… How the midterms turned out so improbably was, in many ways, a function of forces beyond Democrats’ control. A Supreme Court decision that stripped away a half-century of abortion rights galvanized their base. A polarizing, unpopular and ever-present former president, Donald J. Trump, provided the type of ready-made foil […] Read more »
The Whackadoodle Factor (with Jonathan Martin)
The midterm special hackathon extravaganza is finally here and we couldn’t think of a better guest to join us than POLITICO’s Politics Bureau Chief and Senior Columnist, Jonathan Martin. The Hacks discuss the results we have from the midterms and breakdown what that means for control of the Senate, House, […] Read more »
David Shor’s (Premature) Autopsy of the 2022 Midterm Elections
The Democratic Party entered the 2022 midterms saddled with a historically unpopular president and an inflationary economy. And yet the party is exiting them as the election’s clear winner. In fact, Democrats put up one of the best midterm performances for an in-power party ever. David Shor believes that he […] Read more »
Election Night Poll Take-Away Points
Despite the record-breaking negative mood of the country, and lackluster Biden approval scores, the GOP’s narrow margin on the generic ballot translated into a smaller advantage than anticipated in the US House. Voters’ top issues were “rising prices and inflation” and “abortion,” followed by “the economy and jobs” and “protecting […] Read more »
How Democrats Avoided a Red Wave
The coalition of voters who turned out to oppose Donald Trump in 2018 and 2020 largely reassembled yesterday, frustrating Republican expectations of a sweeping red wave. Under the pressure of high inflation and widespread disenchantment with President Joe Biden’s job performance, that coalition of young voters, people of color, college-educated […] Read more »
Calcified Politics Gives Us Another Close Election
Just as Democrats did in 2020, Republicans came into the 2022 midterms expecting a landslide. Sky-high inflation, an unpopular President, and pessimism about the direction of the country all pointed to a ‘typical’ midterm romp for the party out of power. But, as we have written extensively over the last […] Read more »