Recent News

5 takes on 2016 as the campaign kicks into high gear

The untamable 2016 campaign has settled into a kind of comprehensible chaos with 60 days until the Iowa Caucuses.

Donald Trump, a contender who embodies the ultimate cross-pollination of politics and entertainment that began with Ronald Reagan, continues to easily outpace Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio in what has become essentially a four-man field (with Jeb Bush and his millions lingering outside the circle of power).

Republican strategist Karl Rove helped set up a meeting between top fundraisers for Ben Carson and casino mogul Steve Wynn.

Rove confirmed to Bloomberg Politics that he acted as the go-between for the Carson camp and Wynn, a sometimes business competitor of Donald Trump, the rival Carson has been batting all fall for the Republican nomination.

A new poll shows Ben Carson’s net favorability rating has dropped 12 percentage points, while Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz’s favorability ratings have each risen nine points.

The GOP presidential candidates’ favorability rankings have undergone some massive shifts, according to Gallup’s Daily tracking poll.

Cruz Catches Trump in Iowa

Businessman Donald Trump has consistently led the 2016 GOP presidential nomination contest since shortly after he entered in June. In the key early states of Iowa and New Hampshire, according to the average of polls at RealClearPolitics.com. Trump has mostly polled at the top spot since early August and late July, respectively, and nationally has been on top since July 20. A question on the minds of many is who will catch up with Trump. For a while, it looked ... Read More >>

USA TODAY GOP Power Rankings: Carson slides, Trump soars

Ben Carson appears to be slipping.

For the first time since early October, Carson has dropped out of the top three in the weekly GOP Power Rankings.

All press is good press for Donald Trump, it seems. The brash billionaire said incoherent things about national security, and then gained after a confusing media mess about databases of Muslims. He spoke falsely about video of New Jersey Muslims celebrating after 9/11, and somehow even this has strengthened his support.

Speaking Style Says Volumes About GOP Race

In a race filled with plenty of fast-talking, quick-tongued hopefuls — including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and, at one point, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — Ben Carson stands out as very different, and not only because of his race, resume and life accomplishments.