101 days ago - W hatever dark arts Democrats believe Karl Rove has practiced, his greatest legacy to the penny loafer Machiavellis who populate the Republican Party is the unstinting use of bracketing.

Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio

108 days ago - T he reason so many pundits approved when Barack Obama’s campaign floated the idea of picking pure-vanilla Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana for a running mate this week is that it addressed the biggest concern among Obama supporters in and out of the media corps — that he can’t connect with lunch-pail Democrats in the Midwest.

Chris Stirewalt: Will Ted Stevens drag down GOP?

115 days ago - T here’s a growing dread among Republicans that if not dealt with swiftly and soundly, the indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens could do the same damage to the effort to stop Democrats from gaining total control of Congress that the GOP’s scandals of 2005 and 2006 did to the party’s majority.

Chris Stirewalt: John McCain’s veep vibes

122 days ago - W hile Barack Obama was trying to avoid rhetorical quagmires in the Middle East, John McCain’s flirtations with potential running mates was starting to look more like heavy petting.

Chris Stirewalt: Bad hand for poker-faced Obama

129 days ago - E very moment that Barack Obama is talking about foreign policy is a step backward for his candidacy, just as every moment spent talking about the economy is a setback for John McCain.

Chris Stirewalt: Obama’s tough talk stops at the Iranian border

136 days ago - F inding out that fission fanatics in Iran had tested a long-range missile was sort of like finding out that the parents of the miscreant teenager next door decided to buy the little hooligan a car.

Chris Stirewalt: Obama’s summer lovin’ with the right wing

143 days ago - B arack Obama’s supporters must be feeling a little like Olivia Newton-John’s character in “Grease.”

Chris Stirewalt: Presidents are known best by how they run

150 days ago - F or the politically disenchanted, the popular view of our presidential selection process is that it was designed to hoodwink an uninterested electorate into making superficial choices and allow candidates to avoid real issues.

Chris Stirewalt: The difference between Barack and Barry

157 days ago - H ow would Barack Obama fare in the 2008 election if he were named Barry Dunham?

Chris Stirewalt: Battlefield counties of 2008

164 days ago - In what is promising to be the closest presidential race since the people of Palm Beach were dimpling the chads on their butterfly ballots, battleground states are a thing of the past.

Chris Stirewalt: McCain must pick own fight if he wants to win presidency

171 days ago - The Democratic Party has nominated a candidate starkly different in terms of race, culture and ideology from the swing voters needed to reclaim the White House. As it happened, the party did so in a process that deepened those very weaknesses.