Joe Biden pitched himself as the antithesis of Donald Trump, but the president is ending his first year in office with a similarly dismal report card from voters as his predecessor. Like Trump, more voters gave Biden a failing mark at the quarter mark of his term than those who […] Read more »
America’s shift to the right in 2021 is worse news for Democrats than it seems
… Democrats have repeatedly hoped that Trump would prove so poisonous that the electorate would turn against the GOP. It worked in 2018, when the midterms served as a repudiation of Trump’s politics. It didn’t work in 2016, though, when Trump first won, and it offered only limited utility in […] Read more »
Biden Year One Approval Ratings Subpar, Extremely Polarized
During his first year in office, an average of 48.9% of Americans approved of the job President Joe Biden was doing. Biden’s job approval ratings started relatively strong at 57%, but by September had plunged to 43%. A new Gallup poll finds 40% of U.S. adults approving of the job […] Read more »
With help from Manchin and Sinema, a Republican revolution from below is driving national policy
Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country are approving a wave of new voting restrictions on virtually party-line votes that require only a simple majority to pass. The US Supreme Court has likewise decided the key voting rights rulings that helped trigger this surge of state legislation on a party-line, majority-vote […] Read more »
New York State: Hochul Dominating Primary Field; Viewed Most Favorably by Dems
Governor Kathy Hochul is – five months before the primary – the clear favorite among New York Democrats, leading potential primary opponents by more than 30 points. She has the support of 46 percent of Democrats, compared to 12 percent for former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, 11 […] Read more »
It’s Foolish to Predict the Midterms Until We Know Covid’s Future
… In sharp contrast to everyone else doom scrolling about the pandemic, political handicappers seem determined to treat 2022 as an ordinary election year. As a result, we are awash in glib forecasts about how the inflation rate, Biden’s approval numbers, or the Democratic stalemate on Capitol Hill will determine […] Read more »