The numbers for the Republican Party are beyond discouraging. The Grand Old Party is hemorrhaging support. … But before Democrats start popping their chilled champagne in anticipation of their inevitable comeback in the election of 2014, they should understand that the government shutdown, coupled with the very public game of […] Read more »
Ted Cruz and the Politics of Hari-kari
Just when you thought that the G.O.P. might finally be wising up, and looking for a way to stop damaging itself in the eyes of voters, up pops Ted Cruz, the Texas firebrand who helped to get this whole shutdown/debt-ceiling thing started. Appearing before an audience of conservative activists in […] Read more »
It’s time for stocktaking by GOP leaders
Sometimes polls state the obvious. Sometimes they surprise. The latest NBC News-Wall Street Journal and Gallup polls, which landed in the middle of the government shutdown late last week, did both. Everyone knew that the shutdown and threats of a government default would damage the political standing of all parties […] Read more »
Cruzification of the GOP
… At least so far, the standoff has been a political bloodbath for Republicans. And maybe that’s exactly what was needed to right the political system: The effort to gut Obamacare had to crash like this so that Republican leaders and lawmakers would find the courage to stand up to […] Read more »
As shutdown drags on, Americans turn to Obama for an endgame
Numerous media and research organizations have conducted polls on the government shutdown, with much focus on who Americans blame for the crisis. But only YouGov has tracked public opinion throughout the shutdown, revealing trends in who Americans think stands most in the way of a resolution to the crisis. [cont.] […] Read more »
Republicans Should Fight or Give Up
The findings of the newly released NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll are simply brutal for congressional Republicans. Not only are they getting the lion’s share of the blame for the government shutdown, but President Obama’s numbers have actually improved. Worse, Obamacare’s numbers are improving, as well. That poll caused quite […] Read more »