Naftali Bendavid

The issue: Shifting the tax burden and what that does to -- or for -- "Joe the plumber." Why this was a key moment: The unquestioned star of the debate...

With less than three weeks to go in this long presidential campaign, as mesmerizing as any in memory, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain face each other one final...

Priorities 1. Asked to set priorities for tackling critical domestic problems, Sen. Barack Obama said he would make energy independence job No. 1 while pegging health-care reform as his second...

When John McCain takes the stage sometime after 9 p.m. Thursday at the culmination of the Republican convention, he will be addressing not just the delegates in the hall, but...

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson -- lawyer, politician, actor -- delivered a well-received speech to the Republican convention Tuesday night, recounting that as a young man, John McCain "wasn't just...

There will be no prime-time speeches Monday. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to watch as Republicans try to deal with a natural disaster intruding on their celebration. Republican leaders...

by Naftali Bendavid Politicians' mistakes can sometimes blossom into devastating, headline-grabbing stories. Other times they die a quite death. It's often unclear why, but one clue is how a blunder...

by Naftali Bendavid Seems that phone at the White House won't stop ringing in the middle of the night. Several weeks ago, a Clinton campaign commercial that showed a phone...

by Naftali Bendavid A rough agreement seems to be emerging among Democrats—to the extent that the party recognizes such concepts as "agreement"— that the party's nominee should be finalized in...