Although ostensibly playing to popular sentiment by banishing so-called "earmarks" from the stimulus and economic recovery package moving through Congress, President Barack Obama and Congressional Democratic Leadership have actually made things harder for themselves to have their mega-spending proposal enacted by the proposed deadline of Presidents' Day Recess. Voters -...

In a year full of surprises to the conventional political wisdom, the greatest story yet may be unfolding in West Virginia, where Senator Obama's campaign is rocketing to competitiveness in a nearly all-white state that went comfortably for George W. Bush in the last two elections. Despite consistent polling showing...

Over the course of many months in 2007, during the highs and lows of the Democratic presidential primary, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk politics with a good number of Democratic Members of Congress who were (and still are) running for reelection in tough, swing districts. Each...

Don't tell American voters that vice presidents don't matter.

In the wake of eight years of Dick Cheney, the old assumptions regarding the inconsequence of vice presidential candidates just don't hold up anymore. The oft-repeated fact that Dan Quayle was on a winning ticket makes a point that has...

Sometimes, the unanticipated political legacy is a...

Love 'em or loathe 'em, you've got to respect the tenacity of Hillary Clinton's television surrogates. Like the Japanese Imperial soldiers who refused to abandon their jungle hideouts until twenty or thirty years after the end of World War II, Hillary's battle-tested legion of television studio shock troops refuses to...

Turning our attention to the inevitable general election match-up between Obama and McCain, it is becoming increasingly clear to both Democratic and Republican strategists that if the campaign is centered on the issues, Obama will win. On issue after issue -- from Iraq to the economy to health care --...

Sandwiched in between publicly accusing Barack Obama of playing the reverse "race card" and the next day denying he ever said it, Bill Clinton offered a crass but undoubtedly truthful assessment of presidential campaigning when he referred to it as a "contact sport." Clinton challenged the Senator from the South...

Yesterday, in response to a question on Fox News Channel, I had an opportunity to speak about the importance of Barack Obama's astonishing and growing money lead over Hillary Clinton heading into Pennsylvania and the remaining primaries. Somewhat obviously, I noted that Obama's $40+ million advantage in cash-on-hand and seemingly...