2012 Elections

From the Vault

VP debate a "proxy" for the top of the ticket

Air Date: 
October 5, 2012
Featured: 
October 3, 2016
When Joe Biden and Paul Ryan debated in 2012, the focus was on the presidential candidates.
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Barack Obama's Heir

February 27, 2016
by Molly Ball | The Atlantic
By winning over the black voters who rejected her in 2008, Hillary Clinton may clinch the Democratic nomination—and inherit the coalition built by the president who defeated her.
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GOP candidates hunker down as primary race escalates

November 30, 2015
by Robert Costa | The Washington Post
The race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination enters a new and urgent phase this week after an already brutish stretch in which the dominance of Donald Trump and Ben Carson has exasperated rivals and the party’s political class.
Republican National Convention
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Why Republicans Could Be Headed to a Contested Convention

August 25, 2015
by Reid Wilson | Morning Consult
Thousands of delegates to the Republican National Convention will descend on Cleveland eleven months from now, thrilled by the prospect of nominating the candidate they hope will be the next president of the United States.
From the Vault

Courting Voters at the Iowa State Fair

Air Date: 
August 12, 2011
Featured: 
August 13, 2015
Four years ago, Gwen Ifill talked to Dan Balz from the State Fair about the impact of Iowa on the Republican presidential field.
From the Vault

Impact of Early Presidential Debates

Air Date: 
June 17, 2011
Featured: 
August 4, 2015
As the first Republican presidential debate of the 2016 election season approaches, we take a look back in the Washington Week Vault to an early debate in 2011.
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Rick Santorum announces second presidential bid

May 28, 2015
by Robert Costa | The Washington Post
Rick Santorum, the brusque and deeply conservative former senator who won nearly a dozen contests in the 2012 race for the Republican presidential nomination, announced here Wednesday that he would seek to recapture that magic by entering a crowded primary competition likely to be far more difficult than the last.
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In Iowa for second visit, Clinton keeps to her low-key, tilt-left strategy

May 19, 2015
by Robert Costa | The Washington Post
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s appearance here Monday at the home of Dean Genth and Gary Swenson — one of the first gay couples to marry in Iowa — spoke volumes about the political pitch and style of her nascent presidential campaign.
From the Vault

Romney's 2nd Run for the White House

Air Date: 
June 3, 2011
Featured: 
January 14, 2015
As the jockeying for the 2016 presidential primary begins, all signs point to a third run for 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor first ran in 2008 but lost the Republican nomination to Sen. John McCain. Romney is promising GOP donors he'll run a different campaign this time against likely Republican candidates Jeb Bush, Rand Paul and others. But is the third time really the charm? We look back in the Washington Week Vault to June 2011, the beginning of Romney's second run for president. As The New York Times' Jeff Zeleny said then, "He’s taking a completely different approach or sort of a different approach in this second time around." What lessons will Romney take from his two previous campaigns as he considers yet another run?
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