Can Democrats Turn Things Around?

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With just under six months to go until the November elections, the political environment looks as bleak as ever for Democrats. The President’s job approval ratings remain mired in the low 40s, inflation has proven to be stubborn and persistent, and Americans are overwhelmingly pessimistic about the country’s direction, with a whopping 75 percent saying they think the country is heading on the “wrong track.”

Do Democrats have any chance to turn things around in the time they have left? CONTINUED

Amy Walter, Cook Political Report with Amy Walter

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The Left and Right’s Terrible Ideas for Fixing the Internet

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Watching American politicians and judges wrestle with the social and political dangers posed by the internet is a bit like watching my cats chase a laser pointer. They’re very fired up about the hunt, pursuing every zig and zag with showy ferocity, but anytime they approach the target it becomes painfully clear they misunderstand the essential nature of the problem at hand (or, you know, at paw). …

Both sides have been putting forward — and in some cases, passing — state and federal rules that compel companies to change their ways. But the leading ideas from lawmakers on both sides are variously unworkable, unconstitutional, irrelevant and unserious, many of them betraying a profound ignorance about how the internet actually works. CONTINUED

Farhad Manjoo, New York Times

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Ping-pong Politics Is the New Normal

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… The Democratic Party has moved so far to the left and the Republican Party so far right that not only is the center of gravity in each party heading toward the extremes but the parties are each getting narrower; the ideological distance between the most liberal in the Democratic Party and the least liberal is not that great, just as the distance between the most and least conservative elements in the Republican Party continues to shrink. As a result, candidates and policies that were once on the fringes of each party are now squarely in their mainstreams, and what used to be in the mainstream is now the fringe. CONTINUED

Charlie Cook

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Concern About Race Relations Persists After Floyd’s Death

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Before a White man targeting Black Americans killed 10 people and wounded three others in a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, late last week, 41% of U.S. adults said they worry “a great deal” about race relations. Another 29% worry “a fair amount,” while a combined three in 10 worry “only a little” (17%) or “not at all” (13%). …

In this year’s update, race relations tied with illegal immigration as a mid-level concern and was just slightly below the average 46% for all 14 issues rated in 2022. CONTINUED

Lydia Saad, Gallup

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Majority of Americans don’t want Roe overturned

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Most Americans do not support the prospect of the nation’s highest court overturning Roe v. Wade, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll, and public confidence in the Supreme Court is plunging.

In the wake of a leaked draft opinion from the high court suggesting a majority of justices want to eliminate federally protected abortion rights, more than half of Americans say they have little to no faith in that institution, and nearly half say the draft decision makes them more likely to vote this November. …

Most people do not want to permit or ban abortion in all circumstances. Instead, the majority of Americans broadly support abortion with a few exceptions. CONTINUED

Laura Santhanam, PBS NewsHour

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Two-thirds say don’t overturn Roe; the court leak is firing up Democratic voters

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About two-thirds of Americans say they do not support overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in the United States, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. Seven-in-10 U.S. adults, however, say they are in favor of some degree of restrictions on abortion rights. That includes 52% of Democrats. …

Democrats also got a boost on which party Americans want to control Congress. By a 47%-to-42% margin, this survey showed voters would cast their ballot in favor of a Democrat in their local congressional district if the election were held today. CONTINUED

Domenico Montanaro, NPR News

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