But if the volatile G.O.P. contest in New Hampshire reflects anything about eras, it is the end of the one ushered in by Ronald Reagan, not Bill Clinton.
The comment has further sparked a national debate and has become, for now, a focal point of an already white hot, volatile political contest.
The latest Mason-Dixon Poll, released last week, gives Mr. Warner a five-point edge, down two points from a March poll, and rates the contest "volatile and competitive".
CHICAGO — A full week after voters in Wisconsin cast ballots for the State Supreme Court in a volatile, topsy-turvy contest that had become a referendum on the state's new Republican leadership, the state was still waiting for the final outcome.
A furious and sustained barrage of criticism aimed at Newt Gingrich appears to be reshaping the volatile Republican nomination contest once again with just two weeks left before voters begin weighing in.
In the most heavily publicized and volatile of those contests, Democrat Tammy Duckworth has consistently been pulling at least 10 percentage points ahead of Tea Party favorite U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh in the state's 8th congressional district.
Although a number of polls have shown Mrs. Clinton with a slight lead over Mr. Lazio, her aides believe the contest remains volatile.
The Romney team conveyed the nervousness of a leading marathon runner, acutely aware of the potentially volatile nature of this contest, the reluctance of Republicans to unite behind a single candidate and the possibility that an anti-Romney candidate could emerge supreme to split the delegate field with Ron Paul, who is viewed as having a distinct but sizable following.
According to the International Crisis Group, tensions within and between the two major political parties, competing claims to the presidency between northern and Niger Delta politicians and along religious lines, along with inadequate preparations by the electoral commission and apparent bias by security agencies, suggest the country is heading toward a volatile and vicious electoral contest.
