… The rise of the Dixiecrat Party, like that of the Tea Party sixty years later, was ostensibly the result of one faction within a political party coming to believe its policy interests had been neglected. But on a more fundamental level, it was the product of demographic changes in […] Read more »
Stark Divide Between Blacks, Whites on Gun Control and Health Care
Immigration isn’t the only issue that represents a hurdle for Republicans hoping to improve their performance among Hispanics, Asians, African-Americans, and other minority voters. This week’s United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll tested attitudes about two of the most incendiary issues now dividing the parties in Washington: health reform and […] Read more »
Republicans Have Serious Problems Among Hispanics, but Challenges Remain for Democrats
Compared to the Democratic Party, Hispanics are twice as likely to volunteer negative associations about the Republican Party, are more than three times less likely to say the Republican Party cares about people like them, and are half as likely to say they feel closer to the Republican Party than […] Read more »
Anti-Immigrant Politics and Lessons for the GOP from California
According to polling data from the Field Poll, after winning the presidential election in 1980, California native Ronald Reagan raised his share of the Latino vote from 35 percent to 45 percent in 1984 while carrying 59 percent of the entire state. Republicans went on to win the Golden state […] Read more »
50 Years Since the March on Washington
As a reminder to the rare reader who hasn’t turned on the television for at least 72 hours, today is the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. Many commentators will write and have written about what this moment means to America and how […] Read more »
Two Big States’ Big Split on Immigration
In the current immigration debate, California and Texas look like very similar terrain. The two electoral behemoths are both “border states” familiar with the issue. And in both Hispanics make up the exact same percentage of the population according to the latest Census numbers: 38.2%. And yet, as the debate […] Read more »