Call them realistic: Americans are braced for little compromise and less action in Washington over the next two years of divided government. The messy fight by Republicans to elect a new House speaker left the public convinced by 61%-17% that the GOP and President Joe Biden are less likely to […] Read more »
Party Preferences Evenly Split in 2022 After Shift to GOP
Americans’ party preferences were evenly divided in 2022, with 45% of U.S. adults identifying as Republican or saying they were Republican-leaning independents, and 44% identifying as Democrats or saying they were Democratic-leaning independents. The last time preferences were this closely divided was in 2011, with Democrats holding at least a […] Read more »
Democrats’ Identification as Liberal Now 54%, a New High
After hovering near 50% in recent years, the percentage of Democrats who identify as politically liberal rose four percentage points in 2022 to 54%, a new high for this group. At the same time, the 10% describing themselves as conservative is the lowest to date. … Republicans’ ideology did not […] Read more »
Joe Biden is gaining ground. But Democrats want someone else in 2024.
President Biden notched significant victories in 2022: He signed deals on climate change, infrastructure and gun control, and Democrats expanded their Senate majority in the midterm elections. But despite these accomplishments, only 47 percent of Democrats want him to seek a second term. Biden’s numbers are trending upwards: In November […] Read more »
How ‘representative’ is the 118th Congress?
After days of false starts, the House voted Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as the new speaker, and the 118th Congress was sworn in. But the demographic makeup of the new House and Senate may raise some questions about how truly “representative” of the nation those bodies are. The figures around […] Read more »
The Republicans’ Math Problem in Midterms and Potentially 2024
Politics isn’t all that complicated. It’s really just math. But, as those of us who were never big fans of the subject in school can attest, sometimes math can be hard. As I write this on Thursday, the most prominent political figure in America, Republican Kevin McCarthy, has a very […] Read more »