Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty formally submitted papers today to the Federal Election Commission to launch a political action committee (PAC). It's believed to be step one on the way to a possible 2012 presidential bid.

Opinion polls in Iran suggest that two reformist candidates could pose serious challenges to incumbent President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in this week's voting. But opinion polls in Iran are notoriously inaccurate, particularly when trying to predict election results for the entire country.

About nine in ten Americans have heard the rumor as if the president Obama is a Muslim, shows a nationwide survey. However, it also points that people don't really believe in rumors.

Once again, Florida takes center stage during this presidential election, as both political campaigns spend significant time and resources courting the Hispanic vote in this battleground state.

Dr. Paul Haridakis, associate professor of Communication Studies at Kent State University and a long-time scholar in the area of the impact of media on the political landscape in the U.S., is investigating the impact of hugely popular social media's impact on the upcoming presidential contest.

When Barack Obama began his Presidential campaign, his rhetoric emphasized abstract notions of hope, change, and judgment. In contrast, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and other candidates frequently presented detailed, concrete proposals on a host of topics ranging from foreign policy issues such as the Iraq War to domestic issues such as the economy and health care reform.

Annenberg School unit unveils Policy Watch comparing McCain and Obama on communication and technology issues

Do you want to know the percentage of white women who support vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin? What about college-educated versus high school-educated white women? Or those who also hunt?

Next Tuesday night, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama will meet on the debate stage for their second presidential debate, but this time they will not be alone.

The 2008 presidential campaign has been running for a very long time, but we have now entered another phase with the commencement of the debates. Friday night saw the first presidential debate of 2008, between John McCain and Barack Obama. Content analysis, by a University of Missouri expert in campaigns, reveals that most of the statements in this debate were positive (53 percent), followed by attacks (39 percent) and defenses (9 percent).

With less than six weeks until the general election, a University of Pennsylvania study analyzing the relative optimism of the 2008 presidential and vice presidential candidates has found Barack Obama and John McCain to be equally optimistic and Sarah Palin slightly more optimistic than Joseph Biden.

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are preparing for their first presidential debate this week. William Benoit, one of the nation's leading experts on political campaigns at the University of Missouri, says presidential debates have become an important part of presidential campaigns since 1960.