It’s hard to see amid the stormy conflict with Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, but the elongated Democratic standoff over President Joe Biden’s economic agenda shows how far the party consensus has moved toward a more aggressive role for government than during the presidencies of Bill Clinton or even […] Read more »
Biden, Democrats failing to sell agenda to American people
Negotiations on the infrastructure and social program bills have consumed Capitol Hill for months. Still, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll out Sunday finds Democrats are failing to sell the legislation to the public, who are broadly unaware of what is in the spending packages or skeptical they would help people […] Read more »
There’s Opportunity in Independents
… In recent years, the parties’ focus—even obsession—over the wants and needs of their bases, to the exclusion of swing voters, has now become the norm. Republicans walk on eggshells trying not to offend a base that wants to fight culture wars and, notwithstanding the evidence, believes that former President […] Read more »
Democrats Need to Count Up, Not Down
With the finish line in sight (if still stubbornly out of reach) for the Democrats’ massive social-programs and economic development bill, the party now faces the challenge of focusing the attention of its key constituencies and the public on what remains in the package, not on what was cut in […] Read more »
A Majority Want Healthcare and Education Programs to Be High Priorities for the Spending Bill
As Democrats continue to debate the spending package and its social policy spending, most Americans agree funding for health care and education programs should be high priorities, while fewer say climate change, childcare, or paid family leave should have much importance. Americans are closely divided over the preferred approach to […] Read more »
Biden, Dems get low marks on spending talks: AP-NORC poll
As President Joe Biden and Democrats try to get a roughly $2 trillion package over the finish line, a new poll shows that fewer than half of Americans approve of how they have handled the spending bill. And many say they know little to nothing about it. … The new […] Read more »