Presidency
Presidential Battleground States by the Numbers Since 1968
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania lead the way with nine races decided by single-digits over the last 11 presidential election cycles; Missouri and Oregon are next with eight
Read MoreHow High Is Too High? Unemployment and the 2012 Presidential Race
Ronald Reagan got reelected in a landslide in 1984 with an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent, while George H.W. Bush was defeated in 1992 with a nearly identical 7.4 percent rate
Read MoreExperienced ‘Outsiders’: Do Ex-Elected Officials Make the Strongest Presidential Challengers?
Incumbent presidents have won only 50 percent of elections against former elected officeholders over the last 220 years, compared to 76 percent against sitting elected officials and those never elected to political office
Read MoreObama’s SOTU: Uniting the Country…through Pronouns?
Obama’s 2011 State of the Union incorporated the 2nd largest percentage of first-person plural pronouns since FDR
Read MoreKeeping It Simple: Obama Records 2nd Lowest Flesch-Kincaid SOTU Grade Level Score Since FDR
President’s 2011 SOTU speech was written at more than a half a grade level lower than 2010’s score, which was the 4th lowest in 75+ years
Read MoreA Content Analysis of Barack Obama’s 2011 State of the Union Address
Obama’s statements on education and technology rose compared to his 2010 Address, while statements on the economy and health care declined
Read MoreObama’s Episodic Stories in SOTU All Rooted in 2012 Battleground States
Each of the personal anecdotes relayed by Obama in his 2011 Address featured individuals living in battleground states won by the President in 2008
Read MoreIs Democratic Hold on Wisconsin’s 2012 U.S. Senate Seat Tied to an Obama Victory?
Badger State has voted for same party of U.S. Senate and Presidential nominees in 14 of 16 election cycles over the last century
Read MoreBachmann’s Potential Presidential Pathway Not Well-Trodden
Only one sitting member of the U.S. House has been elected president in history (Garfield); only three presidents have been elected with U.S. Representative as the highest elected office attained on their resume
Read MoreReapportionment Election Cycles See Highest Turnover in Partisan Control of Presidency
Political parties have lost control of the White House in years ending in ‘2’ at more than twice the rate than all other election cycles since the 1850s
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