Since Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to Congress in 1916, the numbers game for women in elected office has been marked by largely glacial progress. But a new report lays out the extent to which women and people of color have gained ground in elections around the country […] Read more »
‘Electability’ is the most important, least understood word in the 2020 race
The most important factor in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary is also the most unknowable: Electability. Unlike primary voters in every other recent presidential election, Democrats are still so rattled by the 2016 election that they keep telling pollsters they’ll vote for whichever candidate they think has the best chance […] Read more »
Electability Reflects What Americans Believe is Possible
Between May 30-June 3, we conducted a listening survey to 1,871 registered voters to understand how the concept of electability is influencing the beliefs and behavior of the American electorate. While traditional research has struggled to define and measure electability, our unique methodology provides unique insight into this complex concept. […] Read more »
Public Highly Critical of State of Political Discourse in the U.S.
The public renders a harsh judgment on the state of political discourse in this country. And for many Americans, their own conversations about politics have become stressful experiences that they prefer to avoid. … Donald Trump is a major factor in people’s views about the state of the nation’s political […] Read more »
Women and Electability – Part 2
In Part 1 of this post, I argued that there is no solid reason to consider women less electable than men in the 2020 Presidential contest. Women candidates do need to grapple, however, with four areas that may create misconceptions of their potential. First is implicit bias, second is the […] Read more »
Women and Electability – Part 1
Punditry has focused lately on Democratic voters’ desire for an electable presidential candidate with the suggestion that the electability criterion biases them against women candidates. … The reality is that there has not been a test of whether women, writ large, are less electable. In the one circumstance in which […] Read more »