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CNN's GUT CHECK White House News Latest CNN Polls News from Capitol Hill Crossfire October 13th, 2014 06:13 AM ET Share this on: Facebook Twitter Digg del.icio.us reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Comments ( Add comment ) 5 years ago Farewell to the Ticker The Political Ticker blog died of old age on Oct. 13, 2014, after eight years of faithful service to CNN's readers. The Ticker began quietly in October 2006, fueled by a realization that a blog could capture and influence the political conversation. It hit 1 million page views during CNN’s 2006 election coverage a month later, and in its heyday became one of the most trafficked forums in political media. FULL POST Filed under: Uncategorized Dan Sullivan October 9th, 2014 10:19 AM ET Share this on: Facebook Twitter Digg del.icio.us reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Comments ( Add comment ) 5 years ago GOP challenger Dan Sullivan leads Mark Begich in Alaska Senate race Posted by By CNN's Eric Bradner Alaska's Senate race is an increasingly prime pickup opportunity for Republicans, with Democratic Sen. Mark Begich trailing challenger Dan Sullivan by 6 percentage points, a new CNN/ORC International Poll shows . Sullivan earned 50% support compared to 44% for Begich, according to the survey of 704 likely voters that was conducted October 1-6. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 points. The race is key for Republicans who hope to gain control of the Senate by capturing at least six seats currently held by Democrats. It looks increasingly important as Democrats pump resources into states like Kansas and South Dakota that weeks ago looked like GOP locks. FULL STORY Filed under: 2014 • Alaska Click to watch video September 30th, 2014 05:46 PM ET Share this on: Facebook Twitter Digg del.icio.us reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Comments ( Add comment ) 5 years ago Will Mitt Romney take the plunge again? Posted by CNN Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger Two sources inside Mitt Romney's inner circle tell CNN that while Romney isn't planning a presidential bid, he's listening to a lot of people who want him to get in the race - although he remains skeptical himself. "A lot of people in Romneyland are rooting for him to get in," says one source. "He's not one of them." Another source close to Romney puts it this way: "I wouldn't bet on it, but I wouldn't bet either." The key, these sources say, is that Romney wants to see a Republican candidate who can win the White House. So there's a willingness to wait to see who will run for the GOP nomination. While these sources say that, as of today, it's not likely Romney would run, it can't be ruled out entirely - and if the early seeding were to produce a weak field, Romney might be in a position to be a late entrant. FULL STORY Filed under: 2016 • Mitt Romney Click to watch video September 29th, 2014 10:36 AM ET Share this on: Facebook Twitter Digg del.icio.us reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Comments ( Add comment ) 5 years ago McCain on rise of ISIS: 'We predicted this' Posted by CNN's Jeremy Diamond Sen. John McCain slammed President Barack Obama on Monday over his comments that U.S. intelligence underestimated ISIS. McCain countered Obama's assertions made on CBS' "60 Minutes," saying that ISIS' expansion in Syria and Iraq was tied to the President's decision not to leave a residual U.S. military force in Iraq and his refusal to arm moderate Syrian rebels last year despite urgings from his national security advisers. "We predicted this and watched it," McCain said on CNN's "New Day." "It was like watching a train wreck and warning every step of the way that this was happening." FULL STORY Filed under: Foreign Policy • Intelligence • John McCain • President Obama September 23rd, 2014 09:23 AM ET Share this on: Facebook Twitter Digg del.icio.us reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Comments ( Add comment ) 5 years ago Republicans pick approach to attack Hillary Clinton Posted by By CNN's Dan Merica Republicans who want to taint Hillary Clinton are going to lengths to link the former secretary of state with President Barack Obama and his sagging poll numbers. Throughout the party's infrastructure, Republicans say that linking Clinton with Obama, especially labeling her possible 2016 campaign as "Obama's Third Term," is the most potent attack. America Rising, an anti-Clinton super PAC that has looked to define the former first lady for the better part of a year, will push out a series of talking points giving Clinton the third-term label, and the group plans to fundraise off the push. "Hillary Clinton has a Barack Obama problem," reads a lengthy research document that will go out to GOP pundits, strategists, conservative organizations and media members Tuesday. "No matter how many of her advisors whisper to reporters that she's different from Barack Obama, Americans still know who she is: Barack Obama Part Deux." FULL STORY Filed under: 2016 • America Rising • Hillary Clinton September 22nd, 2014 09:58 AM ET Share this on: Facebook Twitter Digg del.icio.us reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Comments ( Add comment ) 5 years ago The secret weapon of Iowa Democrats: Obamadale Posted by CNN National Political Reporter Peter Hamby For a small band of supercharged Democratic organizers, the pleasant Des Moines neighborhood of Beaverdale goes by another name: Obamadale . The moniker was bestowed three years ago by a motley crew of Democrats who first met as strangers over martinis at a local restaurant in the early days of President Obama's re-election bid, brought together under the aegis of the "neighborhood team" model that defined the campaign's bottom-up volunteer structure. Led by Kimberley Boggus, a bubbly 33-year-old nursing student, and Sam Reno, a 42-year-old no-nonsense construction crew supervisor, the platoon of volunteers eventually managed to turn out more than 700 Democrats to their local caucus precinct on a chilly January night in 2012 - and that was for an uncontested race overwhelmingly won by Obama. By November, in another show of force, "we turned out 87 percent of the Democratic voters in Beaverdale," Boggus recalled with evident pride. After the campaign, Obama's behemoth political organization became Organizing For America (OFA), but the group has struggled to maintain a coherent identity outside the president's campaigns. FULL STORY Filed under: 2014 • 2016 • OFA September 18th, 2014 02:59 PM ET Share this on: Facebook Twitter Digg del.icio.us reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Comments ( Add comment ) 5 years ago Chris Christie accuses 'Bridgegate' panel of playing politics Posted by CNN's Steve Kastenbaum New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had harsh words Thursday for the committee investigating allegations of abuse of power and the orchestrated lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, known to many as the "Bridgegate" scandal. "It's absolutely not true and it is a completely, a completely partisan act to be doing the leaking that they are doing," he said in response to a reporter's question about claims that his lawyers would not hand over certain documents, citing executive privilege. The governor lambasted Democratic New Jersey Assemblyman John Wisniewski, co-chairman of the Select Committee on Investigation, saying he wanted to keep his name in the newspapers and his face on TV. "We have fully cooperated, absolutely fully cooperated with them, and I am really growing tired of him," Christie said at a news conference in Trenton, New Jersey. FULL STORY Filed under: Chris Christie September 17th, 2014 10:56 AM ET Share this on: Facebook Twitter Digg del.icio.us reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Comments ( Add comment ) 5 years ago NRA hopes to influence three key Senate races Posted by By CNN Senior Producer Kevin Bohn The National Rifle Association will weigh in on three of this year's key Senate races with a multimillion dollar ad buy beginning Wednesday. The NRA effort is aimed at boosting Republican Senate challengers in Arkansas, Colorado and North Carolina - the outcomes of which could lik...