Bush's Niece: Obama 'Seems Like a Strong Leader'

Obama's 2008 effort gives party an edge in 2010 Senate races

(NEWSER) - Senate Democrats have a silver lining heading into the 2010 election: their party’s made huge gains in voter registration. The last time this crop of senators was on the ballot was 2004, when George W. Bush’s field operation, then the most sophisticated ever, was registering hordes of Republicans. But Barack Obama’s 2008 effort “made the 2004 Republican model look antiquated,” writes Tom Schaller on FiveThirtyEight.com . More»

(NEWSER) - A lot of people are lying about having voted for President Obama. A recent Wall Street Journal poll gives Obama a 50%-39% edge over John McCain—a big bump over his actual 7% victory. A New York Times survey shows Obama winning with a nearly 2-to-1 margin. That’s a remarkable number, but don’t get too excited; this always happens, Christopher Beam writes for Slate. More»

Democrats would love to have state's 34 electoral votes back

(NEWSER) - Rick Perry’s talk of seceding from the union might seem crazy, but calling the Texas governor's bluff would be a great deal for Democrats, writes Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com. Consider:

• Democrats would suddenly have a filibuster-proof majority in the 98-seat Senate.
• Republicans would lose eight more House members than Democrats.
• George W. Bush would never have been elected.

Models see shift away from whites-only runways

(NEWSER) - The figurative—and sometimes real—"Whites Only" signs in the fashion world are starting to come down in the wake of Barack Obama's election win, male models tell the New York Times. Fashion shows in the US and Europe are starting to more closely resemble the real world's diversity, the models say, and scouts are beginning to pay a lot more attention to African-Americans. More»

Democratic wave was aberration caused by unusual factors

(NEWSER) - Voters didn’t so much choose liberalism or the Democratic Party as they did Barack Obama, writes Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal. And that’s potentially good news for the GOP in the 2010 midterm elections, Rove says: “In politics, good years follow bad years. Republicans and Democrats have experienced both during the past 15 years.” If the GOP plays it right, it could be ripe for a comeback. More»