Political Position Will Prevail?

This long march of a presidential election, after all its expense and duration, proved far more memorable for what it said about the country than what it revealed about the two men vying to lead it. Read More »
ANALYSIS

Today's Politics: Coalition of Transformation vs. Coalition of Restoration

This long march of a presidential election, after all its expense and duration, proved far more memorable for what it said about the country than what it revealed about the two men vying to lead it. Read More »
POLITICS

Acceptance: First Step in Republican Revival

Analysis: The GOP's soul-searching could lead the party to realize that it needs to appeal to a broader range of Americans. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

First Step Toward a Republican Revival: Acceptance

The GOP's soul-searching could lead the party to realize that it needs to appeal to a broader range of Americans. Read More »
DEMOGRAPHICS

U.S. HIts Demographic Milestone--and It's Not Turning Back

This election will likely be remembered not only as a political but also a cultural and a social milestone in which the United States suddenly (and for many people, shockingly) realized it was a very different place than it on...

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POLITICS

Millennials, Baby Boomers Cement Political Differences in Election Results

There was no exit sign, no milepost. But in this week’s election, America unmistakably turned onto the road of sustained competition and conflict between the brown and the gray. Read More »
ELECTION 2012: HOW THEY VOTED

The American Electorate Has Changed, and There's No Turning Back

This election will likely be remembered as a cultural milestone in which the United States suddenly realized it was a very different place than it once was. That’s because social and demographic change was the big story of the res...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Election Reinforces Divide Between Millennials, Baby Boomers

Two generations are clashing over the role of government. And the fight between the minority-heavy millennials and largely white baby-boom seniors is going to last awhile. Read More »
POLITICS

Coalition of New, Old Equates to Obama Win

President Obama won a second term by marrying the new Democratic coalition with just enough of the old to overcome enduring economic disenchantment and a cavernous racial divide. Read More »
ELECTION ANALYSIS

Obama Wins by Marrying the New Democratic Coalition With the Old

President Obama won a second term by marrying the new Democratic coalition with just enough of the old to overcome enduring economic disenchantment and a cavernous racial divide. Read More »
POLITICS

Demographically, Neither Party Can Assume Majority Coalition After 2012

In the long run, the most powerful demographic trends will continue to benefit Democrats, at least at the presidential level. But that advantage will be offset if Democrats can't sustain more support from whites. Read More »
POLITICS

Obama's Support in Rust Belt, Sun Belt Very Different

Analysis: In the campaign’s final days, President Obama’s hopes of reelection may turn on his ability to assemble very different coalitions of support in the Sunbelt and the Rustbelt, a wave of new battleground state polling thi...

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CAMPAIGN 2012

Obama's Rust Belt, Sun Belt Backers Very Different

In the campaign’s final days, President Obama’s hopes of reelection may turn on his ability to assemble very different coalitions of support in the Sunbelt and the Rustbelt, a wave of new battleground state polling this week suggests. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Whatever the Outcome, Election Will Leave Half the Nation Alienated

It will be very difficult for the winner to govern as anything more than president of half of America. Read More »
COVER STORY

Neither Party Can Assume It Has a Long-Term Majority Coalition

In the long run, the most powerful demographic trends will continue to benefit Democrats, at least at the presidential level. But that advantage will be offset if Democrats can’t sustain more support from whites. Read More »
ANALYSIS: POLITICS

In a Twist, Obama the Democrat Is Depending on Ohio

For the first time in memory, the Democratic presidential nominee, not the Republican, is counting on Ohio as his firewall in a close campaign. Read More »
CONGRESS

Anger Aside, Voters Favor D.C. Status Quo

Despite dissatisfaction with the nation’s direction and Washington’s performance, voters lean toward retaining the status quo in Washington, the latest United Technologies/ National Journal Congressional Connection Poll has found. Read More »
POLITICS

Election May Rest on Late Push by Supporters in Swing States

In its final stretch, the presidential race is coming down to only a few states, and in Colorado, a Latinos for Obama supporter, as earnest as a Romney volunteer, exhorts his community to turn out in big numbers.  Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Election May Hinge on Get-Out-the-Vote Efforts

The ground games of both parties have become increasingly sophisticated, and their efforts could determine the outcome of a tight presidential race. Read More »

Polls: Tightening Relationship Between WH, Senate Battles

New polling out this week underscores the tightening relationship between the state of the presidential race and the battle for control of the Senate. Read More »
ELECTION ANALYSIS

Five Takeaways: Obama Drives Debate, but Romney Clears Commander Bar

Foreign-policy debates between the presidential contenders follow a more predictable pattern than encounters over domestic policy. Inevitably, the challenger accuses the incumbent of indecision and drift and explains how he will ben...

Read More »
POLITICS

Obama's Saviors? Counting on Midwestern Blue-Collar Whites

Analysis: An array of new national and battleground state polling underscores the critical role that working-class white voters in the upper Midwest are playing as perhaps the last line of defense for President Obama in an election...

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ELECTION ANALYSIS

Midwestern Blue-Collar Whites Could Be Obama’s Last Line of Defense

An array of new national and battleground state polling underscores the critical role that working-class white voters in the upper Midwest are playing as perhaps the last line of defense for President Obama in an election that conti...

Read More »
ANALYSIS

Why Obama Is Relying More on the Rust Belt Than the Sun Belt

As I’ve written before on Quartz, President Obama is depending for reelection primarily on a “coalition of the ascendant,” composed of young people, minorities, and college-educated (and especially female) whites. In an unexpe...

Read More »
INSIDE WASHINGTON

Divining Bruce Springsteen’s Endorsement of Obama

Springsteen posted a letter on his website endorsing Obama. What caught the attention of his fans was a line in the letter lifted from a 2006 song. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Back to Hot Buttons for Obama

President Obama is relying on hot-button issues in his bid to reverse Mitt Romney’s improved standing with women. Read More »
POLITICS

Immigration Among 5 Takeaway Topics of Debate

Like last week’s vice presidential encounter, Tuesday’s second showdown between President Obama and Mitt Romney proved that these debates work better when all participants, including the moderator, show up. Read More »
ELECTIONS 2012

5 Takeaways From the Second Presidential Debate

Like last week’s vice presidential encounter, Tuesday’s second showdown between President Obama and Mitt Romney proved that these debates work better when all participants, including the moderator, show up. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Dems Memo: Obama Needs Vision for Future

In a stark warning on the eve of the second presidential debate, veteran Democratic strategists Stanley B. Greenberg and James Carville write in a newly released memo that the campaign “has reached a tipping point” that could co...

Read More »
ELECTION ANALYSIS

Five Takeaways From Biden-Ryan Debate

The biggest message about Thursday night’s encounter between Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan may be that debates work better when all the participants show up. Strong performances from Biden, Ryan, and moderator Martha...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Getting Along

Mitt Romney and President Obama have sent mixed signals about how they would work with the other party after November. They should be pressed on the matter in the second debate. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama's Missing Piece: A Second-Term Agenda

President Obama could start repairing the damage from his debate performance by giving voters a better idea of what he would do in a second term. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Six Takeaways from the First Presidential Debate

The first debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney was like a heavyweight fight -- momentum distinctly ebbed and flowed. In the end, Romney won solidly on points, pulling away with a strong performance during the debate’s fi...

Read More »
POLITICS

Survey of Polls: Presidential Race in Battlegrounds by Demographics

Recent polling in several battleground states shows President Obama running ahead among white women without a college education, a group that usually tilts toward the GOP. Read More »
POLITICS

Analysis: Why Obama Leads in Swing States

Considering national pre-election surveys, President Obama’s best group in the battlegrounds is minority voters and o n a surprisingly strong performance among blue-collar white women who usually tilt toward the GOP. Read More »
ELECTION ANALYSIS

Obama's Battleground Boost

Recent polling shows President Obama running ahead among white women with no college education--a group that usually tilts toward the GOP--in several battleground states. Read More »
ELECTION ANALYSIS

Why Obama Is Leading in Swing States

Across most of the presidential battleground states, particularly in the Midwest, President Obama’s lead rests on a surprisingly strong performance among blue-collar white women who usually tilt toward the GOP. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Intractable Middle East

Obama and Romney each insist that their approach will bend the region more to our design. But this turbulent part of the world is far more likely to frustrate than reward either one. Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Voters Assess the Presidential Candidates

Assessments of Obama’s performance and agenda remain equivocal at best. But the latest Allstate/ National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll finds him faring better than Mitt Romney in several key comparisons, particularly those rela...

Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Winning Has Become Not Losing

A majority of Americans now define success as not falling behind. They say it’s getting harder for them and their children to get ahead.  Read More »
THE NEXT ECONOMY: IN PERSPECTIVE

Is American Faith in Upward Mobility Faltering?

