Recent News

A Republican Establishment Divided

After months of obstinate denial and simmering dismay, Republican elites are soberly coming to the conclusion that 2016 may be the year the raucous insurgent faction of the party finally topples the usually sturdy mainstream contingent in the presidential race.

Iowa emerges as a free-for-all among GOP’s establishment candidates

Chris Christie is the consummate New Hampshire candidate, all the way down to his silver lapel pin in the outline of the Granite State.

Yet this week the New Jersey governor was in a relative wilderness, caravaning along the slushy roads of eastern Iowa and sporting a different pin on his suit jacket: the Iowa state flag.

Choices for the Establishment/Conservative Voter, Part I: Jeb Bush

Conventional wisdom has it that there are four or five “lanes” in the Republican presidential nomination contest, perhaps as many as six, and that candidates usually try first to lock down a base of support in their natural lane before broadening their support by reaching out to voters occupying the remaining lanes.

Here is how Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake described the lanes in a February 2015 article:

Think of the Republican primary field as a series of lanes. In this race, ... Read More >>

Jeb’s dead.

At least, that’s the conventional wisdom, and has been for a few months. The man who would be America’s third President Bush in as many decades never quite had a good night in the Republican debates. His polls numbers have continued to stagnate, and in some cases, plummet.

Why Tennessee will matter in 2016

The rallies are big, the field operations extensive and the expectations for candidate visits are high.

It’s not quite Iowa, but Tennessee — a state long ignored until much later in the cycle, and then often just turned to for donations — is now one of the biggest hubs for GOP political activity in the country.

For this week’s 2016 Slack Chat, we check back in on Marco Rubio’s campaign. As always, the transcript below has been lightly edited.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his super PAC are set to dominate the TV airwaves between now and the Granite State primary, reserving more than $14 million in commercials on both New Hampshire and Boston stations — including two Super Bowl spots — the Herald has learned.