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Articles by Anna Clark | Email the Author

 

1. Swing States Project

   In Michigan, a look back on the 2012 campaign

   November 23, 2012 10:45 AM

   MICHIGAN — It was hard. That’s how Marisa Schultz, political reporter for The Detroit News, sums up the experience of covering her first presidential campaign. Or, to put it another way: “It was the toughest professional job I’ve ever done.”... Continue reading

2. Swing States Project

   A missed connection on Michigan’s ballot questions?

   November 5, 2012 06:50 AM

   MICHIGAN — On Tuesday, voters will here sift through six ballot initiatives that could transform the state’s policies on a range of issues, from collective bargaining and Michigan’s controversial emergency manager law to a new bridge across the Canadian border.... Continue reading

3. Swing States Project

   At Michigan’s edge, global warming emerges as campaign issue

   November 2, 2012 06:50 AM

   MICHIGAN — Climate change is one of the great disappearing issues of the 2012 campaign. Though President Obama made climate central to his run for the White House four years ago, he, Mitt Romney, and down-ballot candidates have all generally... Continue reading

4. Swing States Project

   Detroit papers on Romney’s misleading Jeep ad

   October 31, 2012 03:00 PM

   MICHIGAN — Over the weekend, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney began running a new 30-second ad in Ohio in which he argues that he, rather than President Barack Obama, will better serve the American auto industry—an effort, during... Continue reading

5. Swing States Project

   In MI-11, a candidate ducks, but can’t avoid coverage

   October 17, 2012 03:00 PM

   MICHIGAN — Reporters covering the US congressional campaign for Michigan’s 11th district have a truly unusual story on their hands. Former U.S. Rep. and GOP presidential candidate Thad McCotter was expected to easily extend his five-term incumbency in November. But... Continue reading

6. Swing States Project

   Michigan media on voter fraud

   October 2, 2012 03:00 PM

   MICHIGAN — In Michigan, the political landscape tends to be divided by—well, by landscape. East and West, rural and urban, Upper and Lower Peninsula: geographic differences sometimes seem mirrored in political differences that are, in turn, reflected in media. But... Continue reading

7. Swing States Project

   Keeping facts at the forefront

   September 10, 2012 03:30 PM

   DETROIT — Political rhetoric about the 2008-2009 federal loans to the auto industry has ratcheted up in recent days. At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte last week, President Obama’s handling of the near-fall of GM and Chrysler was frequently... Continue reading

8. Swing States Project

   Michigan media on Romney’s birth certificate ‘joke’ (UPDATED)

   August 24, 2012 05:40 PM

   MICHIGAN — Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan brought the Republican presidential ticket to Commerce, Michigan today in an event billed as a “Homecoming Rally”—Romney grew up here in Oakland County. As expected, Romney celebrated his Michigan roots, but he did... Continue reading

9. Swing States Project

   Don’t just look at the money—follow it!

   August 15, 2012 03:08 PM

   MICHIGAN — One of the old standbys of political journalism—“follow the money”—sometimes gives way to something simpler: “look at the money.” What is “look at the money” reporting? It’s campaign coverage that tallies up fund-raising totals to compare who has... Continue reading

10. Swing States Project

    Follow the story, not the agenda

    July 31, 2012 03:45 PM

    MICHIGAN — You show up, jot down a few quotes, take in a bit of scenic color, and translate it into a few paragraphs of simple prose. “Event” coverage—stump speech, rally, town hall—would seem a self-evident form of political journalism... Continue reading

11. Swing States Project

    In Michigan, a one-man follow-the-money machine

    July 16, 2012 06:50 AM

    MICHIGAN — Call him the perfect source. Whether they work in newspapers, radio, or online news, Michigan political journalists rely on a single indefatigable man to sort out the increasingly byzantine relationship between money and politics. Rich Robinson is the... Continue reading

12. Swing States Project

    Why are lame ducks still raising campaign funds?

    July 3, 2012 11:00 AM

    MICHIGAN — Who pays attention to lame-duck politicians during a restive election year? The Detroit Free Press does, and the result is a revealing report by Paul Egan, the Lansing bureau chief, on politicians who can’t run... Continue reading

13. Swing States Project

    Driving the discourse in Detroit

    June 22, 2012 11:27 AM

    During the somewhat less frantic months of the presidential campaign season—between the primaries and the nominating conventions—the Swing States Project will feature occasional profiles of people we’re calling, for lack of a better phrase, discourse leaders.... Continue reading

14. Swing States Project

    Missing: Voters’ voices in Rep. McCotter story

    June 5, 2012 11:09 AM

    MICHIGAN — Michigan political journalists have a big story on their hands: U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter, a five-term incumbent who made a brief run for the Republican presidential nomination last fall, abruptly dropped out of his re-election race over the... Continue reading

15. Swing States Project

    Pushing back, making connections

    May 14, 2012 11:29 AM

    MICHIGAN — Quinn Klinefelter is a longtime news editor at WDET, the National Public Radio station in Detroit. His voice is easily recognizable, and so, apparently, is his face. Klinefelter recalls walking down a block, absorbed in his thoughts, when... Continue reading

16. Swing States Project

    On the Trail of Maddow’s Michigan ‘Scoop’

    April 12, 2012 04:58 PM

    MICHIGAN — A big story is unfolding here in Michigan, and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last week professed to have the “scoop”—but she has gotten plenty of pushback for how she presented it, from Republican lawmakers, liberal bloggers, and... Continue reading

17. Swing States Project

    Detroit News Offers Smart Take on Family Planning Feud

    April 4, 2012 04:38 PM

    MICHIGAN—The latest USA Today/Gallup poll of presidential swing states, released over the weekend, shows President Obama with his first lead in key battlegrounds—a shift fueled by a large rise in female supporters. With Michigan one of the twelve... Continue reading

18. Swing States Project

    Michigan’s Bad Integrity Report Card

    March 21, 2012 04:16 PM

    MICHIGAN — It looks bleak: Michigan gets an “F” on a “corruption risk report card” released this week by the State Integrity Investigation, a project of the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity, and Public Radio... Continue reading

19. Swing States Project

    In Michigan, Getting Beyond the ‘Class Divide’

    March 2, 2012 01:13 PM

    MICHIGAN — Election night demands instant coverage from reporters—not just to name a winner, but to define how voting patterns shape the victory. And often, that process of definition begins before the results are even in. Here in Michigan, well... Continue reading

20. Swing States Project

    Who Opposed the Auto Bailouts?

    February 28, 2012 02:45 PM

    MICHIGAN — Leading into today’s primary, Michigan journalists have focused on the bailouts for General Motors and Chrysler more than any other issue. You might think it is a moot point: all the Republican candidates opposed these bailouts that date... Continue reading

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