If Americans’ faith in upward mobility falters, even the 1 percent should worry. Read More »
POLITICS

Romney is 'now trapped demographically'

Decisions made early in the campaign seems to have the GOP “on the precipice” of losing Hispanics for a generation, says Ronald Brownstein in an analysis. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Heartland Monitor Poll: Obama Leads 50 Percent to 43 Percent

President Obama has opened a solid lead over Mitt Romney by largely reassembling the “coalition of the ascendant” that powered the Democrat to his landmark 2008 victory, the latest Allstate/ National Journal Heartland Monitor P...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Mitt Romney’s Original Sin

The presidential nominee's problems can be traced to his decision earlier this year to tack to the right in the Republican primaries.  Read More »
ELECTION ANALYSIS

Romney's Video Remarks Have Deep GOP Roots

Mitt Romney’s decision to reaffirm rather than renounce his controversial taped comments about dependency underscores the extent to which Republicans want to frame the presidential election as a contest between “makers and taker...

Read More »
EDUCATION

Education No Guarantee for Success

A college degree is not necessarily a ticket to prosperity in an economy with slow job and income growth, writes Ronald Brownstein about a new economic report. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A College Degree Isn’t a Ticket to Success

In a stagnant economy, education is no panacea for job seekers. Adding more college graduates to an economy with anemic job growth might only produce low wages for them.  Read More »
POLITICS

Romney, Obama Campaign on Class Divisions

Analysis: Both candidates are stoking old populist resentments—but from different sides of the argument. Read More »

A Tenuous Advantage for Obama

The back-to-back national party conventions sharpened the arguments of President Obama and Mitt Romney, but they probably did little to reshape the dynamics of a razor-thin race that has demonstrated remarkable stability for months. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Romney, Obama Campaign on Class Divisions

As the candidates emerge from their conventions, the central cases they are making against each other are rooted in familiar populist archetypes that can be reduced to just three words. Read More »

Witness for the Defense

By summoning Bill Clinton as a character witness on Wednesday night, Barack Obama turned to a predecessor he once derided as more transactional than transformational. Read More »

Why the Sun Belt Is Sunnier for Democrats

The Democrats’ choice of Charlotte for their national convention reflects the party’s emerging opportunities as well as its continuing challenges in a new band of swing states that have reshaped the electoral map. Read More »
CONVENTIONS 2012

Ryan Speech Shows GOP Strategy on Medicare

Paul Ryan’s forceful but prosaic acceptance speech Wednesday continued one of the campaign’s most surprising strategic twists: the Republican effort to take the offensive on Medicare. Read More »
CONVENTIONS 2012

Candidates Just Don’t Bounce Like They Used To

Even before Tropical Storm Isaac forced GOP convention planners to upend their schedule, senior party strategists were already braced for the prospect that the gathering was unlikely to produce a major postconvention bounce for Mitt...

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POLITICS

Romney’s White-Collar Suburban Challenge

Mitt Romney has long faced charges of lacking empathy, but, ironically, his greatest challenge in the campaign’s final months may be winning the voters who he most resembles: well-educated, white-collar white suburbanites. Read More »
CONVENTIONS 2012

Romney’s White-Collar Suburban Challenge

Mitt Romney has long faced charges of lacking empathy, but, ironically, his greatest challenge in the campaign’s final months may be winning the voters who he most resembles: well-educated, white-collar white suburbanites. Read More »
POLITICS

Obama Needs 80% of Minority Vote to Win 2012 Presidential Election

If Obama again snags 80 percent of all minority voters, he wins; with 61 percent of white ballots, Romney will. Such calculations underscore the depth of racial polarization, Ronald Brownstein explains.  Read More »

To Our Readers

Neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney would usually be called crusaders, yet their competition for the White House in 2012 could produce the greatest issue divergence between the parties in decades. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The New Math of Presidential Elections

President Obama’s formula for winning in November is 80/40. Mitt Romney’s is 61/74. Here’s why. Read More »
2012 CONVENTIONS

The Hidden History of the American Electorate

An analysis of exit-poll results since 1980 shows how shifts in the electorate’s composition have altered the political balance at least as much as have changes in voters’ attitudes.  Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A Vicious Cycle

In modern politics, is it possible to be the president of more than half of the United States? Read More »
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION GUIDE: DEMOGRAPHICS

The Hidden History of The American Electorate (II)

After Barack Obama won his historic victory in 2008, the opportunity to reshape the landscape of American politics glimmered before him and his advisers. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Campaign Debate Over Ryan Budget Won't Lead to Medicare Solution

Mitt Romney’s selection of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running-mate seems likely to simultaneously raise Americans’ awareness of Washington’s long-term budget challenge and show why the current debate can’t produce a ...

Read More »
ELECTION ANALYSIS

Why Ryan Could Make a Romney Victory Harder

Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate could deepen the intrinsic tension between the Republican policy agenda and the voters it relies on to win elections. Read More »
POLITICS

Widening Racial Chasm an Issue for Both Parties

Analysis: Mitt Romney could run as well among whites as any Republican presidential challenger in the history of polling—and still lose. That equation carries threats for both parties. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Widening Racial Chasm a Problem for Both Parties

Mitt Romney could run as well among whites as any Republican presidential challenger in the history of polling-and still lose. That equation carries threats for both parties. Read More »

Democracy Corps Poll Outlines Path to Democratic House

In 2010, Republicans recaptured a House majority by maximizing their gains in the districts where Barack Obama was weakest. Now, some key Democratic thinkers believe their party could threaten the Republican majority mostly by max...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Democrats Disarmed in Gun Debate

Even though the politics argues otherwise, Democrats still don’t want to engage on gun-control issues. Read More »
Q&A

Bill Gates: Spare AIDS Programs From Budget Cuts

In an interview, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist discusses the progress of the international struggle against the disease. Read More »
CONGRESS

Public to Congress: Bend, Don’t Break

Most Americans see conflict between the parties as the central reason Washington has not produced a more productive response to the persistent economic slowdown, but remain pessimistic that the two sides will reach effective agreeme...

Read More »
ELECTION ANALYSIS

The Truth About Gun Politics: Many Americans Support Restrictions

Ever since Al Gore’s defeat in 2000, it has become hardened conventional wisdom among Democrats that gun control is a losing issue for the party. And there’s no question that public opinion since 2000 has tilted toward greater s...

Read More »
DEMOGRAPHICS

Suburban Diversity Aids Economy, Social Ills

Analysis: In  a rapidly diversifying America, a success story is unfolding in places like Oak Park, Ill., outter Portland, Ore., and Wake County, N.C. Ronald Brownstein weighs in. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Our Diverse Suburbs

The increasing diversity of suburbs is a positive sign for America. But the opportunity is fragile; many diverse suburbs fall into a downward spiral of white flight and economic decline. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Why Reagan’s Question Isn’t Relevant Anymore

Are voters better off than they were four years ago? Most don't expect to be. Under the president of hope, most have lowered their expectations. Read More »

Obama Sinks to Historic Lows Among Blue-Collar Men

The new Quinnipiac University and ABC/Washington Post national surveys out this week converge on one key conclusion: as the election nears, President Obama is sinking to historic lows among the group most consistently hostile to him. Read More »
POLITICS

More Swing State Storm Clouds for Obama, Romney

Analysis: When it comes to turnout -- and ultimately electoral votes -- in three key states, both candidates face challenges in luring their standard demographic, not to mention the undecides. Read More »
POLITICS

Analysis: Obama Gambles With Whites

In recent months, the president has subordinated concerns of older and blue-collar whites to the preferences of the Dems’ emerging coalition of those who support gay marriage, free contraception, dreamers and more. Read More »

More Swing State Storm Clouds for Obama and Romney

The NBC/Marist Polls showed Obama holding only a narrow advantage over Romney in Michigan (47 percent to 43 percent) and North Carolina (46 to 44 percent) while the two men are running dead even in New Hampshire (45 percent to 45 pe...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama’s Big Gamble

Obama is alienating culturally conservative whites while catering while favoring the Democrats' emerging coalition, especially women. Read More »

Why the Health Care Decision Means More Conflict in the States

While upholding the individual mandate at the law's core, the five-member majority led by Chief Justice John Roberts struck down one aspect of the law's expansion of Medicaid, the joint federal-state program providing health insuran...

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POLITICS

Romney Needs Gipper-Like White Grip

Can Mitt Romney approach Ronald Reagan’s 1984 showing among white voters? To win, he will not have a choice. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Just Like the Gipper

Mitt Romney needs to approach Reagan’s 1984 level of support among white voters to defeat Obama in the fall. And he might do just that. Read More »
DEMOGRAPHICS

Do Immigrants Threaten American Values?

