How Did Michele Bachmann Win the Iowa Straw Poll? How Did Michele Bachmann Win the Iowa Straw Poll?
Originally seen as a long-shot candidate, Bachmann's ability to successfully fuse the small government, anti-tax rhetoric of the Tea Party with the ideology of the religious right ...
Aug 15, 2011 / Democracy Now!
Boycott Campaign Contributions? That’s a Terrible Idea Boycott Campaign Contributions? That’s a Terrible Idea
The New York Times’s Joe Nocera might think otherwise, but a boycott of campaign contributions and fundraising is the last thing you want in a representative democracy.
Aug 15, 2011 / Jamelle Bouie
GOP Front-runners’ Hostility to Government Motivates Fiscal, Social Conservatives in Iowa GOP Front-runners’ Hostility to Government Motivates Fiscal, Social Conservatives in Iowa
At the Iowa straw poll, Michele Bachmann—and Ron Paul—offered up the tough talk on the deficit, and on religion, that voters wanted.
Aug 15, 2011 / Sarah Posner
A Handful of Rural Right-Wing Extremists Chase Tim Pawlenty Out of the Race A Handful of Rural Right-Wing Extremists Chase Tim Pawlenty Out of the Race
A small sample of far-right-wing Iowa Republicans favored Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann over Tim Pawlenty in the meaningless Iowa Straw Poll. So Pawlenty dropped out of the preside...
Aug 14, 2011 / Ben Adler
Bernie Sanders Talks Up Primary Challenge to Obama as ‘a Good Idea for Our Democracy and for the Democratic Party’ Bernie Sanders Talks Up Primary Challenge to Obama as ‘a Good Idea for Our Democracy and for the Democratic Party’
The Vermont independent is not running for president, but he says it’s time “that people start asking the president some hard questions about why he said one thing duri...
Aug 14, 2011 / John Nichols
Five Questions for Rick Perry Five Questions for Rick Perry
Texas Governor Rick Perry has joined the presidential race. Here are some questions he should have to answer.
Aug 12, 2011 / Ben Adler
Who’s Paying the Super-Committee? Who’s Paying the Super-Committee?
The "super-committee" that will decide $1.5 trillion in cuts and potentially sweeping changes to entitlements and the tax code has raked in hundreds of millions of dollar...
Aug 12, 2011 / George Zornick
Republican Debate Offers No Policy Solutions Republican Debate Offers No Policy Solutions
At the GOP debate in Ames, Iowa, Republican candidates failed to explain how they would solve problems in the world that actually exists.
Aug 12, 2011 / Ben Adler
Shall We Make That ‘US Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts’? Shall We Make That ‘US Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts’?
The nation’s most identifiable champion of financial reform and economic sanity signals a serious interest in seeking Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat.
Aug 12, 2011 / John Nichols
How Will Religion Influence the 2012 Presidential Race? How Will Religion Influence the 2012 Presidential Race?
Why is religion featuring so prominently in the Republican presidential race? What happened to jobs?
Aug 11, 2011 / MSNBC