A little more than a dozen years ago, a new movement erupted in American politics calling itself “the Tea Party.” In the midterm elections of 2010, that movement remade Congress and helped the Republican Party to a decade of dominance in electing the legislatures of roughly 30 states. The phrase […] Read more »
Democrats Can Win on Immigration
… In their quest to retake the House or the Senate (or both), Democrats should not shy away from incorporating and welcoming immigrants into their own rhetoric. When Republicans embark on meanspirited immigrant bashing, Democrats should take notes from Harry Reid’s 2010 re-election victory in Nevada and Ralph Northam’s 2017 […] Read more »
The Double-Edged Sword of a Party-Line Victory
President Trump and congressional Republicans have just taken the same leap of faith that Democrats did when they passed the Affordable Care Act. When then-President Obama and the Democratic House and Senate majorities muscled through the ACA in 2010, the bill represented a big policy victory, but an even bigger […] Read more »
Blast From the Past: The Current Political World Mirrors 2009
The party not occupying the White House seizes control of governor’s offices in New Jersey and Virginia. An unexpectedly competitive special Senate election threatens the chamber’s balance of power. Major legislation being forced through along partisan lines heads for a climactic holiday-season vote. Veteran lawmakers of the governing party race […] Read more »
What Democrats’ Losses in 2010 Can Tell Us About G.O.P.’s Chances in 2018
There’s no way to know how the health care debate in Congress will play out, but there’s a lot of reason to think that the House vote to replace the Affordable Care Act has put Republicans on a risky path heading into next year’s midterm elections. CONT. Nate Cohn, New […] Read more »
Harry Reid: Withstanding the Wave
From The Polling Report archives: Pundits and prognosticators, strategists and seers all said it couldn’t be done. Incumbents who garner positive ratings from fewer than four in ten voters and who post double-digit deficits in match-ups against opponents (in public polls) are not supposed to win—and they usually don’t. In […] Read more »