Slate Articles

How To Make It in the New GOP

David Weigel — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:56:59 GMT

The man who would be U.S. senator is running late. Just 15 minutes or so. Nobody’s panicking. Richard Mourdock just refused to take a taxi from Reagan National Airport, and his arrival at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) depends on the whims of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. “He’s cheap!” says Diane Hubbard, Mourdock’s grassroots director. “This is how he is. It’s one of the reasons I work for him.”

The Last, Best Hope for Conservatives

John Dickerson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:36:27 GMT

At CPAC in 2011, Newt Gingrich took the stage to the stirring sound of Survivor's 1980’s rock anthem "Eye of the Tiger." He walked deliberately through the crowd. Here was Caesar returning from the wars. Tomorrow Gingrich will speak again at the same gathering, but the conservative who most deserves the dramatic, fist-pumping greeting is his presidential rival Rick Santorum: the lonely warrior who has triumphed without playing a soundtrack of self-regard, without the ready millions of Gingrich's gambling-magnate patron, and despite more derision from the elite media than Gingrich has faced.

Tampa or Bust

David Weigel — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:41:58 GMT

Political reporters make for lousy gravediggers. Find a primary, pick a day, and I can point you to a story pronouncing the campaign “over” or “almost over” or over, pending the judgment of a proverbial Fat Lady.

The Vest Man Won

John Dickerson — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:03:52 GMT

Mitt Romney sure hopes there's a safety net. His campaign needs it. His cautious and measured run for the presidency has been thrown off stride by Rick Santorum's victories Tuesday in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.

Clint Eastwood Gives America a Pep Talk

John Dickerson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:38:13 GMT

Did the first Obama re-election ad run during the Super Bowl? You might have missed it since the president wasn't even mentioned. It was a Chrysler ad, although even that wasn’t obvious. Instead, more than 111 million viewers were greeted by that tough-talking American icon Clint Eastwood as he delivered what amounted to a locker room speech to the country. “It's halftime in America,” he intoned, as the New York Giants and New England Patriots went in for their midgame break. He heralded the auto industry’s revival and said it is a model for a nation poised for a comeback. By the end of the stirring message, pollsters could probably have found a majority of the country ready to elect the city of Detroit president.

Mitt Wins Nevada With Friends and Family

David Weigel — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:07:12 GMT

LAS VEGAS—“It’s a very scripted process,” warns Mary Burgar, our caucus captain. “I apologize in advance if it looks like I'm reading from something. It’s because I’m reading from something.”

Nevadans Know How To Fix America

David Weigel — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:31:46 GMT

ELKO, Nev.—“I know how to fix it,” says Bill Crabb.

Who Cares About the Poor?

John Dickerson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:30:29 GMT

Mitt Romney is now being protected by the Secret Service. Unfortunately for him, they were not in a position to jump in front of his comments Wednesday morning. The day after his Florida triumph, Romney told CNN: “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90 percent, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”

Not That Kind of Smoke-Filled Room

Will Oremus — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:50:22 GMT

Potheads had high hopes for President Obama’s Google+ hangout on Monday. The Web superpower had invited citizens to submit questions for the president via YouTube, and it encouraged people to vote on the questions they’d like Obama to answer in a live video chat. The results: 18 of the 20 most popular questions were about marijuana policy.

What Will Happen if Obama Wins Again?

David Weigel — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:43:16 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla.—“We cannot survive four more years of this!” moaned Kelly Clem-Rickon. She was one of Newt Gingrich’s Hillsborough County co-chairs, assigned to keep a Tampa crowd cheering and cheerful while the candidate made his delayed way over to give a speech. “We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into 1,000 years of darkness!”