Polling by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center over the past decade reveals consistent divides among whites by age, education, and income over the impact of immigrants on American society.  Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

How Ct.'s Governor Closed Deficit, Avoided a Recall

The Wisconsin governor didn’t have to polarize the electorate in order to achieve far-reaching results. Bringing people together can work, too. Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

How the Internet is Reshaping Us—and Our Government

A new Allstate/ National Journal poll examines how the public is using online communications and social-media tools to interact with businesses and government. Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

No Margin for Error for Obama

Recent economic setbacks could be devastating to the president’s reelection prospects. Read More »
POLITICS

How Diversity Divides White America

Americans are closely divided overall, but sharply split along racial, age, class and partisan lines, about immigration's impact on the nation, according to an exhaustive new study of public opinion. Read More »
POLITICS

Working Class Whites Still Wary of 'Obamacare'

In previous Kaiser Family Foundation, those who say   the country generally would be better off under Obama's health care reform law is roughly equal those who say it will be worse off.  In the latest monthly surve...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

An Eye on Apple

It seems reasonable to ask whether more goods would be built in the United States if manufacturers were compelled to detail where they made their products. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama’s Vision Thing

Wedge issues might not be enough to save President Obama in 2012. He also needs to articulate a second-term agenda. Read More »
NEXT AMERICA

Book: Why the Racial Gap Will Widen

As gaping as it was in 2008, the racial gap between the parties in presidential politics is likely to only widen in the coming years. In a fresh and insightful new book , Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz poin...

Read More »

Why The Racial Gap Will Widen

As gaping as it was in 2008, the racial gap between the parties in presidential politics is likely to only widen in the coming years, as National Journal 's Ron Brownstein writes.  Read More »
POLITICS

Public Opposes Gays Weddings at Military Facilities

Exactly half of Americans support the House-passed legislation to bar same-sex weddings on military facilities, but only a small minority would back further federal action to restrict gay rights, according to the latest United...

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CONGRESS

Public Opposes Gay Weddings at Military Facilities

Exactly half of Americans support the House-passed legislation to bar same-sex weddings at military facilities, but only a small minority would back further federal action to restrict gay rights, according to the latest United Techn...

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THE POLITICS OF CHANGE

The Risks of a Racial Chasm in Politics

The risks of a racial chasm in our politics.  Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Win One, Lose One

The Left has succeeded more at reshaping the culture than remaking the structure of the economy. Read More »
POLITICS

The Class Divide Deepens

President Obama's embrace of gay marriage, as we noted in a recent post , has the potential to reinforce his support among well-educated white voters while deepening his difficulties among blue-collar whites. Divergent attitu...

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The Class Divide Deepens

THE NEXT AMERICA

Minorities and Gay Marriage: It's Evolving

One potential complication for President Obama's embrace of gay marriage is that minority voters at the core of the modern Democratic electoral coalition have usually resisted the idea more than whites. But that gap is narrowing-dr...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Breaching the 'Blue Wall'

Since 1992, Republicans have needed to catch a break to win 18 key Democratic states. Will hard times give Mitt Romney the electoral inside straight he needs for a win? Read More »

Understanding Voters on Gay Issue: It's One for the Ages

One potential complication for President Obama's embrace of gay marriage is that minority voters at the core of the modern Democratic electoral coalition have usually resisted the idea more than whites. But that gap is narrowing-...

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NEXT AMERICA

The President's Gay Marriage Leap of Faith

Brownstein: Obama's decision reflects a hard-headed acknowledgement of the changing nature of the Democratic electoral coalition. Read More »
NEXT AMERICA

Poll: Public Prefers Citizenship for Dreamers

A solid, if slightly diminishing, majority of Americans support key elements of Arizona’s anti-illegal-immigration law that the White House seeks to overturn. Read More »
ANALYSIS

Poll: Public Split on Dream Act, Rubio Alternative

On immigration, most Americans favor the velvet glove—and the iron fist. Read More »
NEXT AMERICA

Hispanic Political Clout May Ebb in November

Ron Brownstein: The cresting of the great generation-long wave of legal and illegal immigration from Mexico won’t meaningfully affect the political leverage of Hispanics in the U.S. for decades, if ever. But some Hispanic leaders ...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

LBJ’s Era, and Ours

Robert Caro’s book about the former president holds some lessons for today's polarized Washington. Read More »
THE NEXT AMERICA

Damage Control

It’s unclear whether the lifeline that Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is offering Mitt Romney is long enough to lift the presumptive Republican presidential nominee from the hole he dug with Hispanic voters during the primary race. Bu...

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OBAMA VS. ROMNEY: ON THE ISSUES

A Clash of Ideas

This presidential race could produce the greatest ideological divergence between candidates in decades. National Journal launches a 13-part series examining the issues in depth. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The GOP’s Hispanic Problem

Mitt Romney needs help with Hispanics. He might try following the lead of Sen. Marco Rubio in rethinking the Republican stance on immigration reform. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A Path to Reform

The “Buffett Rule” died in the Senate, but tax reformers should follow the rule’s approach in streamlining the code by capping total deductions rather than individual tax breaks. Read More »

Obama Faces Entrenched Resistance Among Some White Voters

Two more new national polls released Thursday point toward a presidential election that could divide the nation along racial lines at least as sharply as the 2008 campaign. Read More »

Obama Faces Entrenched Resistance Among Some White Voters

Two more new national polls released Thursday point toward a presidential election that could divide the nation along racial lines at least as sharply as the 2008 campaign. Read More »
THE NEXT AMERICA

Diversity Now

Whites, blacks, and Hispanics are likelier than ever to rub elbows in neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. But divisions remain. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Familiar divisions give Obama narrow edge

Four recent national polls, including three released in the past 24 hours, generally show the electorate dividing between President Obama and Mitt Romney along lines of class, gender and race familiar from the 2008 race. Read More »

Familiar Divisions Give Obama Narrow Edge

Four recent national polls, including three released in the past 24 hours, generally show the electorate dividing between President Obama and Mitt Romney along lines of class, gender and race familiar from the 2008 race. Read More »

The Gray And The Brown: The Generational Mismatch

In an age of diminished resources, the United States may be heading for an intensifying confrontation between the gray and the brown. Read More »

Huge Gender Gap Powers Obama Lead Over Romney

Another new national poll confirms that President Obama's lead over Mitt Romney is now powered largely by an overwhelming preference for the president among socially-liberal, well-educated women. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Rick Santorum’s Legacy

The former senator’s cultural conservatism will shape November more than his economic nationalism. That’s not necessarily good news for Romney. Read More »

Huge Gender Gap Powers Obama Lead Over Romney

Another new national poll confirms that President Obama's lead over Mitt Romney is now powered largely by an overwhelming preference for the president among socially-liberal, well-educated women. Read More »

Obama's Gender Advantage Extends to the States

New detail on recent swing state polling further sharpens the picture on the difficulties confronting Mitt Romney among women-and the troubles President Obama faces among men. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Back to a 50-50 Nation

Don’t expect polarization to get any better after the election. November will likely leave power in Washington more sharply split than ever. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Energy and the Genius of ‘And’

The United States is attacking its dependency on foreign oil both by boosting domestic production and improving energy efficiency. The success of that approach provides some lessons. Read More »

How Faith Shapes the Electoral Map

A new  Gallup study released last month  underscores the powerful relationship between religious behavior and political preference. Read More »
CONGRESS

Public Still Opposes Health Care Mandate

Americans remain overwhelmingly against requiring individuals to purchase health insurance, but they divide in half about the health care law that President Obama signed in 2010, according to the latest United Technologies/ National...

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Legal Insiders Expect Supreme Court to Uphold Health Care Law

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear historic oral arguments on President Obama’s health care reform law this week, a survey of legal insiders released Monday morning found a widespread expectation that the Court would uphold the...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Forgotten Uninsured

The debate over health care too often ignores a fundamental question: What, if anything, should be done about the nearly 50 million Americans who have no insurance? Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Illinois Verdict: The Race Goes On With Divided GOP

Mitt Romney’s resounding win in the Illinois primary Tuesday demonstrated his solidifying hold on the GOP’s upscale managerial wing, and deepened the question of whether rival Rick Santorum can appeal to a broad enough segment o...

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CAMPAIGN 2012

Why Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum May Battle Until June

EFFINGHAM, Ill. – Can either Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum meaningfully advance beyond the ideological and demographic beachheads of support they have secured in the marathon slog for the Republican presidential nomination? Read More »

Obama's Key Groups Warming on the Economy

In a trend with important implications for the presidential election, the latest Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll released today shows President Obama's strongest groups in the electorate expressing the most optimism...

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HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Say Good-Bye to the 'Mommy Wars'

The latest Allstate/ National Journal Heartland Monitor poll examines the attitudes of women toward their shifting roles in the workplace and at home. Many today were found to be comfortable shifting between the two at their o...

