Steve Benen

So long, Michele, we knew you all too well. Rep. Michele Bachmann is suspending her presidential campaign, said a senior Republican official with direct knowledge of the lawmaker’s plans. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Minnesota lawmaker, a favorite of the tea party wing of the party and a harsh critic […]

This is a big, bold move by the president, and I couldn’t be more pleased. In a defiant display of executive power, President Barack Obama on Wednesday will buck GOP opposition and name Richard Cordray as the nation’s chief consumer watchdog even though the Senate contends the move is inappropriate, senior administration officials told The […]

When I wrapped up last night (technically, this morning), I said President Obama was the big winner from Iowa’s Republican caucuses. A few readers asked what I meant by that, so let’s flesh this out a bit. We know what the president and his re-election team didn’t want to see last night. The last thing […]

This was supposed to be a big year for Republican voter turnout in Iowa. With GOP voters reportedly eager as part of their crusade against President Obama, and with six candidates spending over $13 million to generate some excitement, party insiders predicted 130,000 Iowans would participate. As Dave Weigel reported, that’s not quite what happened. […]

The ideal scenario for Mitt Romney in Iowa wasn’t just a victory — he also wanted the other candidates to do just well enough to stick around for a long while. Because the former governor’s support in his party is so limited, Romney benefits greatly from as large a field as possible — the more […]

It was easy to imagine Mitt Romney winning the Iowa caucuses. It was harder to imagine Romney winning Iowa and looking weaker at the same time. And yet, that seems to be a fairly reasonable assessment of the race for the Republican presidential nomination this morning. As of about 2:30 a.m. eastern, the official results […]

In about 15 minutes, roughly 150,000 Republicans in Iowa will gather for the 2012 Republican presidential caucuses. I’ll update this post with results as they’re available, but in the meantime, I thought I’d open the floor to some discussion. Any predictions on the results? Eager for the Iowa-focused discussion to end? Planning to watch the […]

Today’s edition of quick hits: * Good economic news on construction spending and manufacturing activity. * Warnings from Iran: “Iran’s army chief on Tuesday warned a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf, as Iran’s navy ended 10 days of tense war games in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Defense Department […]

I have a hunch as the campaign progresses, we’ll be hearing this quote again. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy For those who can’t watch clips online, Mitt Romney was on MSNBC this morning, and fielded a question from Tom Brokaw about whether Romney expects to deal with rising […]

Jennifer Rubin today reflects on President Obama’s re-election strategy, and argues he’ll struggle to point to meaningful accomplishments, especially from his first two years in office. Recall that Obama had two years with majority control of the both houses of Congress. Aside from jamming through ObamaCare, which has, among other things, ended the career of […]