President Biden is having a pretty miserable first summer in office, with challenges coming from all sides: the Delta variant, a record number of illegal crossings at the southern border, and now, of course, the disastrous pull-out from Afghanistan. House Democratic leaders, meanwhile, are struggling to keep their narrow majority […] Read more »
The Trump Factor for 2021 and 2022
For the first time in more than four years, Donald Trump has receded into the background. He no longer grabs the headlines and wall-to-wall cable TV coverage that he craves. Banned from social media, his opinions on everything from the women’s national soccer team to the troop withdrawal in Afghanistan, […] Read more »
Parties Now See Any Electoral Victory As A Mandate
There has been a lot of talk in recent months about the schism in the Republican Party, with the “Stop the Steal” wing, steadfastly loyal to former President Trump, on one side, and what one Republican pollster referred to me last week as the “reality-based” wing on the other. The […] Read more »
Wisconsin: Majorities of voters approve how Biden and Evers are handling coronavirus issues
A new Marquette Law School Poll of Wisconsin registered voters finds 49% approving of the job President Joe Biden is doing as president, 46% disapproving and 4% saying they don’t know. Forty-six percent approve of how Biden is handling the economy, while 48% disapprove and 6% say they don’t know. […] Read more »
Public Opinion on War and Terror: Manipulated or Manipulating?
Leaders, elites, and the media may put ideas on the shelf, but that doesn’t mean people will buy them. And when they do, it may often be best to conclude that the message has struck a responsive chord rather than that the public has been manipulated. As people sort through […] Read more »
Why ‘moderation’ doesn’t guarantee electoral success for Biden and the Democrats
There is a general theory of how politics works in the United States right now that goes something like this: Democrats and Republicans advance policy agendas that are covered in a straightforward manner by the media and broadly digested by voters. Based on their views of these agendas, most voters […] Read more »