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POLITICS

Stronger, but Not Secure

President Obama is showing signs of reassembling the coalition of support that powered him to his 2008 presidential victory. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

White Like Me

Almost all of the voters taking part in the Republican presidential primaries are white, and the November election could reinforce the hardening re-racialization of American politics. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Listen to Snowe

Sen. Olympia Snowe is right. The level of partisan division in Congress has virtually ruled out reasonable compromise that reflects the nation’s diversity of views. Read More »
ELECTION ANALYSIS

A Grueling Super Tuesday for Romney and the GOP

Bloodied but still advancing, Mitt Romney methodically progressed toward the GOP nomination after a grueling Super Tuesday that underscored the continuing class, religious and ideological divisions in a closely divided Republican el...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Cruelest Month

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum won primaries in February, but last month's real winner was Barack Obama. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Michigan Could Be Romney's Battle of the Bulge

Turning points have come and gone in this year’s remarkably turbulent Republican presidential race. But Mitt Romney’s narrow victory in Tuesday’s Michigan primary may represent a Battle of the Bulge moment in which he has tipp...

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CONGRESS

Public Divided Over Birth-Control Coverage

On the docket of contraception-related issues dividing the parties, more Americans lean toward the positions held by President Obama and most Democrats, though in several cases only narrowly, according to the latest United Technolog...

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Santorum's Populist Lead in Ohio: Can He Hold On To It?

The  Quinnipiac University poll of Ohio  released Monday morning shows Rick Santorum attracting exactly the sort of coalition he will need to beat Mitt Romney not only there on Super Tuesday, but also in other critical hea...

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Michigan's Primary is Crystallizing the GOP Class Divide

LINCOLN PARK, MICHIGAN – Rick Santorum rambled so distractedly through a speech here Friday night outlining the priorities of his first 100 days as president that it sometimes seemed he wouldn’t finish until he actually reached ...

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CAMPAIGN 2012

Romney's Union-Bashing Strategy in Michigan

DETROIT — In Michigan politics, the main event, of course, is the down-to-the-wire duel between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in next Tuesday’s GOP presidential primary. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Romney Turn-the-Tables Strategy Could Turn on Him for the Fall

MILFORD, Mich. — The most consistent note in Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign is attacking his rivals for ideological inconsistency. It’s a nervy strategy for a candidate whose own greatest vulnerability is the sense, especially am...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

No Roe for Gays

States are finding their own solutions for gay marriage—giving us a glimpse of what abortion federalism might have looked like before Roe v. Wade made it a national issue.  Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Five Takeaways From the Arizona Republican Debate

The Republican presidential candidates hadn’t debated for nearly a month before they took the stage in Arizona Wednesday night, and the rust showed at times in desultory exchanges and periods of drift. But we will try to remain fo...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Birth-Control Blues

Contraception is the latest wedge issue. Each party’s electoral coalition is now bound together far more by shared cultural values than by common economic interests. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Obama's Revived Coalition Spells Trouble for Romney

Like last week's ABC/Washington Post survey , the national Pew Research Center poll released Monday suggests President Obama, at least for now, is reassembling the coalition that powered him to his 2008 victory. Read More »
CONGRESS

Poll: Americans Split on Concern For Very Poor

As the debate over the federal budget resumes, a new United Technologies/ National Journal Congressional Connection Poll shows that most Americans are concerned about growing dependency on federal entitlements, but still resist maj...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Enemy Is Us

Increased spending on safety-net programs has mainly stemmed from plummeting economic security, not from Washington fostering a culture of dependency. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Low Turnout Highlights Romney Squeeze

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Out of the Valley

Newt Gingrich faces a February freeze, but he can learn a lot from other presidential contenders who survived big losses. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

How Romney Came Back in Florida

Mitt Romney’s blowout win in Florida Tuesday provided almost a mirror image of the results just 10 days ago in South Carolina, a head-spinning reversal that underscored the continuing turbulence of the most volatile Republican pre...

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CAMPAIGN 2012

Good News and Bad News for Gingrich in Florida

PLANTATION, Fla. -- With polls showing Mitt Romney on track for a convincing victory in Tuesday’s Republican primary in this state, the one silver lining for Newt Gingrich may be the acceleration of a sorting-out process that...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Clashing Visions of Populism

Obama and Gingrich offer competing populist styles. But the current that surges most powerfully through 2012 may not be the one either side prefers. Read More »
COVER STORY: THE FRONT-RUNNER

Return of the Revolutionary

As a presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich doesn’t look much like the scattershot deal-making speaker who was forced to resign. The Gingrich visible to audiences today is more reminiscent of the guerrilla leader in the 1980s who p...

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CAMPAIGN 2012

Gender and Class Could Decide S.C.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The result in today’s critical South Carolina primary could turn on whether gender or class exerts a bigger influence on the outcome. The more class shapes the outcome, the better the odds for Newt Gingrich...

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ANALYSIS

S.C. Outcome Could Come Down to Gender or Class

ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- The result in Saturday’s critical South Carolina primary could turn on whether gender or class exerts a bigger influence on the outcome. The more class shapes the outcome, the better the odds for Newt Gingrich;...

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CAMPAIGN 2012

Tumultuous Final Days Muddy Romney-Gingrich Contest in South Carolina

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Can Newt Gingrich consolidate enough conservative support to prevent front-runner Mitt Romney from notching a potentially decisive victory in Saturday's South Carolina primary? He's within range of an improbable S...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The New Color Line

Race colors just about everything in South Carolina politics and is central to party clashes over taxes and spending. In that way, the state could be a window into the nation's political future. Read More »
POLITICS

Romney and the Right

How is it that for the second consecutive presidential election, the Republican Party appears poised to pick a nominee whom much of its conservative base deeply distrusts? The answer has less to do with Mitt Romney than with the GOP. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama Versus Romney

The outcome of a general-election race between Obama and Romney could hinge on ideology; the economy; and perceptions of Romney’s years at Bain Capital. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Five Takeaways From Saturday Night's GOP Debate

The dog that didn’t bark made the loudest noise in Saturday night’s oddly desultory ABC/WMUR/Yahoo News candidate debate in New Hampshire. The most important development was something that didn’t happen: None of Mitt Romney’...

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ECONOMY

What We’ve Learned

Americans are struggling to maintain faith in old beliefs about opportunity, self-sufficiency, and the rewards of hard work, according to a series of Heartland Monitor polls over the past three years.  Read More »
COVER STORY

Romney’s to Lose

Two basic truths shape the Republican race: Mitt Romney continues to perform solidly but not spectacularly as the front-runner, and the vanguard conservatives most skeptical of him still have not consolidated around a single alterna...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Santorum’s Appeal

Rick Santorum’s potential emergence as the principal challenger to Mitt Romney signals a continuing class realignment of the Republican coalition. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Why Romney and Santorum Fought to a Draw in Iowa

Entrance polls show a divided GOP electorate. Ron Paul expanded the electorate. Mitt Romney slightly advanced from his key beachheads in 2008. Evangelical Christians splintered but gave Rick Santorum the largest slice of their votes. Read More »

Question on Newborn Has Santorum Fighting Back Tears

( RELATED: Gingrich: Romney's a Liar ) Read More »

Perry's Dramatic Fade Shapes GOP Nomination Race

The Texas governor was the perfect alternative to Romney -- until he started campagining and debating. Two days before primary-season voting starts, that slot remains vacant.   Read More »

Will Iowa Produce a Viable Alternative to Romney?

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Two questions loom over the traveling political carnival that has encamped here as the Des Moines Register prepares to release its final poll measuring the preferences of Iowa Republicans before Tuesday's ...

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Divide and Conquer (Continued)

A second poll underscores the opportunity that division on the right is creating for Mitt Romney in Iowa. In the NBC/Marist University Iowa survey released Friday, Romney continues to draw only modest support overall - but remains...

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The GOP Mismatch

The best way to measure the prevailing breeze inside the Republican Party is to track the direction of the argument in the current presidential race. Almost every attack from one candidate against another has come from the right; al...

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Divide and Conquer

The latest CNN/Time/ORC surveys released this afternoon for New Hampshire, and especially Iowa, show that on the eve of the first actual voting, the GOP race is reverting to the pattern that has defined it for most of this year :...

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CAMPAIGN 2012

Expectations Gap: GOP Presidential Candidates Over Promising?

As they crisscross Iowa and New Hampshire, the Republican presidential contenders are promising impatient audiences that they will slash government more aggressively than any nominee since at least Ronald Reagan in 1980, if not Barr...

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Tightly Balanced in a Tipping Point State

The new Quinnipiac University survey out this morning in Virginia spotlights the delicate tightrope President Obama must walk to retain many of the fast-growing, new battleground states that he captured in 2008 - and why Mitt Romn...

