Afghanistan is a political disaster for the Biden administration. Americans have long wanted the war to end, but they also believe Biden botched the withdrawal: 71 percent of Americans rate his handling of Afghanistan as “only fair” or “poor” while just 27 percent say his performance is “excellent” or “good.” […] Read more »
Don’t Be So Sure a Supreme Court Backlash Will Boost Democrats
It took about a minute and a half between the Supreme Court’s decision to let a draconian, constitutionally bizarre abortion law take effect and the widespread conclusion that it would prove a boon to Democratic political hopes even as it provoked their moral outrage. … There is plausibility to this […] Read more »
Where Will Biden’s Approval Ratings Go From Here?
All presidents inevitably encounter serious challenges, when events and circumstances go badly, whether controllable by that president and administration or not, that can affect that president’s standings with the public and even trajectory of the balance of the administration. Whether the president is fairly placed or not is not terribly […] Read more »
RIP, rally ’round the flag
Less than 12 hours after Flight 75 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, close to 150 members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, stood together on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to sing “God Bless America.” Unfortunately, that act of bipartisanship won’t […] Read more »
How the White House and Democrats hope to survive Biden’s political bruises
President Joe Biden was likely to lose Democratic control of Congress before last week’s carnage in Afghanistan. That’s more likely now. But the imminent loss of power makes politicians act with greater urgency. For Biden and his party, that just happens to represent their best hope of ultimately not losing […] Read more »
When Will Biden Join the Fight for Voting Rights?
Don’t look now, but the Senate is quietly becoming what it used to be: an institution ruled by a simple majority. At least, for certain kinds of legislation. Despite his institutionalist reputation, President Biden is on track to become the most productive Democratic president in a generation, not because he […] Read more »