Michael Barone

Michael Barone

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Santorum's Loose Lips Can Turn Convictions to Controversy

By Michael Barone (Feb 23, 2012)

A candidate's strengths can also be his weaknesses. Take the case of Rick Santorum. One of his strengths is perseverance. For more than a year, he made hundreds of... more

Prudence Is Key to Reversing Obama's 'Soft Despotism'

By Michael Barone (Feb 20, 2012)

Many Republican House members, and the bloggers and tea partiers who cheered their victory in gaining a majority in November 2010, seem to be seething with discontent and... more

A Failure of Imagination Put Metro on Wrong Track

By Michael Barone (Feb 16, 2012)

Believers in central planning should take a look at Washington's Metro rail transit system. While they will find many things to like, they will also see examples of how... more

Romney Appeals to White Collars, Santorum to Blue

By Michael Barone (Feb 13, 2012)

Rick Santorum won big victories in three small contests in the Republican presidential race last Tuesday. In doing so, he reshaped the oft-reshaped nomination battle once... more

GOP Must Convince Young People It's the Party of Options

By Michael Barone (Feb 09, 2012)

The Republican presidential candidates, except for Ron Paul, haven't been paying much attention to young voters in the primaries and caucuses so far. But any Republican... more

Box-checking Obama in a Liberal Cocoon

By Michael Barone (Feb 06, 2012)

It's unusual when a reporter sympathetic to a politician writes a story that makes his subject look bad. But Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker has now done this... more

After Big Win, Romney Faces Tough Opponents in a Long War

By Michael Barone (Feb 02, 2012)

Mitt Romney's impressive victory Tuesday makes it very likely that we will look back on the Florida primary as the contest that determined the 2012 Republican... more

The 2012 Race Takes Shape

By Michael Barone (Jan 30, 2012)

We got mixed signals from a turbulent political week. Barack Obama seems to be enjoying an uptick in polls -- up toward, but not quite at, 50 percent approval.... more

Unlike Obama, GOP Candidates Talk Seriously About Governing

By Michael Barone (Jan 26, 2012)

You know politicians are serious when they move from campaigning to governing. Something like that may be happening on the Republican campaign trail -- but, unfortunately,... more

A Few Words in Defense of Negative Campaigning

By Michael Barone (Jan 23, 2012)

Those who take a certain pleasure in denouncing the evils negative political advertising should have spent the last week in South Carolina. They could have plunked down in... more

South Carolina Hoping to Pick Next President

By Michael Barone (Jan 19, 2012)

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- The crowd at the Fox News/Wall Street Journal debate in Myrtle Beach was feisty, with whoops and cheers for Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum... more

Obama Thumbs His Nose at the Founders with One-Man Rule

By Michael Barone (Jan 16, 2012)

Of course President Obama is not concentrating on campaigning, White House press spokesmen assured us -- as the president headed off to Chicago for three fundraisers and a... more

'Tactical Voters' went to Romney in New Hampshire

By Michael Barone (Jan 12, 2012)

To win just under 40 percent of the vote in a primary with five active candidates is pretty impressive, even for a candidate like Mitt Romney, who started off with... more

The Weakness That Saps the Strength of GOP Candidates

By Michael Barone (Jan 09, 2012)

A presidential campaign exposes candidates' strengths and weaknesses. The strengths they're eager to tell you about. So let's look at the weaknesses. Start... more

Romney's watchwords in Iowa: Divide and Conquer

By Michael Barone (Jan 05, 2012)

Elections are contests held during a moment in time between candidates who have records stretching back, often far back, into the past. So there is always a tension between... more

Steady in Iowa, Romney Counts on New Hampshire, Florida

By Michael Barone (Jan 02, 2012)

Election year has finally arrived, well after the beginning of a turbulent and unpredictable elections season, and voting begins on Tuesday in the Iowa Republicans... more