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The Optimism Gap

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Friendly Fire

By attacking each other with gusto, Republicans are giving President Obama ammunition for the fall campaign. Read More »
ECONOMY

The Anxious Generation

Americans near the end of their careers are much more uneasy about their retirement prospects than those who have already stopped working, according to the latest Allstate/ National Journal Heartland Monitor poll. Read More »
ECONOMY

Obama, Still Frozen

Attitudes toward the president remain chilly in the latest Allstate/ National Journal  Heartland Monitor poll. Read More »
CONGRESS

Anger With Congress At ’06, ’10 Levels

Across a wide array of measures, Americans are now as dissatisfied with Congress as they were immediately before the 2006 and 2010 electoral landslides that ousted the majority party in one or both chambers, according to a year-end ...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

TR’s Two Legacies

In his Kansas speech, Obama was no Teddy Roosevelt. The missing link: a call for national unity as a precondition to progress. Read More »

Newt's Squeeze on Mitt

( RELATED: Gingrich Leads in Three of Four New Early-State Polls ) Read More »
CONGRESS

Public Wants Immigrants to Be Able to Stay

As the debate over immigration continues to roil the Republican presidential field, a substantial majority of Americans say they would prefer to allow some or all illegal immigrants to remain in the United States, the latest United ...

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Newt's Reach

More on the GOP Wedge

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The GOP's Budget Wedge

Republicans may win the power to impose major entitlement cuts only through the support of voters who dislike the idea. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama May Not Be Able to Avoid Gun Issues Much Longer

Throughout his term, President Obama has approached gun-related issues like someone whose first instinct during a bar fight is to find the back door. But the president may not be able to duck much longer. Read More »
ANALYSIS

The Return of Imperial Newt

The GOP contenders were back at it Tuesday night with their second debate on national security issues this month. It was an unusual format -- questions from gray eminences at two conservative think-tanks sponsoring the session...

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CONGRESS

Poll Shows Public Opposes Sequestration

With the congressional deficit-reduction super committee collapsing into stalemate, a solid majority of Americans say that Congress should block the automatic spending cuts established as a fallback if the panel deadlocked, accordin...

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Both Sides of GOP Still Bouncing

It might be a blip, but the latest CNN/ORC national poll out this afternoon shows a new reason for more of Mitt Romney's hair to turn gray. Read More »

A Roadmap to 2012

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Cutting the Deficit? Forget Liposuction

Trimming the fat isn’t going to happen all at once. Like a diet, it will require years of discipline. Read More »

The Republican Race, in a Chart

If it's possible to encapsulate the volatility and uncertainty of the 2012 Republican presidential race in a single chart, the one below might fit the bill. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Romney's Suburban Opportunity

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Labor's Ohio Warning to GOP

Republicans should pay heed to the state's rejection of an antiunion law. Read More »

A Model for Obama?

CAMPAIGN 2012

Two Worlds of Whites

CAMPAIGN 2012

Our Mirror Image Parties

A Taxing Choice

POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama Going Back to Basics

The president is banking on a populist pitch in his 2012 run. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Why the NCAA Could Explain 2012

CONGRESS

Voters Evenly Split On GOP House, Obama

American voters may be in a firing mood. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

The Stained Glass Divide

Still the Same

ELECTION PREVIEW: PRIMARY VOTERS

The GOP Electorate: Second Verse, Same as the First

Gallup analyzes the Republican primary's voter base for National Journal . Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Will a Flat Tax Capsize Perry's Campaign?

If Steve Forbes' 1996 push of the idea is any guide, a single-rate tax could spell trouble in 2012 for the Texas governor. Read More »

The Two Republican Races

One reason the Republican presidential contest has been so unusually volatile is that it's become two races running along parallel but very distinct tracks. One of those races seems to be settling down, steadily if slowly. The other...

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CAMPAIGN 2012

Eight Takeaways From Early-State Presidential Primary Polls

1. The TIME /CNN/ORC polls released Wednesday afternoon from the first four states on the 2012 Republican calendar paint a consistent picture of the Republican race. These polls show that the GOP race is being shaped by parallel ...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Mountain West: Rocky Territory for Democrats

These eight states have become a necessity for Obama's party. Read More »
ANALYSIS

Viva Las Vegas: Five Takeaways from the GOP Presidential Debate

National Journal's Ronald Brownstein offers his top five takeaways from the Tuesday debate. Read More »
POLITICS

Obama's Performance Rating Slips Again

Disapproval of the president's agenda has begun to harden among voters. Read More »
POLITICS

Poll Finds Americans Wary Over Borrowing

The economic crisis has made people skittish about taking on personal debt—an attitude they project onto the U.S. government, too.  Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

In Obama's Old Backyard, Urban Renewal Goes Holistic

The latest effort in a Chicago South Side neighborhood will test the president's strategy for reviving communities. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

House GOP in Lockstep Against EPA

Finding safety in numbers, Republicans from swing districts back efforts to weaken antipollution regulations. Read More »
CONGRESS

Voters of Two Minds on Federal Regulation

A majority of voters worry that government regulation of business has gone too far and is hurting the economy, but most also remain reluctant to block several of the key rules that congressional Republicans want to reverse, accor...

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ANALYSIS

Obama’s Ideas Offer Ray of Hope

On the core issues of creating jobs and controlling the federal budget deficit, President Obama faces a consistent divide in public opinion—particularly among whites—that could offer his best opportunity in the 2012 race to over...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Left and Right Come Together

In his weekly column, Ronald Brownstein writes that cutting the budget doesn’t have to be an ideological exercise. Just look at the recommendations of two unusual left-right coalitions. Read More »
POLITICS

Census Sheds New Light on Toll of Great Recession

Many of the swing states likely to decide the 2012 presidential election have suffered the most from the Great Recession and its aftermath, according to a National Journal analysis of census data. That’s not good news for Obama ...

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THE NEXT ECONOMY: COVER STORY

What Alexander Hamilton Saw as a Strength Has Become a Symbol of National Decline

INDIANOLA, IOWA—The rain varied only between pelting and torrential as Dick Pipho trudged through a muddy field at a tea party rally here on Labor Day weekend. Read More »
ANALYSIS

Five Takeaways from the GOP Presidential Debate

National Journal 's Ronald Brownstein offers his top five takeaways from Thursday's Republican presidential debate. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Rick Perry, a One-Party Pol

In his weekly column, Ronald Brownstein asks whether Rick Perry is the Republican equivalent of a San Francisco Democrat because Perry’s political ascent has come in a state where only one party matters. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Extreme Weather: For Once, Al Gore's Excellent Timing

Republican presidential candidates are between a rock and a hard place. If they pay too much attention to Florida, they risk losing other states. If they pay too little attention to Florida, they risk losing there. Beth Reinhard rep...

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New York 9: When the Tide Goes Out

Think of the Congressional seats held by the president's party as an island, and the president's approval rating as the water that surrounds that island. As his approval rating declines -- as the water recedes -- more of his party's...

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POLITICS

Burned by the Economy, Voters Want to Look Forward

For President Obama, the overwhelming political imperative in 2012 may be to persuade voters to follow the advice of the legendary Negro Leagues baseball pitcher Satchel Paige when he famously counseled: Don’t look back. Read More »
ANALYSIS

Five Takeaways from the GOP Presidential Debate

Breaking down Monday's Republican debate. Read More »
CONGRESS

With Doubts, Voters Prefer Obama Jobs Plan

Despite deepening doubts about President Obama’s economic agenda, Americans generally prefer the proposals he offered last week for reviving the economy to the competing ideas advanced by congressional Republicans and the GOP...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Why America Must Bridge the Widening Gap Between the Brown and the Gray

Ronald Brownstein’s weekly column explores the divide between America’s white seniors and minority youth and suggests that it’s in everyone’s interest that it be bridged. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

'Run Sarah Run!' Will Palin Heed the Call?

Sarah Palin prompted chants of "run Sarah run" at a tea party rally in the state that will cast the first votes of the 2012 presidential contest, but she stayed mum on her intentions.  Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Palin Makes No Announcement About 2012 Run During Iowa Speech

Indianola, Iowa—The speculation can continue: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave a rousing speech in defense of the tea party and conservative movement Saturday, but did little to shed further light on whether she herself will...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Brownstein: Civil War, Depression Eras Rank With 9/11 as America's Worst Decades

In his weekly column, Ronald Brownstein ponders what was the worst 10-year stretch in American history. The periods that included the Civil War and the Great Depression have to be right up there, he says. But so do the 10 years sinc...

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ANALYSIS

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Echo: Why Equal Opportunity Matters for America's Competitiveness

In the civil-rights era, the cause of equal opportunity was framed largely in the soaring language of moral justice. Today, with the future of the U.S. workforce tied to the fortunes of minority youths, the fundamental reason for th...

Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Perry Threatens To Cut Into Romney's Base

A closer look at Wednesday's striking Gallup poll showing Texas Gov. Rick Perry rocketing to the top of the 2012 Republican presidential field captures the threat his campaign could pose to Mitt Romney , the former Massachusett...

