While we wait for the results, here’s a sampling of some of our reporting in the past week on the races, debates, and media spectacles that have made up the election season:
Races to Watch:
- Joe Miller, Campaign Finance Reform Advocate? Alaska’s Senate race has transformed the Tea Party candidate into an unlikely opponent of Citizens United.
- Trouble on the Border: Among the House districts Democrats are battling to hold are five along the border with Mexico.
- Tom Tomorrow: In a year when Democrats are supposed to be on the run, Rep. Tom Perriello is standing up for his progressive record.
- Banking on Hispanics: In California, the race for governor hinges on Hispanic turnout.
- Doylestown Rules: Joe Sestak hunts votes in the Philadelphia suburbs.
- How Dems Lost Illinois: High unemployment, a gaping state deficit, and a weak slate of Democratic candidates have given the GOP the advantage in Obama’s home state.
- Tacking Left: While Democrats nationwide kowtow to the anti-tax crowd, Connecticut gubernatorial candidate Dan Malloy shows progressive taxation can be a winning issue.
- Scott Free: The Florida governor’s race is one of the most important in the nation — and a low-flying hard-core conservative is looking to win.
The Arguments:
- Don’t Blame Obama for the Enthusiasm Gap: Democratic voters have never been that thrilled about voting in midterm elections, and there isn’t much the president can do to change that.
- The Lowdown on Election Spending: TAP talks to Sheila Krumholz about the real effects of the Citizens United decision on the midterms.
- The Long Game: Disillusioned progressives can help Democrats, and themselves, at the ballot box.
- True Left Is Not Nice: Is progressive excitement the key to Democratic victory in the fall?
- The Debate We Should Be Having: Austerity is perverse economics and self-defeating politics. Here are sensible alternatives.
- The Wrong Political Game: The administration didn’t lose a game of political daring — it failed to pay attention to the economy.
- How to Create a Campaign Narrative: With nearly 200 House seats in play this year, determining races is less about polling and more about national trends.
- The Case for Mockery: Social-issue extremism is a potent reminder of everything voters hated about Republican rule.
- The Year of the New Woman: A slew of female candidates are quietly winning races on their own terms. What happened?
Media Mayhem:
- Rallying the Elites: What’s so wrong with young people coming together to laugh at the Tea Partiers?
- The Rally to Restore Journalism: In both our media and our politics, style over substance has become the status quo.
- Their Own Facts: How basic misunderstandings about government benefit the right
- The Truth About Lies: In politics, truthfulness is a virtue — except where it matters most.
— The Editors
