On the road with the 2012 US election.

Jean MacKenzieMay 1, 2012 06:07

Occupy the White House

Analysis: How will the Occupy movement impact the presidential elections?

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Katie, a college graduate, blows bubbles during an Occupy Wall Street rally against the high cost of college on April 25 in New York. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

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BOSTON, Mass. — Recently, I waited in vain in a chilly but sunny park for a peace vigil that had been advertised on the Occupy Boston website. The minutes ticked by. No one came. Unless the protesters were cleverly disguised as harried businessmen, mothers playing with their children, or dogs gamboling on the grass, the peace vigil was a bust.

I trudged home to mull the effects the Occupy movement has had on the political scene, and what role it could still play in the crucial months from now until the presidential elections in November.

Jean MacKenzieApril 24, 2012 13:21

Pennsylvania’s skeptical voters

The GOP front-runner doesn't seem to grab voters in the state's heartland. “There is just nothing to like about the man,” grumbled one.

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A voter in Pennsylvania takes part in the state's GOP primary election, on April 24, at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Philadelphia where turnout is expected to be low. Mitt Romney continues his campaign as the presumptive GOP candidate in New Hampshire today. (JESSICA KOURKOUNIS/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA, PA — If, as political consultant James Carville once famously remarked, Pennsylvania “is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between,” then Mitt Romney could be in trouble.

Romney is not liked or trusted by the liberal majorities in the big cities, which also have large African-American populations that overwhelmingly support President Barack Obama.

Jean MacKenzieApril 23, 2012 13:42

Rhode Island: The Ocean State goes to the polls, maybe

National politics barely register in this seaside resort, which has much bigger problems at home.

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Rhode Island is "Safe Obama" country, according to the website www.270towin.com featured in this screen shot. (GlobalPost)

NEWPORT, RI — There can be few places on the east coast more appealing than Newport, with its 19th-century mansions devoted to wretched excess, its bustling waterfront dotted with seafood restaurants and quaint museum shops, and picturesque Goat Island sparkling offshore.

On this unseasonably warm April day, the tourists are out in force, in T-shirts and shorts, baseball hats and sunshades. There are a lot of pink arms and noses, and I briefly consider taking the afternoon off and heading for the beach.

Jean MacKenzieApril 19, 2012 17:08

Santorum’s shadow campaign

He may be down and out, but he is not forgotten.

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Rick Santorum delivers remarks today at the American Israel Political Action Committee during its Policy Conference In Washington, DC. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

He was feisty; he was unpredictable. He railed against Satan for attacking America with vice and condemned the French Revolution for not relying on God. He told the Puerto Ricans to learn English and shocked the poor Dutch by insisting that 5 percent of all deaths in the Netherlands were due to involuntary euthanasia.

We all sorely miss the quirky and spirited Rick Santorum, especially now that we no longer have to worry so much that he might, through some contortion in the Cosmos, actually become president.

Jean MacKenzieApril 17, 2012 06:12

The Presidential Hunger Games

Washington takes some direction from Hollywood.

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Fans of "The Hunger Games" cheer for the film's stars outside a mall in Los Angeles, Calif. on March 23, 2012. (Jesse Grant/AFP/Getty Images)

Bored and frustrated with the political scene, I joined the rest of the world at the movies. I went to see "The Hunger Games." For those who have been living in another galaxy for the past year, the movie is based on a book of the same name, the first volume in a dystopian trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The film is breaking all records, and purports to be for young adults — the 12 to 17 set. I think, however, that the adolescents may miss the most interesting facet of the film: it is a near-perfect metaphor for our own presidential reality show. Think about it. A bunch of wannabe heroes — for some reason called “tributes” instead of “candidates” in Collins’ world — face each other in an arena. In order to win, they must find favor with a generally obtuse public and a media that feeds on sensation, and they must annihilate their opponents by any means possible.

Jean MacKenzieApril 14, 2012 10:42

Adventures in La-La Land

A brief sojourn into a prosperous land that time forgot.

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This guy, George Soros, calling the shots in the White House — oh really? Makes you want to scratch your head, too. But Megadeth's guitarist and many other Americans seem to think the liberal billionaire is — as Glenn Beck put it — the “Puppet Master.” (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

MALVERN, Pa — The green, rolling hills of Chester County stretch for miles, perfectly manicured lawns alternating with imposing houses of stone or brick set well back from the country roads that wind through the area. I am just an hour or so from Philadelphia, but it feels like a chasm of both space and time separate me from the City of Brotherly Love.

Jean MacKenzieApril 11, 2012 19:22

Gingrich for President?

Santorum’s exit robs the Republican primary race of much of its drama, but not of its absurdity.

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Surrounded by members of his family, Republican presidential candidate, former US Sen. Rick Santorum announces he will be suspending his campaign during a press conference at the Gettysburg Hotel on April 10, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Santorum's 3-year-old daughter, Bella, became ill over the Easter holiday and poll numbers showed he was losing to Mitt Romney in his home state of Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Rick Santorum’s decision to suspend his campaign for the White House came both too early and too late.

It has long been clear that the former Pennsylvania senator could not amass the necessary number of delegates to secure the nomination, but his dogged determination to slog on despite the facts gave his quest a certain Quixotic nobility.

Jean MacKenzieApril 11, 2012 13:57

The long and winding road to the presidential election

After two decades in Russia and Afghanistan, a serial expat rediscovers America — and all its warts — on the 2012 campaign trail.

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GlobalPost correspondent Jean MacKenzie hits the road to discover the hopes and dreams, and frustrations, of the American voter. (Andrew Burton/AFP/Getty Images)

After two decades in Russia and Afghanistan, a serial expat rediscovers America — and all its warts — on the 2012 campaign trail.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

GlobalPost correspondent Jean MacKenzie is taking to the road to reconnect with a country she left more than two decades before. In the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, MacKenzie aims to form a picture of the hopes and dreams, and the frustrations and fears, that will move her fellow countrymen to make what might well turn out to be one of the most important decisions of our lives.

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