Maybe Bill Clinton got a few things right after all. For years, Democrats have rarely cited Clinton and the centrist New Democrat movement he led through the ’90s except to renounce his “third way” approach to welfare, crime, and other issues as a violation of the party’s principles. Hillary Clinton, […] Read more »
Explaining the Republican Victory in the Virginia Gubernatorial Election: Conversion or Mobilization?
Key Points• The non-presidential party often performs better in off-year elections than it did in the previous cycle’s presidential race. The recent Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races are no exception, both this year and historically.• This likely has more to do with an enthusiasm advantage generating better turnout for […] Read more »
The Year America Lost Its Democracy
… Adopting an outsider’s point of view has helped to clarify the terrible stakes of the political game now playing out across the country — and has filled me with a sense of deep despair and foreboding. Because if the assaults on democracy that occurred in America in 2021 had […] Read more »
Trump Won’t Let America Go. Can Democrats Pry It Away?
… Do Democrats’ difficulties grow more out of structural advantages of the Republican Party — better geographic distribution of its voters, the small-state tilt of the Electoral College and the Senate, more control over redistricting? Or do their difficulties stem from Democratic policies and positions that alienate key blocs of […] Read more »
Biden goes from a contrast to Trump to a contrast to competency
… This is my last column for 2021, and so maybe a little reflection is in order on what has been a difficult year for the country and a disastrous one for President Joe Biden and his party. … Now, as we close the door on this most miserable year, […] Read more »
Popularity vs. impact
… While it’s certainly better to be talking about popular agenda items than about those that are unpopular or talking about nothing at all, popularity is just one criterion — an important one, but only one. Two other related criteria are impact and interest. Do voters feel the policies will […] Read more »