The early lines of division between the parties during Joe Biden’s presidency point toward rising confrontation, sooner rather than later, over rules and traditions in the Senate that empower the minority party to block the majority. The quick turn by Biden and congressional Democrats toward reliance on the special “reconciliation” […] Read more »
Two-thirds of Americans approve of Biden’s COVID-19 response
Two-thirds of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds, putting the new commander-in-chief on steady footing after more than two weeks in office. In line with attitudes measured just after his inauguration, twice as many Americans approve of Biden’s leadership […] Read more »
GOP registration drop after Capitol attack is part of larger trend
In the weeks since the January riot at the Capitol, there has been a raft of stories about voters across the country leaving the Republican Party. Some of the numbers are eye-catching and suggest that the GOP may be shrinking before our eyes, but a closer look at the numbers […] Read more »
Why Joe Manchin is an electoral miracle
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is one of the most powerful men in Washington. With Democrats holding a one-vote majority in the Senate (thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris casting any tie-breaking vote), he can make or break a lot of bills for them. Manchin’s moderate record, however, […] Read more »
How Democrats Found Thousands Of New Voters And Flipped Georgia’s Senate Seats
It’s been about a month since Democrats flipped Georgia’s two Senate seats in high profile January runoffs, sending Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to Washington and handing the party narrow control of the chamber. One key to the stunning upsets were the roughly 225,000 new voters who didn’t vote in […] Read more »
The Challenge of Going It Alone
The last time we had a Senate divided at 50/50 was back in 2001. It only stayed that way until May of 2001 when Vermont Republican Sen. Jim Jeffords switched parties, giving Democrats 51 seats. But, the make-up of the Senate was much less polarized than it is today. In […] Read more »