There’s fear, there’s loathing, and there’s electoral politics. Top Republicans say President Obama’s foreign policy triggered the attacks on US diplomatic staff – calling it “disgraceful”.
A pizza shop owner in Florida got so excited when Barack Obama stopped by, that he lifted the president up in a giant bear-hug. But is Obama embracing a new, more laid-back image?
Matt Frei
The razzmatazz of the convention season is over and the pundits have given their verdicts. Now the hard slog of the election fight begins all over again, after two weeks of politics that have barely changed a single poll.
This was not a time for soaring rhetoric: not for a country in the grip of an economic downturn. President Obama’s speech was carefully modulated – but did it leave voters wishing for more?
Did he really say “America” 52 times? Compare the presidential acceptance speeches of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, using our Snowcloud word cruncher.
In a bravura performance from the ultimate comeback kid, Bill Clinton embraces Barack Obama on stage at the Democratic convention after urging voters to give the president four more years in the job.
Matt Frei
Beyond differences of name, race and speech, Obama and Romney are remarkably similar, blogs Matt Frei. Which is why he needs to give his audience a clear and bold idea of what he has in mind.
Not just a leader, but a family man, a man of faith: this was Mitt Romney’s chance to introduce himself, not just to Republican activists, but to the nation. So how well did he do?
There is political rhetoric – and then there are facts. Paul Ryan wowed delegates at the Republican National Convention – but his remarks have been slated for playing fast and loose with the truth.
Matt Frei
You heard me. President Romney. Prepare to get used to it. Just as America was ready for a change in 2008, it is ready for change once again, writes Matt Frei from the Republican convention.
Matt Frei
Thanks to the weather America is talking more about Isaac than Mitt this week and that is just rotten bad luck for the Republicans.
It’s not easy being a Republican woman right now, what with the Todd Akin rape scandal, a hardline abortion platform and gaping gender gap to overcome. Can the convention help turn things around?
There is not just a gender gap in American politics: there is a gender chasm. Women – or at least single women – are overwhelmingly pro-Democrat. But why? And could that change?
Todd Akin resists pressure to resign as Republican senate nominee for Missouri, as the row over comments he made about rape threatens to overshadow the election campaign.
Just when they thought it was safe to talk about the economy, the Republicans are plunged into a row over a Senate candidate’s comments that women do not get pregnant from “legitimate rape”.