More from RealClearPolitics: The 10 Senators Who Snagged the Most Pork in This Year's Spending Bill

More from RealClearPolitics: Top 10 Most Corrupt Politicians in U.S....]]> Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 In Pictures: Which Small State Pays the Highest Taxes?

In Pictures: Which States Pay the Most for Their Representation?

"I feel like doing something very un-senatorial, which is to simply say: Yes!" Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) said, with a pump of the fist, at a press conference following yesterday's vote. "The truth is, this is a victory for America because...]]> Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 With the Fiscal Responsibility Summit under way at the White House this afternoon, House Republicans are calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to freeze federal government spending levels. The House is taking up this week the omnibus spending bill that will fund the federal government through the end of September, and Republicans are requesting that funding not increase from its 2008 level.

In Depth: Analyzing President Obama's First 100 Days

Pelosi has also called for fiscal responsibility in government spending, requesting last week that House committee...]]> Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Paterson's 41 percent favorability and 45 percent job approval ratings put a serious damper on the high hopes voters had for Paterson when he took over for the disgraced Eliot Spitzer. Upon assuming office in March 2008, three-fourths of voters felt Paterson could govern effectively, and two-thirds felt he would restore public trust in state government.

Now, many New York headlines are merely tracking Paterson's missteps, and private groups are running ads criticizing his proposed budget cuts. Recent polling found that two-thirds of voters had seen such ads, and while seven in ten New Yorkers think the state's budget problems are very serious, just 36 percent think Paterson is...]]> Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Webb: I don't think that's quite what happened. No... [laughs]

But I think it has the potential to happen. People need to get a comfort level with what this administration is doing. There's certainly a commonality of interests in those two groups -- or more loosely defined, African Americans who still haven't made their way into the mainstream and a lot of rural, working class whites who are out of the mainstream. And I think they do have a commonality of interests. When we look at issues, particularly economic fairness and social justice issues, there's a definite intersection where there is opportunities for working people or looking at the prison system or who carries the load...]]> Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 As Senate Democrats held a retreat down Pennsylvania Avenue and House Democrats focused their attention on passing an expansion to the SCHIP legislation, House and Senate Republicans set out yesterday to build momentum against the Democrats' economic stimulus plans.

Rasmussen's release of a poll showing more Americans oppose the Democratic proposal than support it set off what seemed like a renewed sense of confidence among GOP members. The new poll numbers offered Republicans some political capital they previously haven't had, after substantial losses the last two elections.

"Clearly, the American people are watching what we're doing in Congress and waiting to see whether...]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Who They Are

A quick look at the landscape shows what the GOP is dealing with: After the 2004 congressional elections, Republicans held a 30-seat advantage in the House and a 10-seat edge in the Senate; the GOP now has a 77-seat deficit in the House and -- should Al Franken (D- MN) be seated and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) become the next U.S. Commerce Secretary -- a 20-seat deficit in the Senate.

And that's just in Congress. In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama won 53% of the popular vote, 365 electoral votes, and carried nine states that President Bush won in 2004 along with all of John Kerry's states.

"The results of the two recent elections...]]> Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0600 "In the course of our history, only a handful of generations have been asked to confront challenges as serious as the ones we face right now," Obama said Sunday from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, before laying out in Hemingway-like sentences exactly what the country is facing.

Compare that to what Lincoln said in March 1861, as he related his situation -- a country split in half over slavery -- to that of his predecessors.

"It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution," Lincoln said. "During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the...]]> Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Standing at the same podium 10 minutes later, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had a different take on the situation. "At the risk of boring you, let me just tell you that the race in Minnesota is not over until the people in Minnesota say it's over," McConnell said. "And the way you say it's over in Minnesota is somebody shows up here with an election certificate. And as I understand it, that's not going to happen tomorrow."

According to the state of Minnesota, it's been certified that Democrat Al Franken is leading at the end of the recount, but the state is prohibited under law from declaring a winner or issuing a certificate of election until all litigation has been...]]> Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0600 Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer has served in his current position since being appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist. Before his appointment, Greer was elected to two terms on the City Council of Oviedo, located northeast of Orlando, and served as Seminole County chairman for Crist's gubernatorial campaign. Greer hasn't officially announced his intentions, and it's unclear where he would stand against other more-conservative candidates.

Michael Steele currently serves as chairman of GOPAC, which recruits and helps elect Republicans to state and local offices -- the GOP's version of a farm system. Steele was elected Maryland's lieutenant...]]> Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0600 "These are the strictest ethics rules ever applied," said Podesta, who served as Bill Clinton's chief of staff for the last two years of his administration. Asked why they would keep lobbyists from working on policy areas for which they're deeply knowledgeable, Podesta said: "I've heard the complaint that we're leaving all these extra people on the side, that we're leaving all the people that know everything out in the cold. So be it. That's a commitment that is one the American people expect and one the President-elect made."

Congress is providing $5 million of the $12 million budget the transition team is working under, Podesta said, meaning they will have to raise $7 million...]]> Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 According to the Senate Historical Office, Stevens becomes just the fifth sitting senator to be convicted of a crime. Of the previous four Senators, three resigned and one died before the Senate could expel them. Stevens will likely be defeated for re-election before the Senate is able to act.

Challenging Stevens for his Senate seat is Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, an Alaska native and son of a former congressman. The Begich name is known around the state due to the tragedy surrounding the death of his father, Rep. Nick Begich, whose plane disappeared in the Gulf of Alaska while he was campaigning for re-election in 1972. Had Stevens not run into Senate ethics trouble, Begich likely...]]> Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 While Virginia hasn't voted for a Democrat since 1964 -- when all but six states voted for Lyndon B. Johnson -- there have been some close races since then, whether the candidates campaigned there or not.

"It's not true that the last time Virginia was competitive was '64," said Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "Virginia was actually a target state in 1976. It received attention from both Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford."

The race that year was extremely close, with Ford edging Carter by just 1 point. And, as Sabato noted, Virginia stuck out as "the only southern state not to vote for Carter."

Another close election...]]> Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 It's tempting to call McCain's performance tonight his finest of the three debates. The format even seemed to benefit him more than it did Obama. The semi-town hall debate in Nashville, Tenn., last week was supposed to be McCain's chance to shine, but he seemed far more comfortable seated at a table while Obama seemed just the opposite. McCain looked Obama in the eye when arguing with him and came across as the feisty gentleman many Americans have grown to like over the years.

However, it's not clear that McCain did much to win over the independent and undecided voters whom he vitally needs in order to climb back in the polls and, of course, win when the voting counts on Nov. 4. A...]]> Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500 "We would hope that Republicans, some of whom have cosponsored pieces of legislation in this package, would want to leave here and tell their constituents they did everything to pass non-controversial legislation," said Rodell Mollineau, a spokesman for Reid's office.

Democrats had been unwilling to spend valuable and limited floor time debating and voting on each of the minor pieces of legislation individually. In July, Coburn successfully prevented Democrats from cutting off debate on the series of measures. He did so with virtually the entire Republican caucus at his back, voting with him in an effort to force Democrats to consider new energy legislation.

Now, whether the...]]> Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500 In the last election, Burner matched Reichert in spending, and as she put it, came just 5 voters per precinct from winning. "It's time," Burner said, when asked why she thinks she'll win. "This is a district that has been changing a lot over the last several years. The number of new people in the district is huge, and the people who have lived in the district are also changing."

Fundraising certainly is not a problem. Burner raised more than $300,000 in the first quarter of 2006 -- which caught the eye of the national party -- and went on to match Reichert in spending through the general election. Through the second quarter of this year, Burner had raised almost...]]> Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500