GOP Candidates Culturally Out of Step with Most Americans

Republicans have many reasons for optimism about the 2016 presidential election, but the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released this week shows again that social issues may be their biggest obstacle in recapturing the White House next year. CONT. Ronald Brownstein, National Journal Read more »

Social Issues Draw Lines Between Republicans, Other Voters

Social issues are tricky terrain for Republican presidential hopefuls, the new WSJ/NBC News poll underscores. On a series of “trends in American society today” – including tightening abortion restrictions and increasing legislation protecting gays and lesbians – Americans who identify as Republicans have different beliefs about the direction the country […] Read more »

NBC/WSJ Poll: Anger Defines 2016 Electorate

One word seems to define the American public’s mood more than 13 months until Election Day 2016 – anger. According to the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 62 percent of respondents believe the country is headed in the wrong direction – the 59th-straight NBC/WSJ poll over the past six […] Read more »

Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S., Driving Population Growth and Change Through 2065

Fifty years after passage of the landmark law that rewrote U.S. immigration policy, nearly 59 million immigrants have arrived in the United States, pushing the country’s foreign-born share to a near record 14%. For the past half-century, these modern-era immigrants and their descendants have accounted for just over half the […] Read more »

The big issues dividing the Republican Party (in 3 graphs)

The Republican primary debates have been emphasizing foreign policy, and for good reason. According to the 2015 Chicago Council Survey of the American public released last week, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to see a dangerous world and to prioritize maintaining U.S. military superiority and using force to achieve […] Read more »