Analysis: Politics is dirty, not in Iowa
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Two old sayings are colliding in the presidential campaign, and there's some truth to both of them. Politics is dirty. Midwesterners are nice.
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Arkansas may still be Clinton country, but it's no longer Democratic terrain.
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Comment is free: Gary Younge: While one party bemoans its choice of candidates, the other has raised little in the way of political debate
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I like politics. I follow it the way some people follow sports. The Democrat Party     and Republican Party are major league teams. They battle each other in national, state and     local contests. They have mascots, both created by the same person.     They have fanatical supporters just like any sport. Like minor league teams, there are also minor political parties to watch that sometimes play spoiler and sometimes     gain enough strength to influence the major parties. Some operate only locally, some statewide, and some try to operate     nationally.    I also enjoy following individual personalities. People love and hate them like they love and hate sports teams and athletes.     I'm sometimes startled by the degree of blind adoration or blind rage that politicians can inspire in otherwise calm,     rational people.    Lately, I've noticed that there's a growing tendency to divide the United States into red states and blue states. People seem     to think that it's possible for an entire state to be Democrat or Republican. How can that be if it's difficult to even     categorize individual Americans into definite camps? Now, although once restricted to politics, the idea is spreading to     other arenas. I saw a suggestion that Hollywood start targetting states as red or blue audiences. I've seen statistics that     compare red states versus blue states on categories such as religion, income, and even gifts to charity.    The division of the United States into red and blue states is overly simplistic and misleading.
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YARDLEY, Pa.  - Under the unwritten rules of U.S.  election politics, candidates and campaigns never publicly  doubt they will win.
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The issue is emerging as a big one in Iowaâand it could wind up pulling the GOP contenders far enough to the right to cause problems next November.
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There is no mudslinging or million-dollar war chest. No party nominations, dirty tricks or battles for key endorsements.
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The view from suburban Philadelphia voters about politics and politicians:
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The good citizens of Iowa are getting an eyeful and an earful of political ads these days, far more than before, even for one of the epicenters of presidential politics.
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Running the country is no game. It just sounds like one sometimes. In the Bush White House, sports are a metaphor for life. Better keep up if you want to play.
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There&#39;s a growing number of nonfiction films on current affairs, which usually means politics in this election year. They&#39;re diverse enough to prove Moore&#39;s brand of muckraking isn&#39;t the only way to bid for attention.
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As Floridians continue to clean up after Hurricane Charley, it would appear politics is far from their minds. Polls and presidential campaigning pale beside
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There was a refreshing glimpse of bipartisanship this week, and it was not the sight of a Democrat from Georgia preparing to address the Republican National Convention in Manhattan.
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Public opinion surveys make it abundantly clear that this election year is not the time for Republicans Ã¢ÂÂ at least those facing tough challenges in battleground House districts Ã¢ÂÂ to run as best buddies of President Bush or the Republican leadership in Congress.
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POLITICIANS, like people in general, should normally be judged by their actions not words.
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Those incessant political ads aren't just on television. They're now on billboards, DVDs and even traffic reports.
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DES MOINES, Iowa  - The long and sometimes baffling drama of electing a U.S. president, marked by obscure rules and long-held traditions, enters its decisive stage in two weeks.