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CAMPAIGN 2012

The Great Divide

The collision between Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry over climate change and the evolution of human life threatens to widen the central rift in the Republican electoral coalition even as it helps each man sharpen his image in the party...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Romney's Advantage: Will Perry, Bachmann Divide the Voters Most Resistant to Him

It’s now three on a match atop the 2012 Republican presidential race, an inherently unstable dynamic that could singe each of the party’s leading contenders. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Don't Say You Weren't Warned

Interviews with natural-disaster survivors always feature some variation on the theme of “nobody saw it coming.” Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Obama's Path to Reelection Narrows

An analysis of President Obama's state-by-state Gallup approval ratings suggests that, if the election were held today, he'd have little margin for error in assembling the Electoral College majority required for reelection. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Bold Is Beautiful: The Super Committee Offers a Glimmer of Hope

Already, the smart money in Washington is betting that the congressional super committee created by this week’s debt-ceiling deal to develop a plan for taming the long-term federal deficit will stalemate along party lines and fail. Read More »
POLITICS

Towering Wave of Alienation Threatens Both GOP, Dems in 2012

In the shadow of the bitterly fought agreement to raise the federal debt ceiling, the independent voters who usually hold the balance of power in American politics are expressing astronomical levels of simultaneous discontent with P...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A Way Out of the Debt-Ceiling Mess?

A temporary deficit-cutting committee could alter the balance of power in the House and Senate. Read More »
CONGRESSIONAL CONNECTION

Voters Fear Debt Deal Will Hurt Medicare

Americans expressed more trust in President Obama than in congressional Republicans to make decisions about both the federal deficit and debt ceiling, but continued to display little urgency about the risk of default if the two side...

Read More »
POLITICS

Disunited: Are Our States Moving in Separate Directions?

At times, the past six months in the imposing state Capitol building in Indianapolis has seemed more like a track meet than a typical legislative session. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Real Enemy of a GOP Spending Cap: An aging America

GOP budget-cutters are fighting demography. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A Lost Opportunity for the GOP on Entitlements

Republicans need bipartisan cover to control entitlement spending. Read More »
AFTER WORDS

Hilda Solis: Dealing with Our Changing Workforce

Hilda Solis sat down with National Journal 's Ronald Brownstein on July 12. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Clinton: What Went Wrong After I Left

The former president reflects on the reasons for the economy’s struggles since he left office 10 years ago. Read More »

Bill Clinton Plays Handicapper in Chief

ASPEN, Colo.—Former President Clinton, playing handicapper in chief, labeled Republican front-runner Mitt Romney “a much better candidate” than in 2008, but predicted that Barack Obama would win a second term in 2012. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Clinton Plays Handicapper in Chief

The former president labeled Republican front-runner Mitt Romney “a much better candidate” than in 2008, but predicted that Barack Obama would win a second term in 2012. Read More »
BUDGET

Clinton Calls on Obama Not to 'Blink' on Debt-Ceiling Deal with GOP

Former President Clinton, in an interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival, called on President Obama not to "blink" on Republican budget demands and said a short-term deal to extend the debt ceiling would be the best option. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Dixie Dilemma

In many ways, Texas Gov. Rick Perry looks like a gift from central casting to a Republican presidential field still searching for its marquee attraction. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Perry's Predicament: Does He Have Time to Build a National Campaign?

Texas Gov. Rick Perry still hasn't made up his mind whether to run for the White House—but his team has made some decisions about what kind of a campaign he'll run if he pulls the trigger.  Read More »
POLITICS

From MLK to Sister Souljah: How Much Clout Do Minorities Have in Politics?

Huge gaps still routinely separate the preferences of whites and minorities in basic attitudes about government and political influence. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Debt Ceiling Deal Only the Beginning

A debt deal would be the start, not the end, of an uphill climb to control federal entitlement spending. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Less, Then More

Why ideology will be suppressed in the GOP primary--and amplified in the general election. Read More »
ANALYSIS

GOP Debate Winner: The Tea Party

Mitt Romney did well but the tea party did better in the first major debate of the GOP presidential campaign. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Our Upside-Down Workforce

Why millennials can’t start their careers and baby boomers can’t end theirs. Read More »
POLITICS

Back to Square One: Obama's Ratings Settle Near 2008 Levels

Among favorable and unfavorable groups alike, President Obama’s approval ratings in the latest Allstate/ National Journal  Heartland Monitor poll are returning to the levels of support he attracted in his 2008 election, thoug...

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PUBLIC OPINION

Ethnic Groups Split on Economic Opportunity

Whites and minorities are split over their chances of moving up the economic ladder, with whites expressing pessimism and doubts about the impact of diversity. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Separate but Equal Coalitions Take Differing Attitudes to Demographic Change

On one side, Americans open to the nation’s more diverse face. On the other, Americans dubious about change. Read More »
POLITICS

Obama’s Ratings

Obama’s approval ratings may have bounced back, but most people still say the country is on the wrong track, which could hurt his 2012 chances. Read More »
HEALTH CARE

Indiana Defies Federal Government on Planned Parenthood

Indiana officials said Thursday they will defy a federal order to continue funding Planned Parenthood and other clinics that offer abortion services. Read More »
THE NEXT ECONOMY: IN PERSPECTIVE

Brown Versus Gray

Minority youth will wrestle with elderly whites over government’s role. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

White Working-Class Americans See Future as Gloomy

Why the white working class is the most alienated and pessimistic group in American society. Read More »
NEED TO KNOW: POLITICS

Romney’s Evangelical Problem

Mike Huckabee’s decision not to run for president puts more pressure on Mitt Romney to improve his standing among evangelicals. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

For GOP Contenders, Love Always Means Having to Say You're Sorry

Why the Republican presidential field faces multiplying demands to renounce earlier positions. Read More »
CAMPAIGN 2012

Gingrich’s Ryan Critique Should Bring Back Memories

The maelstrom of criticism that engulfed Newt Gingrich this week after he criticized the proposal from Rep. Paul Ryan , R-Wis., to convert Medicare into a voucher for younger adults captures an ironic reversal of roles—and an imp...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Energy Efficiency Gets Short Shrift

The energy debate can’t just be about increasing production. Read More »
ANALYSIS

The Immigration Paradox

Call it the immigration paradox. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Bin Laden Death Could be Fresh Start for Obama

The killing of Osama bin Laden could create new, if fragile, opportunities for the president. Read More »
BUDGET

Ryan 'Relatively Optimistic' for Debt-Ceiling Agreement Before August

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said on Wednesday he was “relatively optimistic” Congress and President Obama would reach agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling before the August deadline for default. But, he ad...

Read More »
COVER STORY

The NJ 20: The Most Politically Effective Celebrities of All Time

Bono, Angelina Jolie, Harry Belafonte, and Charlton Heston are among the celebrities who have made a lasting mark on politics and public affairs.  Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama's Coalition Suffering in Recession

The voters President Obama will need the most in 2012 were the voters most hurt in the economic downturn. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

How Many Government Services Will Voters Be Willing to Surrender?

Both parties are spoiling for a fight in the presidential campaign over the size of government. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Medicare Reform: First Do No Harm

Republicans and Democrats have competing visions for fixing Medicare. The plans carry contrasting risks. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Entitlement Reform Needs Bipartisanship

History shows that trying to restructure entitlements without investment from both parties is a high-wire proposition. Read More »
COMMENTARY

With His Rolodex, Broder Remembered For Age of Reporting

Tuesday’s Washington memorial service for David Broder carried an unmistakable fin de siècle feel. It wasn’t just the location (a National Press Club no longer at the center of the city’s journalistic life) or the grayin...

Read More »
POLITICS

U.S. Transforming into 'Majority-Minority' Nation Faster than Expected

The next America is arriving ahead of schedule—a trend that could help President Obama and Democrats in 2012. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Texas Grapples with Diversity

An escalating state budget battle captures the colliding priorities of minorities and whites. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama: A Lot Like Ike

How Barack Obama’s leadership style resembles Dwight Eisenhower’s. Read More »
HOUSING

Why Americans Still Want Homes of Their Own

Homeownership retains a powerful, almost tidal, grip on the American imagination, despite the beating the real-estate market has taken, according to a new Allstate/ National Journal Heartland Monitor poll. Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Some Encouraging Signs for the President

The Heartland Monitor poll shows a slow warming trend toward President Obama. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

For Energy, the Price is not Right

Energy pricing should account for risk. Read More »
THE NEXT ECONOMY

The Plight of Boomtowns: Humbled After the Bust

Las Vegas depended on growth for its growth. Uh-oh. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

White House Hopefuls Not Setting the GOP Agenda

Potential Republican presidential candidates aren’t so much leading as reacting. That could hurt them in 2012. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Pensions at Risk in Both Private and Public Sectors

The problem isn’t that public workers have too much retirement security. It’s that everyone else has too little. Read More »
NEED TO KNOW: POLITICS

House Republicans in Obama Districts Stick with the Program

GOP members in House districts that Obama won in 2008 have mostly voted the party line so far. Read More »
VOTE RATINGS

Congress Hits New Peak in Polarization

National Journal ’s 2010 congressional vote ratings show that the differences within each party have narrowed and the distance between them has widened. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

GOP Governors Aggressively Counter Obama Agenda

As President Obama confronts a resurgent Republican Party, he finds himself fighting a two-front war. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Discretionary Spending Is the Wrong Budget Battleground

The real budget debate may have to wait until after the 2012 election. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The DLC Shifted the Democrats’ Political Debate

The DLC made its mark.  Read More »
AFTER WORDS

State of the Union: The View from Congress

Q&As with Sens. Lindsey Graham, Dick Durbin, Lamar Alexander, and Amy Klobuchar, and Rep. Jeb Hensarling. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama's Evolution

The president’s acting presidential. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Repeal and Avoid

Health care avoidance. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Apocalypse Always

Vitriolic politics isn’t new, but in modern America, it’s raw and constant. Read More »
POLITICS

In 2012, Obama May Need a New Coalition

Economic recovery alone may not solve President Obama’s problems with many of the white voters who stampeded toward the Republican Party last year. To win another term, Obama may need to reshape the Democratic electoral coalit...

