Tag Archives: 2012 election campaign

Obama’s Electoral Coalition Is Now His Policy Coalition

Originally published at NationalJournal   As demonstrated in the presidential exit polls and rehashed in countless articles and blogs since the election, Barack Obama’s decisive reelection victory over Mitt Romney was a triumph for a still-emerging, majority Democratic Obama coalition, which we said in a pair of preelection Next America articles would define a new civic ethos, or consensus on …

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Tax Revolt Is Ending Where It All Began

  As published at NDN.org California’s demographic trends provide a first glimpse of what all of America will look like in the future, including the country’s  new attitude toward finding the revenue to pay for a more activist government.  The passage of several ballot propositions last November, coupled with the increases in income tax rates just …

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The Stay-at-Home Millennial Generation Is Moving Out

Originally published at NationalJournal In an effort to help the Republican ticket cut into President Obama’s massive advantage with millennial-generation voters, Paul Ryan delivered what may have been his best line of the 2012 campaign in his speech accepting the GOP vice presidential nomination: “College grads shouldn’t have to live out their 20s in childhood bedrooms staring …

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Voting, California-style

Originally published at  Los Angeles Times If we want to ‘fix’ voting in America, the Golden State could be the model. The lessons of the 2012 election are still being learned, but here’s one we already know: We need to do more to increase voter participation. In many battleground states, the intense and highly partisan presidential …

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Another Millennial Triumph

Originally published at Huffington Post In an election as close as this year’s presidential contest, any group can make a credible claim for having made the critical difference in the outcome. But there is certainly no denying the impact the Millennial Generation (young voters 18-30 years old) had on the outcome of the 2012 election. Because …

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The GOP’s Hispanic Political Malpractice

Originally published at NewGeography.com One of the more curious developments in American politics over the last two decades is the political malpractice of Republicans in dealing with Hispanic-Americans.  Indeed, it now appears that the 2012 election may well be determined by the share of the Latino vote that Governor Mitt Romney is able to keep from falling …

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Women, Minorities, and Millennials Will Determine America’s Next Civic Ethos

Originally published at NationalJournal   On one level, the 2012 presidential election is a battle between two distinct party coalitions: a Republican coalition heavily centered on males, people over 50—especially seniors—and whites; and a Democratic coalition built around women, younger voters—especially Millennials—and minorities. But it is also a dispute over policy and program, because the party …

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Leaders Need New Civic Ethos to Appeal to Shifting Demographics

Originally published at National Journal An August national survey of nearly 3,300 Americans between the ages 18 and 85, conducted by research company Frank N. Magid Associates, details the current composition of the two major political party coalitions that are more distinct from one another than at any other time in the past 50 years–perhaps …

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Charlie Cook’s Game of Three Card Monte

In his most recent “Cook Report,” one of Washington’s most respected prognosticators, tries to pull off a sleight of hand worthy of a con man on a NY street corner trying to get his mark to play a game of  Three Card Monte. First, Cook shows his readers the target card by correctly pointing out …

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Will Millennials Vote for Barack Obama Again in November 2012?

Millennials (born 1982-2003) were crucial to Barack Obama’s 2008 election. Other than the state of the economy, the most pivotal factor in determining the outcome of the 2012 general election is likely to be whether or not America’s youngest voters repeat their 2008 electoral performance in 2012.