By Colin Campbell 11/12/12 10:42am

Post-mortems

(Photo: YouTube)

Rep. Hayworth Reflects on Her Loss: ‘It’s a Tough Life’

A number of key New York congressional seats were at stake election day last week. When all the votes were counted, though there were over a half-dozen competitive races only three districts changed partisan hands. One of those belonged to Hudson Valley Rep. Nan Hayworth, a freshman Republican who came in on the Tea Party wave two years ago and narrowly lost her seat this time around to Democratic attorney Sean Patrick Maloney. On Friday, Ms. Hayworth went on Richard French Live to look back on her unsuccessful election, as well as the broader national race.

“Look, Hurricane Sandy did have an effect on the public discourse,” she contended. “There are issues of momentum that affected races like mine. The President had a substantial percentage margin over Governor Romney and we had known if there were a really large margin for the president, above say 5 points, that that would be very hard for us to overcome structurally in the new district that I was running in.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 11/07/12 11:30am

Close Calls

Democrats managed to hold onto, or win, a large number of seats in the New York City area. (Photo: WNYC.org)

Democrats Have a New York State Government Takeover in Their Sights

Although most of the attention last night was rightfully placed on the presidential race, a number of important state legislative campaigns were also waged, which, depending on how they turn out, could potentially have a significant impact on the legislation and policies that emerge out of Albany in the coming years. Notably, control of the New York State Senate hangs in the balance, and if Democrats win there, the party would control the trifecta of the state government as they already have an overwhelmingly majority in the State Assembly and a similarly aligned governor.

With one temporary exception, the senate has been continuously controlled by the GOP in recent years. Despite a large fundraising edge and an aggressive gerrymander which appeared to have locked in a Republican majority for the immediate future, a number of surprisingly strong Democratic victories pushed back against the conventional wisdom that they had no chance at reversing their fortunes this year, Read More

By Colin Campbell 11/07/12 9:20am

Cash Money

(Photo: Getty)

Bloomberg’s Super PAC Narrowly Misses Most Congressional Targets

Late in this year’s election cycle, Mayor Michael Bloomberg suddenly announced the creation of a “super PAC,” Independence USA, through which the billionaire mayor could funnel unlimited sums of cash to candidates who support his political agenda of gun control, gay marriage and education reform. Looking at the federal races Mr. Bloomberg aimed to influence through the new political action committee, however, a majority of his candidates narrowly lost last night.

For example, in western Connecticut, moderate Republican Andrew Roraback suffered a 48%-to-52% loss to Democrat Elizabeth Esty, despite Mr. Bloomberg spending more than a million dollars on Mr. Roraback’s behalf. Similarly, in another suburban seat, Mr. Bloomberg dropped roughly a million dollars boosting GOP Rep. Bob Dold in Illinois, only to see him lose by less than 1%. And, down in Florida, he spent more than $2 million in an attempt to vanquish Republican Congressman Dan Webster, but the incumbent still beat back a strong challenge from Val Demings, 52% to 48%. Read More

By Colin Campbell 11/06/12 4:42pm

Sports Page

(Photo: Getty)

Obama Wins His Pre-Election Basketball Game

President Barack Obama has a pre-election ritual where he plays a friendly game of basketball as the votes are cast. Today was no exception and the president hit the court this afternoon as voters across the country cast their ballots in what he has referred to as “my last election.”

According to tweets from Alexi Giannoulias, a longtime friend of Mr. Obama’s and a former Illinois State Treasurer, Mr. Giannoulias and Chicago Bulls great Scottie Pippen joined the president’s team to face off against former Obama body man Reggie Love and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Read More

By Colin Campbell 11/06/12 3:11pm

Journeys With Joe

Another one of Mr. Biden's fans from a few days ago. (Photo: Getty)

Joe Biden Meets His Fans and Makes More 2016 Jokes

Vice President Joe Biden, fresh off voting for himself in Delaware, returned to the pivotal battleground state of Ohio this afternoon to do a final round of campaign stops before polls close. And, true to form, Mr. Biden seemed to be having fun.

Approaching a booth at a Greek diner in Cleveland, Mr. Biden apologized for causing a commotion, jesting diners just came to get some spaghetti, “and Joe Biden shows up.”

Next, the vice president met, according to a pool report, “the number one Biden superfan.” The supporter, “struggling to contain excitement,” offered Mr. Biden her food before chanting, “Biden! Biden!” Read More

By Colin Campbell 11/05/12 5:35pm

Keep Calm and Carry On

President Obama and Bruce Springsteen today. (Photo: Getty)

Obama Campaign to Supporters: Don’t Panic Over Early Exit Polls

In a conference call this afternoon, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign had one central message for their supporters when Election Day arrives tomorrow: They should “keep calm,” even if they hear snippets of information favoring Republican Mitt Romney.

“My warning, we need to stay calm for much of the day,” Stephanie Cutter, Mr. Obama’s deputy campaign manager, said, touting thousands of early ballots already submitted by voters. “We’ve already banked a pretty big portion of our vote.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 11/01/12 3:28pm

Decisions

(Photo: Getty)

Citing Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Bloomberg Endorses Obama

In a surprising announcement this afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who left the Republican Party in 2007 and has been courted extensively by both presidential candidates, endorsed President Barack Obama for reelection. Mr. Bloomberg publicized his decision in a Bloomberg View op-ed and said Hurricane Sandy’s destruction and the need to tackle long-term climate change motivated his decision.

“We need leadership from the White House — and over the past four years, President Barack Obama has taken major steps to reduce our carbon consumption, including setting higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks,” he explained. “His administration also has adopted tighter controls on mercury emissions, which will help to close the dirtiest coal power plants (an effort I have supported through my philanthropy), which are estimated to kill 13,000 Americans a year.”

In contrast, Mr. Bloomberg said Republican candidate Mitt Romney was “abandoning the very cap-and-trade program he once supported,” and the issue is simply “too important” to let slide. Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/25/12 4:21pm

Buckeye Battle

(Photo: Getty)

Romney Campaign Issues Memo Disputing Obama’s Ohio Poll Lead

For presidential contests, Ohio is important. Every politico knows that.

This year’s race between President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney is proving to be no exception. Just a couple days ago, The New York Times’s widely respected number-cruncher Nate Silver released an analysis giving Ohio a 50-50 chance of deciding the next occupant of the White House. Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/22/12 9:15pm

2012

Video

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WATCH: The Final Presidential Debate

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are facing off in their third and final debate tonight. The verbal contest, hosted by Bob Schieffer, will focus on foreign policy and provide a highly-anticipated back-and-forth as polls tighten and Election Day looms on the calendar, almost exactly two weeks away. Read More

By Colin Campbell 10/18/12 9:33pm

c'mon guys

(Photo: C-SPAN)

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama Both Go There With ‘Cuomo 2016’ Jokes

Governor Andrew Cuomo is widely talked about as a potential presidential candidate in the next election and he consistently dismisses the speculation by insisting he’s purely focused on the job of governing the State of New York. Let’s just say the featured guests at tonight’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner didn’t exactly help dampen the chatter surrounding the governor’s future.

“I’m pleased to once again to see Governor Cuomo, who’s already being talked about for higher office,” former Governor Mitt Romney said as he was introducing the distinguished guests in the room. “A very impressive fellow, but he may be getting a little ahead of himself. Let me get this straight, he’s had one term as a governor, he had a father who happened to be a governor, and he thinks that’s enough to run for president?” Read More