Turning outrage into power: How far right is changing GOP

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appears to have settled on a strategy to deal with a handful of Republican lawmakers who have stirred outrage with violent, racist and sometimes Islamophobic comments. If you can’t police them, promote them. The path to power for Republicans in Congress is now rooted in […] Read more »

Our constitutional crisis is already here

The United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, with a reasonable chance over the next three to four years of incidents of mass violence, a breakdown of federal authority, and the division of the country into warring red and blue enclaves. The […] Read more »

Views on the Republican Party’s Priorities, Leadership, and Future

Most Republicans want former President Donald Trump to have at least some influence on the direction of the Republican Party, though fewer than half are optimistic about the party’s future. Republicans are also sour on the direction of the country, the state of politics, and the state of democracy. Overall, […] Read more »

Dismissed in 2012, this diagnosis of GOP ills has now become undeniable

The essay described congressional extremists, their rejection of truth, a party turning into authoritarians or “an apocalyptic cult.” It bore a striking headline: “Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem.” It didn’t mention Marjorie Taylor Greene, the deadly January 6 insurrection or Donald Trump’s Big Lie. In fact, […] Read more »

Many Value Democratic Principles, but Few Think Democracy Is Working Well These Days

Few Americans believe democracy is functioning well in the United States these days, even as a large majority agree that core democratic principles like a fair judiciary and a democratically elected government are important to the country’s identity. Seventy percent think President Biden has at least a fair amount of […] Read more »