Feel That? It's the Race Shifting: Noonan

The '08 version redrew the political map and ruptured the financing system, and more

(NEWSER) - We can't be sure what kind of change the next president will bring, but we do know that presidential campaigns themselves will never be the same, writes Gerald F. Seib in the Wall Street Journal. Among this year’s innovations:

• The campaigns have redrawn the political map, making previously locked states competitive, like Virginia, and placing increasing emphasis on the Mountain West.

Senator digs into territory Bush largely carried in 2004

(NEWSER) - John McCain’s campaign map for the next few days puts him on the defensive, touring mostly states that President Bush won in 2004, Politico reports. Tomorrow’s schedule puts him in Florida, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona, all Bush states except the Keystone State. Meanwhile, Barack Obama is also sticking to red states, breaking out of traditional Democratic ground. More»

'Hold on for dear life,' because history's making a liberal turn

(NEWSER) - Peggy Noonan gives it up for Barack Obama today. “He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing,” she writes, and his election will “serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years, which needs rebuking.” He showed good judgment during the campaign, she allows. "He showed grace when he didn't have to." More»

Obama leads, but both teams are playing hardball

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama has led in the last 11 Ohio polls, but the battle for the all-important state is intensifying as Republicans make a last-minute get-out-the-vote sweep. Early voting has leaned Obama’s way, but Republicans—who don't see a clear path to the White House without victory here—say that means little. Salon and the Wall Street Journal look at the battle for Ohio. More»

McCain's 43% or more of the vote isn't nothing

(NEWSER) - For all of Barack Obama’s skill and John McCain’s clumsiness, the Republican can still count on at least 43% of the vote, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. McCain might come back (there's still an awful lot of undecideds), but even if he doesn’t, more than 50 million people—the “beating heart of conservatism”—will have supported him. “And they will be a rock-hard challenge to Mr. Obama if he wins.” More»