How many political parties in the U.S.? Numbers suggest four, not two.

A new president, a new Congress, and the same partisan divide, right? Already the familiar laments about the red/blue split in Washington have started, and there are many signs those left/right differences are still alive and well. But as both parties deal with internal tensions, that simple binary color code […] Read more »

Trump jumps into a divisive battle over the Republican Party — with a threat to start a ‘MAGA Party’

Former president Donald Trump threw himself back into politics this weekend by publicly endorsing a devoted and divisive acolyte in Arizona who has embraced his false election conspiracy theories and entertained the creation of a new “MAGA Party.” In a recorded phone call, he offered his “complete and total endorsement” […] Read more »

Capitol mob wasn’t just angry white men – there were angry white women as well

There were women among the crowd that marched to the Capitol and stormed the building. Shay Horse/NurPhoto via Getty Images Jakana Thomas, Michigan State University The terror inflicted on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 laid bare America’s problem with violent extremism. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have […] Read more »

Trump’s Parting Gift to Joe Biden

Donald Trump’s chaotic final days in the White House could present President Joe Biden with a historic opportunity to broaden his base of public support and splinter Republican opposition to his agenda. Recent polls have repeatedly found that about three-fourths or more of GOP voters accept Trump’s disproven charges that […] Read more »

Is America ungovernable now? Joe Biden is about to find out.

Joe Biden is now the president, even as a block of roughly 35 to 40 million Republican voters remains convinced that his victory on Nov. 3 was illegitimate, despite his capture of a decisive majority of the popular vote and the Electoral College. … Biden may look battered and worn, […] Read more »

Can Biden deliver on his bipartisan promises?

Newly minted President Biden made a pledge for unity in his inaugural address Wednesday, a stirring speech that reflected his desire to calm the roiling divisions enveloping the country. But the biggest test of whether he’ll be successful is if he’s willing to compromise with sizable Republican minorities, who remain […] Read more »