Steve Benen

Presidential campaigns hardly ever release internal polling, so from the outside, we don’t know if the candidates are getting encouraging or discouraging news from their pollsters. But when it comes to Mitt Romney’s campaign, there’s no real need to guess. When these guys are feeling confident about the Republican primaries, they’re going after President Obama. […]

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that won’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * The 2012 presidential election is still about 300 days away, but the Obama campaign is already planning to hit the airwaves, “requesting rates from TV stations for a potential — and […]

Support for child-labor laws was taken as a given for much of the 20th century. The fact that this seems to be changing is getting kind of creepy. Marie Diamond flags a new example: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) trying to connect child-labor laws to childhood obesity. Concern was raised about the proposed Department of Labor’s […]

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has arguably been Mitt Romney’s most trusted and highest-profile campaign surrogate. Talk of Christie possibly serving as the Republican frontrunner’s running mate has been extremely common. It was remarkable, then, to hear the governor on NBC’s “Today” this morning, pressing Romney to release his tax returns. Visit msnbc.com for […]

During Monday night’s debate in South Carolina, Rick Perry argued that Turkey “is being ruled by, what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists.” The argument is ridiculous — Turkey is a key democratic U.S. ally and a member of NATO — and led some Turkish journalists to describe the right-wing Texas governor as an […]

Opponents of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) were expected to do well in their efforts to recall him. Few expected them to do this well. Democrats seeking to recall Gov. Scott Walker filed more than a million signatures Tuesday, virtually guaranteeing a historic recall election against him later this year. It would mark the first […]

When compared against his Republican rivals, Mitt Romney is extremely slick. After nearly 18 years as a politician, and more than five years as a near-constant presidential candidate, the former governor is clearly smoother and better prepared than his GOP opponents. But that only tells us that he’s clearing a low bar. Yesterday, Romney said […]

The tech industry and free speech advocates have been desperately trying to generate interest in their fight against misguided efforts to combat online privacy. As of this morning, their efforts appear to be paying off in a big way. At issue are two related bills: the Senate’s Protect IP Act and the even more offensive […]

Today’s edition of quick hits: * The more ambitious, the better: “The Obama administration has signaled to allies that it will take a more aggressive role this year in protecting homeowners from foreclosure, a posture that fits with Obama’s populist campaign stance.” * Taking a stand: “Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing are planning to black […]

Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign released a new television ad overnight, which has caused a bit of a stir in Republican circles. Here’s the 30-second spot, which will begin airing in South Carolina as early as today: For those who can’t watch clips online, the ad, called “Easy Answer,” features the following script: “Obama supported the […]