Two new polls should Republicans smile and Democrats highly nervous. Both the Washington Post/ABC News Poll and NBC/Wall Street Journal pols are showing an ever-tightening race. Look for the conventional wisdom to now do more than lip service to the conventional wisdom that Barack Obama, in fact, may be the underdog in this race — particularly as his party now seems split over the Bain Capital issue use....

Former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being charged with yet another sex crime committed in the United States, this time just steps from the White House. According to reporter Emeline Cazi of France’s Le Monde, the alleged victim, a Belgian woman transported to the United States for a party with Strauss-Kahn, has testified that as she struggled to escape, DSK lay on top of her and DSK’s friend,...

Our political Quote of the Day comes from CBS’s Bob Schieffer, who, as I’ve said before, was really person who should have succeeded Walter Cronkite: “But you know, I tell you something, Imus — what I find really interesting. What’s going on here, frankly, is you know, Mitt Romney, is not the robber baron that the Obama folks would have you believe any more than Obama is a European socialist...

This just in! It’s a story that will bust this town wide open. Actually, it’s just one more example of meaningless, silly and credibility-destroying politics and partisanship has become. I mean, really…

Camp Obama has had a lot of bad political news recently (Corey Booker, a slew of polls, Romney catching up in funding) and this is more of it: Colin Powell is balking at endorsing Obama (understandable this early in the season since he always holds out) and says Mitt Romney is a “good man” (a phrase unhelpful to Obama’s team and a sign that Powell could indeed endorse someone who was once...

Pretty much everyone notices that political speech has become more bitterly partisan in recent years. Now a study finds that speechifying by our leaders in D. C. has also been dumbing down, nearly a full grade level since just seven years ago. Measured by the Flesch-Kincaid test, congressional oratory has dropped from an 11.5 grade level on average to a 10.6 grade level. This compares to the U. S. Constitution’s...

The Speaker is back, trying to reprise his Greatest Hit—-last year’s manufactured debt-ceiling crisis that lowered the nation’s credit rating after nearly sending government over a cliff. Like Newt Gingrich in the 1990s, Boehner is ready, willing but fortunately unable to bring America to a standstill again this year to prevent reelection of a Democratic president, but he is eager to make the threat an...

Randall Enos, Cagle Cartoons This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

The NAACP’s relevance step by Eugene Robinson WASHINGTON — With its support for gay marriage, the NAACP has done more than strike a blow for fairness and equality. The nation’s most venerable civil rights organization has made itself relevant again. The NAACP’s 64-member board approved a resolution Saturday supporting “marriage equality” not as a matter of empathy...

California’s 30th District: Race Between Consensus Builders Berman and Sherman is the Most Fascinating Redistricted House Battle by Scott Crass This redistricting year is forcing numerous pairings of one House member against another. Some are Democratic vs. Republican matchups. Others involve incumbents whose party affiliations are the same, but whose styles are different. But the most fascinating contest...

Embattled Newark Mayor Corey Booker — seemingly doing more back steps than Ginger Rogers did with Fred Astaire — has been working mightily to undo the damage many feel he has done to Barack Obama’s campaign. Analysts differ. Were his comments defending Mitt Romney on Bain Capital’s use as an issue a political mistake? Due to his own Wall Street ties? Did it reflect his ambition? Was...

Here’s a video of Barack Obama’s explanation of why the issue of Bain Capital is not a distraction but at the center of a philosophical debate at play in election 2012. The issue has now gotten enmeshed in talking points on both sides. Here’s Obama’s explanation so you can judge for yourself:

With their resources drying up like a pond in the hot sun, can NATO do what is necessary to ensure the Alliance’s continued relevance in a world that appears increasingly unstable? For Die Zeit, columnist Claudia Major writes that to survive as an institution, NATO members must achieve a far higher degree of integration and trust, and the sacrifice of a greater measure of national sovereignty, which...

Just over two years after its controversial ruling in Citizens United, the U. S. Supreme Court is being challenged to reconsider the heart of its decision. The State Supreme Court of Montana voted 5-2 to uphold a 100 year old Montana law that flies in the face of Citizens United. The Montana law was passed to reduce the influence of copper barons in controlling the state’s politics. Montana’s justices...

German dominance over Europe, particularly since Europe’s foreign debt crisis began, has been a major topic of discussion throughout the continent, with the wounds of World War II clearly on display – particularly in Greece. But when the Germans themselves start satirizing their own influence, it is a sure sign that Berlin is getting used to its growing influence. In this tongue-in-cheek article...

Rather than imposing conditions on delivering promised funds to Pakistan – such as reopening NATO’s supply route through the country, should Washington give Pakistan the money it has promised with gratitude? With the shadow of the friendly-fire incident at Salala hanging over the NATO Summit in Chicago, this angry editorial from The Frontier Post argues that Pakistan has paid a far heavier price...

Barney Frank is getting married and Al Gore is going steady as Mitt Romney exchanges air kisses with George W. Bush behind closed doors. With the coming of Spring, not-so-young men’s fancies turn lightly to what passes for love in the body politic. Frank, the retiring Congressman whose name is on Dodd-Frank, the President’s financial regulation law, nonetheless won’t be inviting Barack and Michelle Obama...

There is some good news today: Rush Limbaugh took a significant ratings hit in some key radio markets last month in the wake of the Sandra Fluke controversy. The conservative radio host’s ratings fell 27 percent in the key 25-54 demo in New York City, 31 percent in Houston-Galveston, 40 percent in Seattle-Tacoma, and 35 percent in Jacksonville, according to a selection of the March 29-April 25 Arbitron...

Yesterday I did this post about how refreshing it was that Newark Mayor Corey Booker seemingly deserved to be displayed in a museum for his criticism of the Obama’s use of the Bain Capital issue against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. And I was not doing so as a conservative Republican blogger (I am not one) or someone who is an activist for anyone in this campaign (I’m not). But as an...

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibiged.