It's a real wild card in the House whether (Speaker John) Boehner is going to be empowered by this larger majority or whether they're going to be a bigger thorn in his side in the way we've seen in the past, so as we look to whether the relative harmony and lack of drama of this lame-duck period can continue in the new Congress, I think that's going to be a major factor.

The Atlantic Molly Ball

Categorized in : Politics

( He) increased the turnout of young voters, it was unusually high. Same thing with independents. They were an unusually large share, 20 % of Iowa caucus-goers, and they went overwhelmingly well for Bernie Sanders.

The Atlantic Molly Ball

There have been questions about the Ben Carson candidacy -- whether it's a serious candidacy or a combination scam and book tour, in the coming weeks we will find out ... what steps he takes to remedy this. Whether he is in it to win it.

The Atlantic Molly Ball

They've got to actually pass the funding bills, to flesh out this budget deal, they've got to pass a highway bill, so pretty soon we're going see whether Paul Ryan gets any sort of honeymoon from the House conservatives, and whether Paul Ryan actually stands a chance of managing the chaos over there any better than Paul Ryan predecessor did.

The Atlantic Molly Ball

The Rand Paul campaign, which once showed so much promise, is now officially on death watch, it's never a good look for your campaign when every interview with the Des Moines Register starts with: 'so are you dropping out,'.

The Atlantic Molly Ball