Lincoln Mitchell

In politics, as in many things, timing is extremely important. Barack Obama, for example understood that despite, or perhaps because of, concerns about his lack of experience in Washington, 2008 represented a unique opportunity for him to pursue his presidential aspirations. Similarly the Swift Boating of John Kerry in 2004...

President Barack Obama's statement that he believes in marriage equality could have been sooner and could have been stronger, but it is still significant. While Obama may have been slightly behind the curve on this statement, it is also a reminder of how quickly public opinion has changed for the...

When Mitt Romney emerged from the Republican defeat in 2008 as the early frontrunner for his party's 2012 nomination for president, he was viewed as a weak candidate for two main reasons. First, it was thought by many that Romney's history in Massachusetts as a liberal Republican would create problems...

It was only a month or two ago when Republican pundits voiced concerns that a long primary season would damage Mitt Romney for the general election. The long primary season, largely because of the failure of any Republican candidate other than Romney to put together a serious campaign, never occurred....

During the lull between the conclusion of the Republican nominating process and the late summer political conventions, the story which is certain to generate a lot of speculation and attention will be the question of who Mitt Romney will choose as his running mate. For any presidential nominee vice-presidential selection...

The now famous story of how Mitt Romney strapped his family dog, Seamus, to the roof of the car, albeit in a carrier, for a drive from Boston to Canada continues to, excuse the pun, dog Romney even now after he has secured the Republican Party's nomination. It is probably...

The Republican nominating season was good entertainment, but much less competitive than many had hoped. By the end of the first week of April, Mitt Romney had wrapped up his party's nomination to such a degree that only a major unforeseen circumstance, which is extremely unlikely, can derail him. Romney's...

The Supreme Court case of Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida which is seeking to overturn the health care bill passed by President Obama in 2010 is creating an interesting and telling political dynamic. Efforts to repeal the bill, particularly the individual mandate which requires uninsured Americans to...

Geraldo Rivera is one of those public figures who, to those of us who do not pay too much attention to aging former celebrities, seems to pop back up every few years to say something offensive or dumb. Last week's comments were both. Rivera is, of course, a minor media...

The view that Mitt Romney cannot close the deal with Republican voters has become broadly accepted by most people observing and commenting on this year's Republican presidential primary. There is some truth to this view, as suggested by Romney's inability to finish off a weak field of competitors despite an...

There are many bizarre angles of the latest Rush Limbaugh outrage. One is Limbaugh's apparent unawareness about how prescription birth control works. His frequent suggestion that Ms. Fluke needed so much birth control because she was having too much sex is, in addition to being offensive, just plain ignorant. Another...

One of the reasons Mitt Romney has had such a difficult time nailing down the Republican nomination, in addition to his ample weaknesses as a candidate, is that rather than running against one or two other candidates seeking to represent their party on the November ballot and become president in...

Now that the Rick Santorum boomlet seems to be ending, Republicans can return to the real work of bemoaning the state of the presidential primary. Republican dissatisfaction with the primary, which is coming from party stalwarts such as Haley Barbour and John McCain, is presented as...

When the 2012 election is finally concluded, the current popularity of Rick Santorum among Republican voters will probably be viewed as part of the continuum of enthusiasm for various right-wing politicians who were unable to muster enough support to prevent Mitt Romney -- who is beginning to seem like the...

The recent contretemps involving President Obama's decision to mandate that Catholic institutions, such as universities and hospitals, provide health insurance policies to their employees that cover contraception has been treated by the media mostly as a big political mistake by Obama.

Progressives, according to this narrative, may feel Obama...

The Super Bowl is known almost as much for the commercials which run during the game as for the game itself. Sunday's game was no exception. Two commercials, one by Chrysler and one by Pete Hoekstra, a Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, were significant because of...

There is a not very fine line between issues that should concern a president and issues on which a Fox News commentator should spend his or her time. This was made very evident last week. On Tuesday night President Obama gave his State of the Union address. State of the...

Mitt Romney has been the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for so long that it is easy to forget what an unlikely frontrunner he is, and not just because of his moderate, for a Republican, views on social issues. Romney is also a one-term Governor of a state that will...

One of the central lessons, as well as baffling questions, regarding the 2012 Republican primary season has been the weakness of the far right. 2012 was supposed to be the year that, building on the Tea Party movement and the 2010 elections, the far right was going to nominate one...

Despite efforts by candidates and the media to create a story that Mitt Romney -- despite having won Iowa and New Hampshire, and having more money, endorsements and organization than any other candidate in the race -- has still not wrapped up the nomination, Romney has, in fact, all but...