Read More »

N2K: The White House and Democrats' White Flight

Previously unreleased results from the 2010 exit polls show a stark gap between whites and minorities, one that might require the Obama team to rely on a new coalition in 2012. Editorial Director Ronald Brownstein on David Axelrod's...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The 'Benjamin Button' Congress

In the months ahead, Washington will relive the debates of Obama's first two years -- only in reverse, as the GOP tries to unravel his key achievements. Read More »

One for the Books

This month’s final flurry of legislative successes for President Obama and the Democratic Congress underscores the difficulty of rendering a single verdict on their tumultuous two years in power. Read More »
COVER STORY

Populists Versus Managers in the GOP Race

Populists such as Sarah Palin and managers such as Mitt Romney speak to competing wings of the Republican coalition. The contrasts between the two camps are sure to play out in 2012. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Two Parties Offer Competing Cures in Health Care Debate

How to control health care costs? Read More »
ECONOMY

Exports Important to More Than Just Coastal Cities

The U.S. cities that make goods to sell abroad aren’t confined to the coasts. Helping more of them go global could be key to economic growth. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama’s Tax Deal by Itself Won’t Launch the Economy

The tax-cut deal is Act 1. Now we need an Act 2. Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Americans No Longer Think U.S. Economy is World's Strongest

In the global race for economic prosperity, the United States is No. 2, according to a new Allstate/ National Journal Heartland Monitor poll. Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Americans Not Convinced Either Party Can Cure Economic Woes

The public remains unconvinced that either party’s agenda by itself will solve the nation’s most-pressing challenges. Read More »
FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Prospects Dim for Global-Warming Accord in Cancun

Two dynamics are dimming the prospects for an agreement at the international climate talks in Cancun, Mexico. One is that the United States' ability to forge a global consensus is eroding. The other is that China (along with othe...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Hard Times Should Spur the Government to Accelerate Reform

Hard times demand hard choices. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

'Repeal and Replace' Won't Help the Uninsured

Republican alternatives to the health care law would leave the status quo largely intact. Read More »
HEALTH CARE

GOP Governors Will Inherit the Uninsured

When the new class of state governors takes office in January, Republican chief executives will govern almost 60 percent of the nation’s population that lacks health insurance, according to a National Journal analysis of Census Bu...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A Heartland Headache for Dems

Democrats have a geographic and demographic problem: the middle of the country. Read More »
MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Converging Fronts Create Perfect Storm for Republicans in Midterms

Weak turnout among Obama's base, combined with massive defections among white voters, lead to historic night for GOP. Read More »
POLITICS

Voters Willing to Look Past Ideology, Ethics Problems

The race between Democrat Ron Klein and Republican Allen West in Florida illustrates how wave elections can sweep in candidates who, under ordinary circumstances, would be considered out-of-step with their districts. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama: Agony vs. Serenity

Is the president too cool in the face of catastrophe? Read More »

Complete Transcript of Obama Interview

National Journal 's Ron Fournier and Ronald Brownstein interviewed President Obama on October 19. Read More »
POLITICS

Left Coast Surprise: Fiorina Looks Like The Stronger GOP Candidate

Even California? Carly Fiorina, the more conservative of the Republicans running in California's two marquee races this year, is making Democrats sweat -- a sign of how strong the GOP tide is running. Ron Brownstein reports from Los...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A Misplaced Zinger

Fixing Social Security shouldn’t be hard. Read More »
COVER STORY

Obama to Republicans: Let’s Build Consensus

In an exclusive interview with National Journal , President Obama talks about working with Republicans after the midterm elections on education, energy, and infrastructure. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A Misplaced Zinger

In a year crowded with brusque and belligerent confrontations, Sharron Angle, the Republican Senate nominee in Nevada, may have delivered the most memorable barb of all last week when she taunted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid--a...

Read More »
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

No Biden-Clinton Swap in the Works, Obama Says

President Obama signaled today that he will seek reelection and dismissed as "completely unfounded" reports that he might replace Vice President Joe Biden on his 2012 ticket with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Read More »

Obama Signals Reelection Bid; Biden Likely to Stay on 2012 Ticket

President Obama signaled Tuesday that he will seek re-election and dismissed as "completely unfounded" reports that he might replace Vice President Joe Biden on his 2012 ticket with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Angle: An Unlikely Rabble-Rouser

Sharron Angle is an unlikely rabble-rouser. Her presence is muted, but her words are militant. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

GOP Gives Climate Science A Cold Shoulder

The GOP is stampeding toward an absolutist rejection of climate science. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Rahm Emanuel: A Tactician's Compass

Rahm Emanuel's tactical agility obscures the consistency of his own policy compass. Read More »
ADMINISTRATION

Sebelius: 'What Is the Alternative?'

Almost exactly six months after the passage of the landmark health care reform act and on the heels of an ominous U.S. Census Bureau report on health-insurance coverage,  National Journal Live  hosted Health and Human Serv...

Read More »
SPECIAL REPORT: ELECTION PREVIEW

GOP's New Senate Class Could Be Conservative Vanguard

The Republican Senate class of 2010 could be the most consistently, and even militantly, conservative group of new senators in at least the past half-century. Few of the Republicans say they intend to compromise -- or defer to GOP le...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A Lost And Volatile Decade

The economy is convulsing as it undergoes destabilizing structural change. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Dangerous Trends In The War On Terror

Two trends could greatly complicate the U.S. struggle against Islamic terrorism. Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Back To Basics

The grim weight of the economic slowdown is deepening the public's divisions over government's role in promoting prosperity and the distrust of financial institutions and major companies, according to a new Allstate/ National Journa...

Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Obama's Electoral Headwinds

All of the trend lines are moving against the president as the midterm elections approach. Read More »
IN PERSPECTIVE

Education Driving Nation's Changes

To understand an increasingly divergent nation, look for that college degree. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Sobering Message Of The Mosque

Like President George W. Bush before him, President Obama has taken great pains to insist that America's conflict is with extremism and terrorists, not the Islamic religion itself. Read More »
COVER STORY

The Gray And The Brown: The Generational Mismatch

The heavily nonwhite population of young people and the predominantly white cohort of older Americans appear to be on a collision course that could rattle U.S. politics for decades. Their different needs and priorities are causing te...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Two Suburbs, Two Views of Obama

Each month of economic unease eats away at goodwill toward President Obama. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Sinking Ship Of State

Hostility to government is shaping the midterm election more than is alienation from business. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Trend Lines Favor Working Women

The heavy weather of the Great Recession has battered men more fiercely than women. Read More »
POLITICS

Measuring Voters' Anger

A Q&A with Republican and Democratic pollsters about the mood of the electorate. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Candidates That Nobody Sent

In each of Tuesday's marquee Senate races, the party establishment took it on the chin. Read More »
COVER STORY

Children Of The Great Recession

What happens to the dreams and drive of the Millennial Generation as they step into the worst job market in decades? Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Young People Seek Shelter From The Storm

The ferocity of the recession has spurred a craving for certainty in the Millennial Generation, according to the latest Allstate/ National Journal Heartland Monitor survey. Read More »
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

No Thaw Yet For Obama

The public's assessment of President Obama's management of the economy and his overall performance remain essentially frozen in place since last winter. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Conservative Tide

Demands for ideological purity and party loyalty are growing on both sides. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Immigration Impasse

The hardening GOP position on immigration shows how the party is being tugged toward nativism as its coalition grows more monochromatic. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama's Economic Narrative Gap

Democrats fear that President Obama has lost control of the economic debate. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Breaking the Energy Stalemate

The energy stalemate in Congress can be broken only if Republicans want a deal. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Dems' Governing Core Stays Intact

Faced with predictions of doom in November, congressional Democrats have apparently decided that the best defense against a resolute Republican opposition is a good offense. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama And The Supertanker

Win or lose, President Obama has pursued health care reform with remarkable tenacity. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Price Of Inaction On Health Care

Democrats who are also fiscal hawks will likely determine the fate of health care reform. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Health Care Leap Of Faith

What Democrats decide to do on health care will hinge on whether they believe they can hold a majority of the country while implementing an agenda they believe is right. Read More »
COVER STORY

The Four Quadrants Of Congress

The greater a House district's nonwhite population and the higher the education level of its white residents, the more likely it is to be represented by a Democrat. The whiter the district and the lower its number of white college gr...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Blue-Collar Deja Vu

Democrats could lose their House majority if they fail to attract enough blue-collar whites. Read More »
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

Obama's White-Out

Updated at 5:01 p.m. on Jan. 21. Read More »
PUBLIC OPINION

A Season Of Discontent

In the latest Allstate/ National Journal Heartland Monitor poll, respondents expressed little trust in any institution beyond their own family to help them navigate the financial rapids. They give dismal grades to government, major ...

