Recent News

Polls are able to capture what is often called a “snap shot” of a political race, providing a good assessment of where the contest is at a particular moment in time. But they don’t capture everything, as an illuminating discussion by the analysts at FiveThirtyEight.com reveals:

What Could The Polls Be Missing?

Hypothesis #1: The polls are underestimating Clinton because they don’t factor in her superior ground game.

Most reports (and we’ll have an article with some extensive data on this soon) suggest ... Read More >>

Clinton campaign in ‘panic mode’ over Florida black voters

To kill Donald Trump’s chances of capturing the White House, Hillary Clinton needs to win Florida. And to do that, she needs a big minority turnout.

But Democrats are beginning to worry that too many African-American voters are uninspired by Clinton’s candidacy, leading her campaign to hit the panic button this week and launch an all-out blitz to juice-up voter enthusiasm.

The first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton drew more than 84 million viewers, making it the most-watched in history.

The number snapped the previous record for the biggest debate audience set during the 1980 contest between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, which drew 80.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen data released Tuesday.

It is understandable if Hillary Clinton’s team is traumatized by having to fight once again for New Hampshire. The first-in-the-nation primary state delivered her a crucial comeback victory against Barack Obama in 2008 and then, eight years later, dealt her what was perhaps last spring’s most all-encompassing defeat. Bernie Sanders beat her by more than 22 points, winning just about everywhere in the state, and carrying nearly every demographic group outside the oldest and the richest.

The first presidential debate is behind us, and by most metrics, Hillary Clinton had the better night. But we’ll have to wait a few days to see how/whether the polls move as a result. So, in the meantime, I’d like us to ponder the road ahead. Specifically, whether there are factors not captured by the polls that will help Trump or Clinton.

CBS News contributor and pollster Frank Luntz spoke with undecided Pennsylvania voters after Monday night’s presidential debate, and the general consensus among them was that Hillary Clinton won.

When asked by Luntz who won the debate, five undecided voters said they believed Trump won, and 16 said they believed Clinton won.

Why even Republicans think Clinton won the first debate

The consensus that Donald Trump badly lost the first debate gelled overnight. Liberals predictably panned the GOP nominee’s performance on Long Island, but some of the harshest reviews are coming from conservative thought leaders who had been starting to come around.