The deck is stacked against Obama.

Obama will learn from his mistakes.

Obama shows no sign of easing up on negativity.

In Washington, compromise has become a dirty word.

Don't stigmatize in a rush to explain inexplicable evil.

Election night is the easiest time to act like a grownup.

A dose of humility goes a long way in life and in politics.

Clearly, the Obama presidency hasn't wiped out racial prejudices.

Anything can go wrong in a debate, and Obama is not a perfect debater.

American exceptionalism is the recurring character in the nation's narrative.

Voters don't have to love him, Romney advisers say, but they will respect him.

If you like your health insurance plan, you can keep your health insurance plan

Anything may be possible in America, but a Palin presidency is virtually implausible.

It's a deft trick to turn American exceptionalism into an exceptional political tactic.

I'm hearing echoes of Bill Clinton, circa 1996, in President Obama's reelection rhetoric.

We're living in an era of unprecedented change, and I want to be a part of documenting it.

Palin seems to have forgotten that her poll ratings have plummeted since the summer of 2011.

Every now and then, a presidential candidate surprises us with a truly human and honest moment.

It's a bit unfair to accuse Obama of dividing the nation when the facts show that it already is.

Don't underestimate questions from the crowd; technology has made voters more informed than ever.

A presidential debate is a job interview. And voters look for certain traits in people applying to be president.

Historians will likely give Obama credit for steering the country away from the brink of economic collapse in 2009.

Most Tea Party activists consider Obama a big-spending liberal. Some even question his eligibility to be president.

If history is a guide, a victory for Obama means he faces the prospect of a second term dogged by scandal or inertia.

White House operatives went to great lengths to show Obama shifting focus from wars abroad to domestic issues at home.

Like a cowboy saddling a bucking stallion, Republican leaders tried to tame the Tea Party while riding it to victories.

According to a Public Policy Polling survey, most Americans find lice and colonoscopies more appealing than Capitol Hill.

If Mitt Romney is vanilla, Chris Christie is three hefty scoops of Rocky Road topped with whipped cream, Red Bull, and gravel.

In times of tumult, voters are likely to forgive a president, if not reward him, for compromises made in service of solutions.

If acknowledging that racial misgivings and misunderstandings are still a part of politics and life in America, I plead guilty.

With gridlock the norm, Congress's approval rating is below 10 percent and the public has lost faith in its national leadership.

At his best, Obama promised to work with Republicans to reduce the deficit in a way that honors both individualism and community.

A concrete agenda and landslide victory might not even guarantee a president his mandate in a capital as polarized as Washington.

Political reporters and political professionals rushed to judgment against Romney because we crave clear, unambiguous story lines.

Perhaps we should wait until his second term begins before carving Barack Obama's face in Mount Rushmore. Is that asking too much?

Blending hard-bitten realism with long-view optimism, Obama said that every 20 or 30 years brings a new cycle of pessimism in America.

Since declaring that she would not serve in a second Obama administration, Clinton has dismissed suggestions that she will run in 2016.

Somebody must be up and somebody must be down. Trouble is, campaigns are messy, subtle creatures that don't follow convenient narratives.

The fact that Obama is getting criticism from the left and the right might reflect his understanding of the underlying political dynamics.

Although we were never pals and occasionally butted heads, my relationship with Clinton and his wife, Hillary, made me a better journalist.

Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt faced adversities that, in their times, seemed impregnable. Great presidents overcome great odds.

Obama ran a hard-edged and negative campaign against Romney, hoping to convince recession-weary voters that his rival was unworthy of the job.

For a man who has compared himself to Theodore Roosevelt and the nation's challenges to those of the Gilded Age, Obama put forward a tepid agenda.

The problem, gentlemen, is that Obama is right: The promise of upward mobility is dying in America, and no amount of political demagoguery will fix it.

Obama considers himself above deal-making and back-slapping, political necessities he often delegates to Vice President Joe Biden and other lesser sorts.

Obama might do well to remember that his fast rise from the Illinois state Senate was due in large part to an uncanny ability to make friends and find mentors.

Close elections tend to break toward the challenger because undecided voters - having held out so long against the incumbent - are by nature looking for change.

Obama still has work to do with the vision thing. Convincing voters that he has a credible, practical plan to turn the nation around is a process, not a speech.

Obama is capable - as evidenced by his first-term success with health care reform. But mandate-building requires humility, a trait not easily associated with him.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is the most influential woman in Washington - for what she has accomplished and for what she may yet do: win the presidency.

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