Recent News

As first votes approach, it’s not just the Republican contenders that face the ultimate test, but their competing campaign strategies.

Voters don’t vote for strategy. But the competitive, unpredictable 2016 contest has put a premium on organization, voter turnout and political positioning.

Jeb Bush and his allies have now spent $49 million in advertisements, including $23 million in New Hampshire and another $10 million in Iowa, according to data from NBC News partner SMG Delta.

That overall total amount from Team Bush - almost all of it coming from Bush’ Right to Rise Super PAC - represents more than a third of the $139 million spent on ads in the 2016 race. (At this point in the 2012 race, $35 million had been spent on ads.)

Last week the Leadership Project for America started looking into the following question: Which candidate(s) vying for establishment votes would also be acceptable to those with a deeply conservative view on policy?

In considering voters who fall into both the establishment and conservative “lanes,” LPA assumed that (1) such voters would be looking for candidates with a mixture of experience, electability, and a strong commitment to enacting a conservative agenda, and (2) in areas where a candidate deviated from the conservative ... Read More >>

Less than four weeks before Iowans kick off the 2016 presidential contest with their Feb. 1 caucuses, the early road to the White House appears to be shaping up as a slippery and uncharted one for the Republican Party.

GOP consultant for a day

The value of free advice is measured by what you pay for it, and Republicans don’t usually ask me for mine.

Nonetheless, the GOP’s presidential race is one of the most fascinating political brawls in years. It’s about to hit full stride, and I can’t resist kibitzing. I know the leading candidates will take my guidance for what it’s worth.

Ad Campaigns Set to Ramp Up

With only four weeks until the Iowa caucuses, the ad wars are escalating. Recent reporting gives us an idea of which issues candidates think will resonate the most with their voters, and which candidates they see as their main rivals – or at least the ones they think need to be taken down a notch. Several candidates lagging in the polls are using this strategy, hoping to break through in either Iowa or New Hampshire.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s new ad ... Read More >>

Spin season starts as campaigns play expectations game

It was easy to miss if you weren’t paying close attention over the holiday season: Donald Trump actually admitted he might lose Iowa.

“If I come in second by 2 points, they’ll say ‘Ooh, this is a terrible defeat,’” he said last week during an appearance in Council Bluffs. “It’s not terrible.”