Obama 314
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Romney 224
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Senate
Dem 51
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Ties 3
GOP 46
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  • Strongly Dem (194)
  • Likely Dem (39)
  • Barely Dem (81)
  • Exactly tied (0)
  • Barely GOP (44)
  • Likely GOP (47)
  • Strongly GOP (133)
270 Electoral votes needed to win Map algorithm explained
New polls: (None)
Dem pickups: (None)
GOP pickups: IN NC OH
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News from the Votemaster

Key Supreme Court Rulings Expected this Week

The moment of truth is nearing for President Obama as the Supreme Court is widely expected to hand down rulings on Obama's signature health insurance bill, Arizona's immigration law, and Montana's law forbidding corporate donations to political campaigns this week. No one except the justices and their clerks know what they are going to rule, but whatever is handed down is going to dominate the news for weeks and shake up the campaigns. There is also a chance that Justice Ruth Ginsburg might announce her retirement, which would stir up another hornet's nest, making the appointment of her successor a big political issue.

On Social Issues, Voters Trust Obama More than Romney

A new AP-GfK poll shows that voters trust President Obama over Mitt Romney on social issues by a margin of 52% to 36%. Same-sex marriage will be on the ballot in four states: Maryland, Washington, Minnesota, and Maine. Given that these are all blue states and the public generally supports same-sex marriage by a small margin now, it is doubtful that it will have much of an effect. It is amazing how fast public opinion has changed on this subject. In 2000 and 2004, Karl Rove used referendums on same-sex marriage as a technique to get conservative voters to the polls. Now with a small majority of voters favoring marriage equality, the technique is a spent force.

Charlie Cook Does Not Expect Another Wave Election

Political guru Charlie Cook thinks that after three wave elections in a row (2006 and 2008 were Democratic waves; 2010 was a Republican wave) we are not in for four in a row. He rates 211 districts as solid or likely Republican and 171 as solid or likely Democratic. Even if the Democrats were to win all their solid, likely, and lean seats, they would need to win 12 of the 18 lean-Republican seats to recapture the House. So Cook, at least, thinks that the Republicans will be running the House come January 2013.

A New Partisan Divide: Old vs. Young

Everyone knows about the partisan divide between religious and secular voters, between the 99% and the 1%, and between the blue states and the red states, but a case can be made that another divide is even more important and often overlooked: old vs. young. Before 2004, there was no significant difference between how younger and older older citizens voted. Starting in 2004 that began to change, with today's younger voters being much more liberal than today's older voters. An interesting question is whether the current 18-29-year olds will get more conservative as they age. Historical data suggests otherwise. By the time people are 30, they have figured out which party they prefer and tend not to change much the rest of their lives. In the long run, this spells trouble for the Republicans unless it changes its positions on major issues (like the role of government) quite substantially.

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---The Votemaster

Previous Headlines

Jun23 Bain Capital's Firms Outsourced Jobs Overseas
Jun23 Wealthy Democrats Not Donating to SuperPACs
Jun23 Obama's Latino Strategy is Working
Jun23 Only 34% of Americans Believe Obama is a Christian
Jun22 Romney Reverses Course on Immigration in Speech to Latino Officials
Jun22 Romney Sees Path to Victory Running Through the Midwest
Jun21 LeMieux Formally Ends Florida Senate Run
Jun20 Supreme Court to Rule on Whether States Can Stop Corporate Campaign Donations
Jun20 Democrats to Push DISCLOSE Act
Jun20 Interesting Analysis of the Political Effects of the ACA Ruling
Jun20 Schumer Plays Nice with Wall Street
Jun19 Obama's Decision on Immigration Popular with Likely Voters
Jun19 Immigration Issue Could Affect Other Races
Jun19 Rubio Not Being Vetted for Veep
Jun18 Crisis Averted in Greece as Center-Right Party Wins Election
Jun18 Can Any President Govern?
Jun18 Child Propaganda Takes Off
Jun18 Interactive Chart Shows Unemployment Numbers
JJun17 Greek Vote Today Could Roil Financial Markets Worldwide
JJun17 What If the Supreme Court Strikes Down Just the Mandate?
JJun17 Electoral votes: Obama 279 Romney 230
JJun17 Senate: Democrats 51 Republicans 47
Jun17 What If the Supreme Court Strikes Down Just the Mandate?
Jun16 Obama's Action on Immigration Opens Fissure within Republican Party
Jun16 Ohio Speeches by Obama and Romney Preview the Campaign Ahead
Jun16 Ginsburg Hints at Sharp Disagreements Ahead
Jun15 Campaigns Waiting Anxiously for Supreme Court
Jun14 Improvement to the Tipping-Point state Table
Jun14 Casino Owner Bets on Former Opponent
Jun14 Autopsy on the Arizona Special Election
Jun14 Majority Blame Bush for the Bad Economy
Jun13 Allen Wins the Republican Primary in Virginia
Jun13 Gifford's Aide Wins Her Seat
Jun13 Summers (R) and Dill (D) to Face Off in Maine but it Probably Doesn't Matter
Jun13 Congress' Approval Rating Now at 17%
Jun13 Republicans Have No Plan B on Health Care
Jun12 Median Family Net Worth Plunges 40% in 3 Years
Jun12 Attacks on Bain Capital Are Working
Jun12 Federal Government to Sue Florida to Stop Purging the Voting Rolls
Jun11 Should Obama Ignore Swing Voters?
Jun11 Obama Losing Support Among Jews
Jun11 Fun and Games in Maine
Jun11 Pick the Veep
Jun10 Reid Puts His Political Machine to Work for Berkley
Jun10 Rubio First Choice for Veep in CPAC Straw Poll
Jun09 A Demographics vs. Economics Election?
Jun09 Could Europe Determine the U.S. Election Results?
Jun09 Fifteen California Races Still Undecided
Jun09 Obama Falls Below 270 Electoral Votes for the First Time
Jun08 Clinton Didn't Say What He Meant to Say