National Politics
By Eric Ostermeier on January 16, 2013
The favorite news outlet of conservatives ranks just ninth in presser questions in Obama's first term, getting to ask questions at only half the rate of the Big 3 broadcast networks.
By Eric Ostermeier on January 11, 2013
One of your ancestors might have been represented by James Joyce, John Milton, Thomas Eliot, or John Dryden on Capitol Hill.
By Eric Ostermeier on December 27, 2012
A look back at a few of the most illuminating, odd, and controversial reports published by Smart Politics this year.
By Eric Ostermeier on December 19, 2012
What rules could be introduced in the Senate to ensure the filibuster is no longer a 'strategy for hijacking' the chamber and 'demoralizing the country?'
By Eric Ostermeier on December 14, 2012
Six new faces entering the Senate in January served in the House and 51 overall; Hawaii, Virginia, and Massachusetts have the highest all-time rate of choosing Senators with House experience.
By Eric Ostermeier on December 6, 2012
A study of more than 325 sitting U.S. Senators on the ballot since 1990 finds women have been reelected at exactly same rate as men - 87 percent.
By Eric Ostermeier on December 4, 2012
The Romney-Obama contest ranked among the Top 5 most competitive races ever in three states (AK, FL, NC) and the Top 5 least competitive in six (HI, MD, OK, UT, WV, WY).
By Eric Ostermeier on December 3, 2012
States have voted more frequently for a presidential nominee of a different party than its sitting governor across 600 contests since 1968; even more so in battleground states.
By Eric Ostermeier on November 27, 2012
Chuck Grassley, Jeff Flake, Jim DeMint, and Kent Conrad have warned about budgetary fiscal cliffs for years.
By Eric Ostermeier on November 19, 2012
The 2012 presidential election is the only cycle since the birth of the two-party system in 1828 to be decided by less than 15 points nationally and yet have less than 10 percent of its contests decided by fewer than five points.
By Eric Ostermeier on November 14, 2012
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are not alone in failing to carry their home states this election cycle, although theirs is the first such ticket in 40 years.
By Eric Ostermeier on November 5, 2012
All eyes on Virginia, Florida, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania...you know the rest...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 1, 2012
A dozen media outlets still yield 10 different battleground state maps less than a week from Election Day, with an average of nine states and 114 electoral votes hanging in the balance.
By Eric Ostermeier on October 30, 2012
Since 1824, Kentucky and Maryland have each hosted the closest statewide presidential contests five times; Ohio last did so in back-to-back cycles in 1944 and 1948.
By Eric Ostermeier on October 24, 2012
Ronald Reagan talked about bayonets more than twice as frequently as any other president; most presidential rhetoric casts the weapon as a symbol for tyranny and unjust force.
By Eric Ostermeier on October 23, 2012
Only Strom Thurmond (1948, 54 years) and Alf Landon (1936, 50 years) lived longer after losing a presidential election.
By Eric Ostermeier on October 18, 2012
The most basic branch of mathematics has been celebrated, indicted, and used as a political weapon by the presidency for nearly 150 years.
By Eric Ostermeier on October 17, 2012
Romney rattles off only four of his patented series of bullet-point answers at the Hofstra debate versus 10 in Denver.
By Eric Ostermeier on October 10, 2012
The popular media outlet's political reporting is ripe with stories boasting compendiums of visuals in groupings of 5 and 10; BuzzFeed is also a fan of the numbers 6, 8, 11, and 15.
By Eric Ostermeier on October 7, 2012
Nixon, Reagan, Bush 41, and Obama all praised Sesame Street during their administrations, but only Clinton cited Muppets by name, rallying to Big Bird's defense during the 104th Congress.
