Joel's Two Cents

Australia Diary: The Inescapable Presidential Race

Australians seem as taken with the Democratic presidential nominating contest as their American counterparts. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on May 19, 2008 at 12:23 PM ET | Comments (15)

Onward to Guam!

Circle your calendar, book your flight. On May 3, Guam -- which increasingly looks like the New Hampshire of the Mariana Islands -- will hold its presidential primary, with nine Democratic delegates at stake. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on March 5, 2008 at 11:29 AM ET | Comments (5)

Obama's BFFs With Press Passes

By Joel Achenbach Obama-mania has been ripe for parody, and sure enough, "Saturday Night Live"...

Posted on February 24, 2008 at 03:26 PM ET | Comments (28)

Any Given Tuesday

We like to think of the presidential campaign as a chain of events, a more or less linear process in which, if all goes as planned, chaos will inexorably give way to order. Pundits attempt to impose some narrative coherence upon the tangle of data points from the contested turf. Momentum is discerned. Opinions are polled and duly calibrated. Balloting results are contextualized. Over time, a narrative takes shape, one that ideally makes some kind of logical sense. But go talk to voters, and things get a little more convoluted. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on February 19, 2008 at 11:46 AM ET | Comments (8)

Who's the Underdog?

Is Hillary now the underdog? So says her husband. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on February 12, 2008 at 11:38 AM ET | Comments (55)

John McCain Among the Conservatives

He got booed, some. But John McCain also got cheered, and most of the time the cheers drowned out the boos to the degree that McCain, making a dramatic appearance before the Conservative Political Action Committee gathering in Washington, might plausibly have felt himself amid allies. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on February 7, 2008 at 05:15 PM ET | Comments (2)

John McCain's Perfect Ride

How did John McCain become the certain Republican nominee? With what they call in horse racing a perfect ride. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on February 7, 2008 at 01:43 PM ET | Comments (31)

What Does the Muddle Mean?

Still crunching numbers here, looking at absentees in American Samoa, reading the exits from Alaska, etc., and the one obvious conclusion is that the contest for the Democratic nomination may be decided by the very frightening Credentials Committee mentioned yesterday by Howard Dean.--Joel Achenbach

Posted on February 6, 2008 at 10:33 AM ET | Comments (5)

Rove Joins Pundits, Thick on the Ground

There's pundit gridlock at CNN. Meanwhile, on Fox, look who's here: Karl Rove. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on February 5, 2008 at 08:42 PM ET | Comments (4)

T.V. Talk Turns to Exit Polls

On CBS, they're making it sound like it's going to be a bad night for Hillary, apparently based on exit polls. There is talk of an Obama "surge." The only catch with these exit polls is that many people have not yet exited the polls, since the polls are still open all across the country, except in West Virginia, where there never were any polls, just a secret convention of men in trench coats. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on February 5, 2008 at 07:56 PM ET | Comments (1)

Delegates in Limbo Await Their Fates

Howard Dean was just on CNN, getting all tangled up in questions about those Florida and Michigan delegates. Officially, they don't count. They're dead. They're ghostly essences screaming in the torment of primary-season damnation. But wait: Maybe they really just exist in a kind of Purgatory, and, if Sen. Clinton has her way, they will still manage to ascend to the Democratic National Convention. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on February 5, 2008 at 06:08 PM ET | Comments (2)

Super Tuesday Brain Map

You need to separate your "official" thoughts from your "political" thoughts. It's like separating cerebral analysis from intuition. There is thinking, and there is feeling. This isn't just about numbers, after all: It's about our emotional reaction to the numbers, and more importantly, how we feel about our emotional reaction to the numbers. And how that will "play" politically. Whatever you do, don't overthink it. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on February 5, 2008 at 05:08 PM ET | Comments (1)

Who Will Win: One Man's (Semi-Educated) Guess

One man's take on how the caucus and primary will play out.--Joel Achenbach

Posted on January 2, 2008 at 11:24 AM ET | Comments (15)

The Thompson Nixon Knew

Transcripts show former president's doubts about former Tenn. senator. --Joel Achenbach

Posted on December 14, 2007 at 08:04 AM ET | Email a Comment

What a Survey Really Says

'Tis the election season of a poll-a-minute.--Joel Achenbach

Posted on December 7, 2007 at 10:37 AM ET | Comments (9)

No Sanctuary in This Fight

Nasty! That's the buzzword buzzin' around the Republicans.

Posted on November 30, 2007 at 11:25 AM ET | Comments (13)

Taking Stock: Day After Thanksgiving Edition

Thank you for choosing Joel's column over holiday shopping.

Posted on November 23, 2007 at 10:52 AM ET | Comments (21)

The Duel in the Desert

Fight! Fight Fight!

Posted on November 16, 2007 at 09:30 AM ET | Comments (10)

The Clintons' Eternal Return

Channel surfing the other night, you might have come across Kathleen Willey, on Fox, telling us once again that President Clinton groped her - "It was an assault" -- in the White House.

Posted on November 9, 2007 at 06:00 AM ET | Comments (25)