The 2020 presidential campaign may well be one of the most combative since World War II. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, will likely face stinging attacks for his positions on controversial racial issues such as opposing busing and supporting the 1994 crime bill. Our research suggests that to combat […] Read more »
Do party platforms matter for candidates?
In a political system featuring entrepreneurial politicians who work to fashion their own images, and in an era of weak parties, commentators commonly dismiss the significance of party platforms. “Who cares what ‘the party’ says,” the conventional wisdom goes, “candidates will do what they want.” While there’s some truth in […] Read more »
A Third of Americans Know Someone Infected
This edition of our daily tracking release features findings from a national online survey of 1,005 registered voters conducted April 30-May 5, 2020 and a national online survey of 1,687 registered voters conducted April 27-May 4, 2020. • Americans are hearing less from Trump on the pandemic, and those who […] Read more »
Why Trump’s shadow over the race for Senate control is so long
… Senate elections are becoming more about the party and less about the individual candidates. It’s become harder and harder for even the most talented Senate candidates to win, in effect, behind enemy lines, in states that usually vote the other way in presidential races. … The hardening alignment between […] Read more »
Justin Amash Could Cause Some Trouble In November
The 2020 presidential election just got its first notable third-party challenger. Last Tuesday, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party nine months ago and became an independent, announced he would run for president as a Libertarian. And while we won’t know whether Amash wins his new party’s nomination […] Read more »
The six states at the center of the battleground map six months from Election Day
… While the coronavirus has tossed the mechanics of politicking in flux for the foreseeable future, leaders in both parties and officials with President Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s campaigns are surveying a relatively stable political battlefield that will be concentrated largely in just about a half dozen states: the […] Read more »