Likely presidential hopeful Jeb Bush may be first among equals in support from mega-rich Super PACS but dough alone is not enough to get to the front of the pack in Republican politics
Jimmy Carter was a long shot who won the White House.
United States Air Force, ID DF-SC-83-0126
The obscure candidates jumping into the Republican race for president will likely only see the inside of the White House on a tour. Yet long-shot candidates persist. Why?
Last week the race for the Republic presidential nomination was kicked off in earnest by the Conservative Political Action’s annual Conference. Yes, they all, predictably, want to “save our country” from…
Barack Obama outlined a vision of post-recession liberalism that was at once hopeful and limited in his State of the Union address.
EPA/Astrid Riecken
On Tuesday night (US time), President Barack Obama gave his second-last State of the Union address – and the last one that has the potential to shape his legacy. Next year the country will be caught up…
Republican senator Mitch McConnell says the new climate deal will let China “do nothing” until 2030. Far from it.
EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS/AAP
“As I read the agreement it requires the Chinese to do nothing at all for 16 years while these carbon emissions regulations are creating havoc in my state and around the country.” – US Republican Senate…
A relieved and re-elected Sam Brownback.
Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters
The 2014 midterm elections were full of surprises, mostly bad for the Democratic Party. Many Democratic candidates were defeated in races where the polls showed them with small but consistent leads. Chief…
The man to watch: new Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
No denying it, Tuesday was a big day for Republicans. They took control of the Senate, expanded their majority in the House, and added to the number of governorships they hold. The Senate outcome is rightly…
They are all Republicans but do these senators agree on US foreign policy?
Larry Downing/Reuters
The midterm elections have come and gone. After months of speculation, the results were largely predictable. The Republicans solidified their position in the House and took the Senate. A sixth year president’s…
The US midterm elections will decide who gets control of Congress for Barack Obama’s last two years in office. A hugely decisive moment at first glance – but in reality, the 2014 midterms have devolved…
If Democrats win governorships in battleground states, their fortunes in the House of Representatives will improve considerably – in the long term.
EPA/Michael Reynolds
If the polls are correct, the headlines on November 5 following the US midterm elections will proclaim that Democrats have suffered a major defeat. The Democrats will likely lose the Senate. President…
Ebola got as far as Texas, but Islamic State was nothing to do with it.
Erik S. Lesser/EPA
Like SARS and swine flu before it, Ebola has put the threat of pandemic disease back in the spotlight. But this time, the debate has reached far beyond what happens “if” or “when” a natural outbreak goes…
On March 14, in an address to the Oxford Union supposedly about “innovation”, Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann talked about her 2012 presidential run, and went so far as to hint she might consider…
When US Vice President Joe Biden complained recently that “There isn’t a Republican Party,” nobody thought to reply, “Well, it takes one to know one.” Not so long ago, a Republican might well have said…
US president Barack Obama is set to address Congress to map out his agenda for the year. What’s he likely to say?
EPA/Pete Marovich
On Tuesday evening (Washington time), US president Barack Obama will deliver his sixth State of the Union address. It comes at an important moment in his presidency. He has little to show for the first…
A house divided: the shutdown and debt ceiling crisis may be over, but partisan gridlock has brought politics in Washington to a standstill.
EPA/Michael Reynolds
The US debt crisis is over for now, but legislators have just kicked the can down the road. In this series on the US debt ceiling, academics from Australia, the UK and the US assess the lingering global…
Republican senator Ted Cruz has become the face of the Tea Party movement during the shutdown and debt ceiling crisis. But how has the Tea Party changed since its inception?
EPA/Michael Reynolds
The US debt crisis is over for now, but legislators have just kicked the can down the road. In this series on the US debt ceiling, academics from Australia, the UK and the US assess the lingering global…
After 16 days of anxiety, grandstanding and acrimonious finger-pointing, the experiment in American democracy that was the government shutdown has been run, and for the Republicans, the results were devastating…
Did US president Barack Obama and his Democratic Party emerge as victors from the now-concluded government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis?
EPA/Martin H. Simon
The confrontation - and the ultimate resolution - over the debt ceiling and the government shutdown has, to date, been the defining moment of US president Barack Obama’s second term. It offers an important…
Sanity has prevailed in the US, at least temporarily. For now, the threat of America’s first ever debt default has receded. But we may be back in the same territory in early 2014 as the US treasury is…
Professor of Economics and Finance. Director of the Betting Research Unit and the Political Forecasting Unit at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University
Professor in U.S. Politics and U.S. Foreign Relations at the United States Studies Centre and in the Discipline of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney