Judging the effectiveness of both campaigns necessitates the use of a historical lens. Historically, incumbent candidates are difficult to oust—only Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush lost re-election bids since 1960. Yet, the American economy under Obama has stagnated and anemic job growth has created a level playing field that has negated a large part … Read more
On November 7, we’ll know for sure whether Chicago or Boston ran the better campaign. For now, I’ll call it as I see it: though I’m no fan, it was Mitt Romney’s operation in Boston. Romney’s campaign knew its issue—the U.S. economy. The campaign framed the election as a referendum on Obama. This was a … Read more
As an intern at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, I was delegated to research Romney’s stance on science. Though “science” is a very broad term, Romney has said relatively little on the topic. On the campaign trail he has flip flopped his position on stem cells, laughed at Gingrich’s space plan, and failed … Read more
Having been born and having lived in Albania most of my life, and having had the chance to visit the region often, I had been sure of one thing: the population of Southeastern Europe is livelier than ever. There was great hope in people my age: hope that they would become part of the European … Read more
It’s a highly under-discussed issue of our time, yet it also happens to have the greatest impact on this country’s future. And when it garners the attention of the media, it’s never for the progress that’s being made. Welcome to the world of education reform in the 21st century, when the story that grabs headlines … Read more
“Let me be something every minute of my life,” she says, “Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry…have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere – be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and … Read more
One day during lunch break from my summer journalism internship, I found myself sitting at a table across from two North Korean defectors at a Japanese restaurant in the backstreets of Seoul. I was filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude to be sharing a meal with two individuals who had lived through so much. … Read more
My hometown of Dickinson, North Dakota is located at the southernmost part of the Bakken oil formation, which is one of the largest shale oil formations in the United States. Thousands of workers have flooded this area in western North Dakota where I live, each hoping to grab his own small piece of the wealth … Read more
This summer I found myself reassessing my view of government as a vague and impersonal political machine chugging away in the Capitol. Adhering to my mom’s requirement that I stay close to family this summer, I gave up hopes of interning in D.C. and instead spent three months interning in a storefront office in Missouri … Read more
“In the summer whole peoples visit one another to spy out each other’s nakedness. Hebrew and Arabic, which are like guttural stones, like sand on the palate, grow soft as oil for the tourist’s sake. Jihad and wars of mitzvah burst open like ripe figs.” —from “Songs of Zion the Beautiful” by Yehuda Amichai … Read more