Steve Benen

We talked last night about the sought after results of the Des Moines Register‘s Iowa Poll, which, not surprisingly, continue to show a competitive contest. Let’s briefly revisit where things stand just two days before caucus-goers make their preferences known. The DMR poll effectively shows two tiers: three top-tier candidates who stand a chance of […]

As we discussed a few months ago, some polls matter more than others. In Iowa, the Des Moines Register‘s Iowa Poll is widely considered the gold standard for Hawkeye State polling, and therefore gets considerably more attention than other surveys in the state. And with that in mind, and the caucuses just a few days, […]

It’s a campaign tactic that’s been around for a long while, but Mitt Romney seems eager to perfect it: identify the candidate’s most damaging flaws, then project those flaws onto the candidate’s rivals. This week offered a classic example. Mitt Romney on Thursday sought to portray President Barack Obama as out of touch with the […]

Conservatives’ antipathy towards the Girl Scouts has generally been found on the fringes. In 1994, for example, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family published a memorable attack on the Girl Scouts, insisting the group “lost their way” after the Scouts made a religious oath optional for membership. (For the religious right, faith shouldn’t be voluntary; […]

Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry expressed some interest in Mitt Romney’s elusive tax returns last week, and the Democratic National Committee is trying to keep the story going this week. For those who can’t watch clips online, it’s a 40-second video noting that every major Republican presidential candidate in the post-Watergate era — and if […]

Last week, after a needlessly-contentious process, Congress approved a two-month extension of the payroll tax break. As part of the agreement, a conference committee will try to come up with an agreement to extend the cut through the end of 2012. I’ve been rather pessimistic about the likelihood of success, and yesterday, the odds got […]

First up from the God Machine this week is a fascinating church-state conflict in Illinois, where a major Roman Catholic charity wants to be able to accept taxpayer funds while discriminating against some taxpayers. Catholic Charities in Illinois has served for more than 40 years as a major link in the state’s social service network […]

Crying has come a long way in politics. In 1972, Ed Muskie wept outside the offices of New Hampshire’s Union Leader, and it was, at the time, a political disaster. Americans were apparently uncomfortable with adults in leadership positions emoting like this in public. Attitudes have clearly changed. John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) frequent crying didn’t stop […]

It was good to have a few days away from the blog, but I’m back and ready to go. I want to thank the always-terrific Ed Kilgore for his fantastic work in my absence — I clearly left Political Animal in capable hands — and I encourage readers to check out his work wherever it […]

Remember two weeks ago, when I was away from the blog for a little while? Well, it’s happening again, and this time, I’m off for three days. (True story: I’ll have taken more days off in the last two weeks than in the previous five years combined. That’s not an exaggeration.) In any case, I’m […]