… The conflict between a pro-free-trade presidential wing of the Democratic Party and an anti-free-trade congressional wing has the potential to become a permanent fixture of the center-left. The conflict gives expression to both the downscale forces in the party that lean against trade and the pro-trade upscale forces. At […] Read more »
Government isn’t a business
“Running government like a business” is a mantra for many politicians, particularly Republicans. Two GOP governors who are trying to become president, Ohio’s John Kasich and Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, made that appeal explicit as they transformed their state economic development agencies into “private” entities. The results suggest they know precious […] Read more »
Democrats Opposition to Trade is Nothing New
With his attempts to woo Democrats unsuccessful, President Obama turned to Republicans this week to help rescue his Asia trade hopes. Obama has succeeded in the first step, with the House voting to support Trade Promotion Authority for the President by a vote of 218 to 208. Just 28 Democrats […] Read more »
Can Hillary Clinton Be a Woman of the People?
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign is based on the assumption that voters are angrier at the rich than they are at the poor. Her strategy poses a dilemma for Democrats, who are arguing among themselves about whether targeting the rich is an approach that will work. CONT. Thomas B. Edsall, […] Read more »
Obama’s Stalled Recovery
… Compared with earlier in Obama’s second term, more Americans now approve of his job performance. More also expect their personal financial situation to improve over the next year. But, even so, less than half of Americans express positive views on either question in the new survey, and neither shows […] Read more »
The Second Roundtable on the White Working Class
Welcome to the second white working class roundtable, a project of The Democratic Strategist in collaboration with the Washington Monthly. … The present White working class roundtable is organized around a provocative strategy paper by leading opinion analyst Stan Greenberg that is entitled “The Fight for Working People Begins with […] Read more »