The New Republic

Last Saturday’s debate on the Stupak anti-abortion amendment to the House health reform bill provides an X-ray of the complex interplay between region and religion within the Democratic coalition. READ MORE >>

The Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book, released yesterday, painted a cautiously optimistic portrait of the state of the nation’s economy. The New York Times, reporting on the Beige Book, heralded a “slow and still fragile recovery” that is “taking hold acros READ MORE >>

The morning after the presidential election, a group of top Obama staffers and consultants gathered for brunch at a restaurant a few blocks from their Chicago headquarters. The mood was understandably emotional, and, before long, chief strategist David Axelrod rose to offer a valedictory. According to one person in the room, Axelrod lavished praise on his operatives for their discretion, for their collegiality, and for their resistance to all manner of Washington-think. READ MORE >>

At three o'clock on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 24, John McCain announced a bold move. He was suspending his campaign and rushing back to Washington to deal with the escalating financial crisis, even if it meant skipping a scheduled debate with Barack Obama that Friday night. The McCain campaign heralded the ploy as evidence that its man was a decisive leader who would put duty to his country above partisan politics. READ MORE >>

Our model does not make any specific adjustments for early voting, but it is presenting a major problem for John McCain in three states in the Mountain West region, where Barack Obama has a huge fraction of his vote locked in.In the wee hours of this morning, Public Policy Polling released data from Colorado and New Mexico. The toplines are strong for Obama, giving him leads of 10 and 17 READ MORE >>

I just checked the CNN site a few minutes ago (around 5:35 AM eastern), and there are still only 85 percent of precincts reporting there. (Obama up a fraction of a percent.) Why is New Mexico so damn slow to tally its results? Is it the Indian reservations there? The geographic remoteness of some of these precincts? Anybody? --Noam Scheiber READ MORE >>

The next stop on TNR's Super Tuesday Primer is the lovely state of New Mexico: READ MORE >>

In the historical race to the bottom that is Nixon v. Bush, the late trickster would seem to have the edge: He was an unimpeachable lawbreaker-- actually, an impeachable one--a claim that doesn't quite stick to Bush. But, in the last month, Bush has been closing fast. While he may not have any second- rate burglaries under his belt, his record now includes his very own version of the Saturday Night Massacre, thanks to the purging of eight U.S. attorneys. READ MORE >>

STORMIN' MORMON READ MORE >>

Say what you will about Bill Richardson's White House chances, but at least his presidential campaign is making New Mexico safer for roosters. From the AP: READ MORE >>