Read More »
COVER STORY

The View From The West Wing

EXTENDED EXCERPTS: White House senior adviser David Axelrod describes the legislation President Obama would like Congress to complete this midterm election year. Read More »
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

White House Readies Aggressive Midterm Push

Updated at 1:25 p.m. on Jan. 11. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Left's Fatal Abstraction

With the Senate's passage Thursday morning of sweeping health care reform, President Obama took another giant step toward the biggest legislative achievement for any Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson muscled Medicare int...

Read More »
COVER STORY

The March Of Diversity

The nation's minority population is not only increasing but also dispersing beyond the big cities, where it traditionally congregated, into suburbs and exurbs. Almost half of House members now represent districts in which minorities ...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Discipline Of Efficiency

Containing health care costs may require a process of continual reform. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama's Second Draft In Afghanistan

President Obama's Afghanistan plan is one component of his strategy against radical Islam. Read More »
ISSUES & IDEAS

Gore Out To Change The World

A Q&A with Al Gore about his new book, the Senate energy debate, and prospects for the international climate-change meeting in Copenhagen. Read More »
CONGRESS

Parsing The Grand Energy Bargain

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, discuss the prospects for global-warming legislation and the upcoming global climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Pols Stand On Unstable Ground

The Democratic decline among independents should really be seen as part of the party's dismal showing among whites. Read More »
POLITICS

A Reaganite Or Jacksonian Wave?

On every front, the chasm is widening between the parties over Washington's proper role. Read More »
CONGRESS

The New Geography Of Health Care

New census data show that many of the House members most opposed to health care reform legislation represent districts where the share of residents without insurance exceeds the national average, often by substantial amounts. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Is The American Dream A Myth?

By almost every measure, America isn't the land of opportunity it once was. Read More »
RECESSION

Paddling Alone On The Economic Rapids

Americans agree that the economy will keep plunging through unusually severe cycles of boom and bust. They disagree over whether the government will help or hurt their ability to navigate the rapids, according to the latest Allstate/...

Read More »
POLITICS

Healthy Competition

The U.S. doesn't usually create a public competitor to private companies. Read More »
POLITICS

Dems Lose Footing In The Mountain West

The Mountain West has been one of this decade's towering success stories for Democrats. But all signs show the momentum shifting toward Republicans in a region that has traditionally resisted the sort of assertive federal initiatives...

Read More »
POLITICS

2010 Races to Watch

This chart illustrates the 2010 races to watch. Read More »
POLITICS

China's Great Leap Forward

China is shifting into a higher gear in its drive to dominate the clean technologies that will power the 21st century -- and the jobs those new industries will create. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Parliamentary Challenge

America is moving toward a quasi-parliamentary system that demands lockstep partisan loyalty. Read More »
POLITICS

The Other Health Care Story

Many key stakeholders in the medical establishment have come together behind health care reform. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

What Steele Left Out

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's pledge this week to "protect Medicare" might have been more convincing had it not come five months after nearly four-fifths of House Republicans voted to literally end the prog...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Thunder On The Right

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Six hours before President Obama was due to arrive here last Saturday afternoon, hundreds of people were already gathered in a grassy downtown park under a cloudless canopy of brilliant blue sky. Their sen...

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POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Green And Blue Convergence

DENVER -- When Democrats from across the Mountain States gathered here Thursday for a Project New West conference on the region's changing politics, no cause ignited more enthusiasm than speeding the development of the alternative-e...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Next Health Care System

Congress needs to begin building a smarter health care system for the new century. Read More »
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

The Tide Recedes For Obama

Like a receding tide, President Obama 's public support is reverting to boundaries familiar from last November's election. Read More »
POLITICS

Obama Betting On Government

Democrats must decide whether to confront the howling public suspicion about government. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama's Global Audience

President Obama's popularity abroad could help recast America's relations with other nations. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

House Dems Hang Together On Climate Bill

The climate bill's success suggests that Democrats learned something from being in the minority. Read More »
INTERACTIVE REPORT

The Climate Divinding Lines

In their razor-thin victory on climate change legislation Friday, House Democrats prevailed by holding just enough votes from members in coal states to offset substantial defections from colleagues in Republican-leaning districts...

Read More »
POLITICS

The Real Climate Cost Shift

The House energy bill would reduce a regional disparity in the prices for electricity. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Public Plan Diversion

Public health insurance isn't necessary for improving quality, controlling costs or expanding access, and it shouldn't dominate the debate. Read More »
POLITICS

Racial Preferences Debate Makes A Comeback

President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is compelling Democrats and Republicans to grapple with the combustible issues of affirmative action and racial preferences that have been submerged for most of the...

Read More »
COVER STORY

For GOP, A Southern Exposure

By several key measures, the Republican Party is now weaker outside the South than at any time since the Depression; in some ways, it is weaker than ever before. The party's increasing identification with Southern conservatism may b...

Read More »
POLITICS

Business Climbs Aboard

On health care and energy, key business interests have decided to cut deals with the Democrats. Read More »
COVER STORY

Financial Risk Cuts Deeper, Poll Finds

A broad array of Americans shares the sense of being susceptible to greater financial uncertainty, according to a new Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll. The anxiety is as powerful among Americans with a college educati...

Read More »
POLITICS

Obama And The Swells

President Obama still has an opportunity to solidify an unusually expansive electoral coalition. Read More »
POLITICS

Region Or Nation?

Regional differences could delay the building of a low-carbon, clean-energy economy. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Indulgence Of Absolutism

Washington's ideological enforcers are starting to reassert themselves. But the people will be better served if both parties and a broad range of interests contribute to solutions on big problems. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

The Health Care Crossroads

Policy makers will face five major crossroads in pursuing health care reform. Read More »
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

Transportation Spending Still On Obama's Agenda

Others issues have demanded more immediate attention, but President Obama signaled during an interview with a small group of columnists on Friday that he wants Congress to take a new road on transportation policy. Obama said that ...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

An Eternal Optimist -- But Not A Sap

After the trials and triumphs of his tumultuous first weeks, President Obama appears increasingly focused on ends, not means. In a conversation early Friday evening with a small group of columnists, Obama was flexible about tactics ...

Read More »
POLITICS

Millennial Tremors

The Millennial Generation that helped elect Barack Obama balances idealism with pragmatism. Read More »
POLITICS

Two Visions Of Leadership

Barack Obama differs from his predecessor on how to provide leadership in a democracy. Read More »
POLITICS

A Dangerous Imbalance For The GOP

Congressional Republicans risk creating a vicious cycle that will keep them in the minority. Read More »

'08 Race Disrupts Stability in Voting Patterns

Heading into the 2008 election, Americans had been living through a period of extraordinary stability in presidential politics. Fully 34 states voted the same way in each of the four presidential elections from 1992 through 2004,...

Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

A Hard-Headed Strategy Of Inclusion

Barack Obama would be smart to engage with interests that usually ally with Republicans. Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Bush's Failing Final Grade

It detracts nothing from Barack Obama's achievement to note that his historic electoral success rests atop the epic political failure of George W. Bush. If Obama is shrewd enough, there's a lesson for the new president in the failur...

Read More »
POLITICS

Why It's Not Joe The Architect

Culturally conservative and hawkish whites populate the ranks of undecided voters. Read More »
POLITICS

The Bush Drag

President Bush's tremendous unpopularity is a major source of John McCain's problems. Barack Obama is drawing more than two-thirds of the voters who give the incumbent bad marks. Read More »
POLITICS

True Blue

Overall support Read More »
POLITICAL CONNECTIONS

Obama's Sun-Splashed Tank Battle

Florida will show how deeply Barack Obama can advance his campaign into the red zone. Read More »
COVER STORY

Religion

Percentage who voted... Read More »
SEE MORE
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