The New Republic

Earlier this month, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that suicide rates among middle-age Americans have surged over the last decade: an increase of nearly 30 percent, to 17.6 deaths per 100,000 people, among ages 35-64. READ MORE >>

Last week's results of the Census' Current Population Survey on the 2012 election appeared historic: For the first time ever, black voter turnout exceeded white turnout. But the Current Population Survey is just that—a survey—and thus imperfect, subject to the same sampling errors and response problems that plague smaller public-opinion polls. READ MORE >>

Pennsylvania was all but ignored in 2012, but the Keystone State is poised to return to prominence in 2016. On Tuesday, Joe Sestak, a former Democratic congressman, indicated his interest in a rematch with Republican Senator Pat Toomey in 2016. READ MORE >>

After President Obama’s relatively easy reelection, analysts and commentators wondered whether his young and diverse coalition would outlive his presidency. Many believe, based mainly on their intuition, that 2008 and 2012 were the anomalous results of a historic candidacy. On the other hand, the country is getting more and more diverse with each passing year. Recently, one prominent demographer at the Brookings Institute used the exit polls to argue that Obama would have lost if turnout rates returned to ’04 levels. READ MORE >>

Welcome to a non-presidential election year in the age of Obama. Last week, a new poll showed Democratic Senate candidate Ed Markey ahead of his Republican rival, Gabriel Gomez, by just 4 points in Massachusetts, reviving memories of Scott Brown’s victory in a 2010 special election. READ MORE >>

Presidential elections are relatively easy to analyze. The economic fundamentals provide an early handicap of the outcome, and by the end the countless polls are so accurate that you often need to try to get presidential elections wrong, as hopeful partisans do. READ MORE >>

On Wednesday, the National Review's Robert Costa reported that freshman Senator Ted Cruz, a tea party favorite from Texas, is considering a presidential campaign. Apparently, Cruz's supporters argue that he would be a “Barry Goldwater type” who could reconnect the party with its base—except with “better electoral results.” Outdoing the GOP's 1964 nominee would not, of course, be much of an accomplishment: Goldwater won only 38 percent of the popular vote against Lyndon Johnson. READ MORE >>

After decades dreaming of high black turnout, Democrats finally got their wish in the last two elections, with obvious results. President Barack Obama overcame a strong Republican performance among white voters last November, and Monday, an analysis by William Frey, a demographer at Brookings, found that black turnout actually exceeded white turnout in 2012. He also concluded that Mitt Romney would have won last year if racial turnout levels had mirrored 2004's. Both conclusions are premature—and the latter is plain wrong. READ MORE >>

A major theme of American politics in the years since 2008 has been how voters react to a grim economy. Of course, that theme doesn’t apply everywhere. One swath of the country that has experienced good times: The chunks of North Dakota and eastern Montana that have witnessed a shale oil boom. READ MORE >>

The next few months could determine the fate of 11 million undocumented immigrants, so, naturally, the question is how those undocumented immigrants would vote. Today, Politico's lead story attempts to explain how immigration reform could be a “bonanza” for Democrats, since today’s undocumented workers could swing states like Texas or Arizona in the 2028 election. READ MORE >>