In his sledgehammer assault against the cornerstone institutions of the Western alliance, Donald Trump is replaying one of the defining confrontations in the Republican Party’s history. Only this time, the outcome is being reversed—with potentially tumultuous implications for both the GOP and the future of American foreign policy. Trump is […] Read more »
Above All Issues, Abortion Divides Liberals, Conservatives
Americans who say they hold liberal views on social issues differ markedly from social conservatives on the morality of most moral issues, with the largest gap in opinions on abortion. The two groups also diverge greatly on gay/lesbian relations, having a baby outside of marriage, sex between teenagers and euthanasia. […] Read more »
Republicans and Democrats increasingly really do occupy different worlds
… Is the fundamental fissure in American life now demographic or geographic? The answer, a growing body of evidence suggests, is both. And that may point to a future of even greater distance — and antagonism — between a Democratic coalition centered in racially diverse, largely secular, and post-industrial metropolitan […] Read more »
Turning Affluent Suburbs Blue Isn’t Worth the Cost
Democratic politicians and strategists identify a “suburban revolt” against President Trump and right-wing Republican extremism as the key to victory in the 2018 and 2020 elections. … The suburban vote has been closely divided since the 1990s. Barack Obama held his final campaign rally in 2008 in an exurb of […] Read more »
If There’s a Red Wave Election in 2018, This Will Be Why
As primaries roll by and the midterms approach, it’s worth remembering that for Republicans 2016 represented an opportunity more than a victory. It was a chance for them to help the country break the 30-year-spell the Clintons and the Bushes cast, President Barack Obama notwithstanding. It was also a chance […] Read more »
Orange County Fights Turning Blue. And the Resistance Is Formidable.
California has dug in at the front lines of the resistance to President Trump, suing to overturn his environmental policies, passing legislation to hamstring his immigration enforcement and marching in mass demonstrations of defiance. Then there is Orange County, a stubborn redoubt of conservatism that keeps defying prognostications that 80 […] Read more »