The 2010 census will have an obvious effect on congressional politics as districts are created, eliminated, and redrawn, but a story receiving far less attention is its impact on presidential electoral politics, as states gain and surrender electoral votes due to this reapportionment of districts.Electio

After losing more than 50 House seats in the last two elections, the Republicans will be looking to 1994 as a source of inspiration for their goal of retaking control of congress. In 1994, which was the first midterm election of Bill Clinton’s presidency, the Republicans gained 54 House seats and 8 Senate seats, capturing [...]

Earlier this month, while the Republican Party brass was busily celebrating their supposed “revival” following victories in the gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia, they neglected to see the whole story, which showed a more divided, dysfunctional party than the one Democrats faced in the 2008 election. Democrat Bill Owens’ surprising win in New [...]

Al Franken’s long awaited victory in the Minnesota recount has given Democrats a 60 seat majority in the U.S. Senate. This represents the first time since 1979 that either party has enjoyed this large of a majority. While we celebrate the success of the last 3 years, our attention is focused on 2010. Anchored by [...]

It’s easy to believe that the good times will continue for the Democrats. The last two elections were debacles for Republicans in Congress; the GOP’s aggregate net loss in Congress was 51 seats. From a once clear majority in 1994, Republicans have been marginalized and now control fewer seats than at any time since 1992. [...]

The American electoral landscape is in a state of flux. New areas such as suburban and developing exurban counties are carrying more weight in elections as their populations grow. In a 2004 frame of mind, increasing populations in these areas spelled doom for Democrats as President George W. Bush garnered a 3-million-vote plurality in America’s [...]

In the end, the 2008 election did not shatter all previous turnout records as many of the political theorists predicted. Overall, in terms of turnout, the election was more ordinary than spectacular. This is not bad news for Democrats, because they succeeded in winning in areas that had recently been off-limits to them without the [...]

At the beginning of the campaign cycle, few political analysts would have dreamed that the Democrats could take the smallest of majorities and extend it to a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority in just one term. However, with two weeks until Election Day, the Democrats have that chance in front of them. As things stand today, 10 [...]

When the Democrats won 30 seats in the House in 2006, many saw that as the absolute high-water mark in terms of seat gains in one election cycle, given today’s gerrymandered districts. It appears, however, that line of thinking may have been premature. As it stands today, Democrats could potentially win as many as 30 [...]

The impressive ground game exhibited by the Obama campaign in the primary has continued right through the general election campaign. As the GOP did in battleground states in 2004, the Obama campaign has been registering voters at a frenzied pace, changing the complexion of key battleground states such as Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, and [...]