America was unprepared for a major crisis. Again.

President Trump downplayed the coronavirus threat, was slow to move and has delivered mixed messages to the nation. The federal bureaucracy bungled rapid production of tests for the virus. Stockpiles of crucial medical materials were limited and supply lines cumbersome. States and hospitals were plunged into life-and-death competition with one […] Read more »

Partisanship and Deficit Spending

… In the midst of this fearsome economic environment, the Trump Administration has succeeded in navigating an unprecedented $2.3 Trillion stimulus package through a divided Congress, ensuring basic protections for businesses and workers harmed by the crisis. … This swift, united action by Republicans in Congress suggests that they feared […] Read more »

How Fox News can turn Democrats against their eventual nominee

… One often overlooked factor that increases divisiveness in party primaries is opposing partisan media outlets. Conservative media such as Fox News and radio commentators like Rush Limbaugh can increase divisiveness among the (surprisingly many) Democrats who regularly watch or listen to their programs. CONT. Glen Smith (U. of North […] Read more »

Trump’s Approval Hits New High, But A Rally-Around-The-Flag Effect Is Small

Asked if he has any regrets about the way he’s handled the coronavirus crisis so far, President Trump said no — and he cited polling to back him up. “No, I think that we’ve handled it really well,” Trump said on Monday. “The American public thinks that we’ve handled it […] Read more »

Why Sanders Is Losing With Black Voters

The story about Bernie Sanders is that he can’t win black voters. That first emerged when he lost the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and was reinforced by Joe Biden’s decisive sweep of Southern primaries. This has led to reflexive assumptions about the political sympathies of African-Americans, assumptions that fail […] Read more »