In the 2004 election, both sides knew Ohio would be the state in which the presidency was won or lost. Sen. John Kerry’s campaign spent months and millions trying to persuade voters in suburban counties. But as they canvassed, they were surprised by what they found—or rather what they didn’t find: volunteers for President George W. Bush’s campaign.

Demographics are destiny. This much, in American politics, is true. But we rarely appreciate the pace of the racial and ethnic change happening throughout the country. To step back and see the broader, long-term picture is to recognize that, while we’re an evenly divided country now, we may be close to a tipping point after which the entire landscape will change.

Now that Mitt Romney has sewn up the Republican nomination, he will turn his attention to picking a vice presidential running mate and building a foundation for a national campaign. Romney has it easy—at least compared with the poor planners who will spend the better part of the next four months preparing for the national convention aimed at introducing Romney on his own terms. 

In political vernacular, “urban” issues have long been code for policies of primary concern to minorities. In coming decades, that stereotype will start to look outdated as Americans of increasing diversity move to the nation’s big cities.

For the most part, the first three years of the Obama administration have reinforced the tropes that have consumed the American political debate for decades: The administration is hopelessly obsessed with expanding the size and scope of government, Republicans say; Democrats counter that the GOP is dead set on shredding the social safety net with radical, government-shrinking proposals.

Rick Santorum's exit from the presidential race this week brings a formal end to a contest that had been over, for all practical purposes, for weeks. It also invites a temporary spotlight on Romney's next task, picking a running mate—and with it, a glimpse at the future of the national Republican Party.

Turns out, it really is the economy. Americans have voted with their pocket books, or with their cynical view toward Washington, for the last three election cycles. But the ramifications of the worst recession since the Depression has altered more than our mood -- it's changing the very makeup of the electorate itself.

PHOENIX — What does it take to paint a red desert blue? For Democrats hoping to win their first federal races in Arizona in 16 years, the answer lies in getting the state’s electorate to more closely resemble the state’s population. But Democratic dreams of winning the Copper State this year may be more mirage than reality.

Searching for the real impact of the decennial redistricting process is like searching for dark matter: Your instruments tell you it’s there, but it’s not visible to the naked eye.

The Republican Party is in the midst of a self-immolating primary that pits its electable, if unpopular, moderate wing against its unelectable, passionate flank. President Obama has more than 10 times the cash on hand as his nearest rival, and his team is rapidly building a ground organization unlike any seen in modern politics. And, slowly, the economy is bouncing back.