National Politics
By Eric Ostermeier on March 23, 2010
Years of service in U.S. House, district competitiveness, and district vote for McCain in '08 shaped Democratic votes; percentage of uninsured constituents in district had no impact
By Eric Ostermeier on March 17, 2010
Democrats currently hold 43 of the 50 least competitive seats in the nation; John Lewis (GA-05), Kendrick Meek (FL-17), and Richard Neal (MA-02) have not faced a challenger since new district lines were drawn in 2002
By Eric Ostermeier on March 16, 2010
Jim Gerlach's PA-06 seat is the only U.S. House district in the nation decided by less than 10 points in each of the last four election cycles; Democrats currently hold 35 of the Top 50 most competitive seats
By Eric Ostermeier on March 15, 2010
Wyoming, New Hampshire and Iowa lead the nation for the most competitive U.S. House races since 2002; Massachusetts, Alabama, Arkansas, and New York the least competitive
By Eric Ostermeier on March 4, 2010
Analysis finds National Journal vote rankings of female GOP Representatives set record highs for conservatism in 2009
By Eric Ostermeier on February 24, 2010
Despite 30 percent of its caucus elected since 2006, Democrats have served almost 1 more year per member on average than Republicans
By Eric Ostermeier on February 15, 2010
Elected presidents most frequently born under the sign of Aquarius (1 in 5); Sarah Palin only leading contender of 2012 GOP rumored candidates to be born under this sign
By Eric Ostermeier on February 8, 2010
Average 'red state' primary date is June 15th, while average 'blue state' date is July 23rd. 'Purple state' average date is July 11th
By Eric Ostermeier on February 1, 2010
Obama press conferences front-loaded during 'honeymoon period' of 1st term; President has held fourth fewest solo press conferences during 1st year of office since Herbert Hoover
By Eric Ostermeier on January 29, 2010
Text of Obama's Address has a readability score for an average 8th grader - two grades lower than George W. Bush's Addresses and the historical average for modern presidents
By Eric Ostermeier on January 28, 2010
Emphasis on domestic policy and insertion of non-policy rhetoric stands in sharp contrast to George W. Bush's final State of the Union Address in 2008
By Eric Ostermeier on November 10, 2009
Majority of Blue Dogs, Democratic Representatives in '08 pick-up districts, and Democrats in competitive districts all vote in favor of bill
By Eric Ostermeier on September 29, 2009
Two-thirds of the seats won by Democrats in 2008 (170, 66 percent) were won in landslide fashion, decided by more than 30 points over their Republican challengers
By Eric Ostermeier on September 23, 2009
Ohio leads the way with seven presidents; New York has six
By Eric Ostermeier on September 16, 2009
Red states across the nation have both higher violent and property crime rates than blue states, across several measures of partisanship
By Eric Ostermeier on August 12, 2009
With Monday's news conference in Guadalajara, Mexico with Mexican President Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, President Barack Obama continues to build on his record number of press conferences held outside of the United States. Through his first 6 months and 20 days in office,...
By Eric Ostermeier on August 11, 2009
Last week's vote in the U.S. Senate confirming Sonia Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court was noteworthy foremost, of course, for Sotomayor being the first Hispanic and third woman to serve on the Court. But the Senate vote was also significant for the Republicans and what emerged...
By Eric Ostermeier on August 6, 2009
In the months after President Barack Obama's selection of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, political analysts and even a few Republicans (e.g. Joe Scarborough) have characterized GOP opposition to and harsh questioning of the new Associate Justice as politically unwise. Such Republican Senators were cautioned and urged to...
By Eric Ostermeier on July 8, 2009
Congressional Quarterly's vote study for the first half of 2009 is in the books, and finds that House Democrats overall supported Barack Obama 91.1 percent of the time in which the President stated his clear policy preference on legislation that received a floor vote. But what about the Blue Dog...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 29, 2009
The U.S. House of Representative's 219-212 vote last week in favor of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (HR 2454) passed in part due to the defection of a handful of Republicans, while more than half of the Blue Dog Democratic coalition voted in opposition to the bill. Eight...
