There is no political saying more trite — or more accurate — than James Carville’s famous aphorism from the 1992 campaign “It’s the economy, stupid.” Electoral success and economic performance are intrinsically tied together. The party in power is usually rewarded for a strong economy and punished for a weak […] Read more »
Democrats’ problem is not focusing on issues most vital to independents, 2 prominent pollsters say
Joel Benenson has a feeling of deja vu watching President Biden’s agenda grind into a long, drawn-out negotiation as middle-of-the-road voters recoil at the process taking place in Congress. “History doesn’t really often repeat itself, but it often rhymes,” said Benenson, who served as Barack Obama’s pollster in the 2008 […] Read more »
Virginia’s gubernatorial race tests the fear-of-Trump factor as a political motivator
… No single election ever answers all the questions of the moment in politics, but fairly or not, the Nov. 2 Virginia contest has taken on outsize importance, particularly to nervous Democrats who are justifiably fearful about losing their congressional majorities in the 2022 midterms. It’s as if the future […] Read more »
Why Biden is flailing
President Joe Biden’s popularity is at the lowest point of his administration. He’s averaging about a 43% approval rating, with recently released polls from Gallup (42%) and Grinnell College (37%) coming in even lower. While the causes of Biden’s decline are numerous (e.g. declining trust of his handling of the […] Read more »
The Pessimistic Electorate Behind Biden’s Approval Ratings
What’s dragging down President Biden’s approval rating? Everyone. And everything. Mr. Biden’s approval ratings have declined on nearly every issue and among nearly every demographic group in national surveys over the last two months, as the promise of a return to normalcy has given way to rising inflation, a simmering […] Read more »
If Democrats win in Virginia, they should thank Donald Trump
President Joe Biden is not a popular politician at this point in his presidency. This is even true in Virginia, a state he won by 10 points last year, where his net approval rating (approval – disapproval) is under water. Yet in Virginia, and even nationally on the generic congressional […] Read more »