These have been difficult weeks for the president, but it needs to be understood how potentially consequential these weeks could be on the arc of his presidency. Our latest slide deck looks at key data for President Bush before and after Hurricane Katrina and comparable data for President Obama before […] Read more »
Partisans’ Historical Assessments of Obama, Bush Differ Most
In assessing the legacies of the last 11 U.S. presidents, Republicans and Democrats diverge most in how history will judge Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Republicans believe Obama will be judged worst among recent presidents, while Democrats predict Bush will. At the same time, Republicans expect Bush to […] Read more »
In Fracas on Health Coverage, Some Democrats Feel Exposed
… New Hampshire may be ground zero in the political war over the Affordable Care Act, a state where the three Democratic members of the congressional delegation are under serious threat because of the fumbled rollout of the health care law. Suddenly they must balance their loyalty to the White […] Read more »
Health-care law has changed game for Democrats looking to 2014 election
Few places may better explain how the bungled launch of President Obama’s health-care law has scrambled the political landscape for Democrats than this hamlet north of Philadelphia. Democrats have been hoping to capitalize on the political fallout for the GOP from the recent government shutdown. If they can do so […] Read more »
Obamacare’s Problems Could Haunt Democrats for Years
President Obama’s health care law is now compounding a political problem it was meant to solve: the generation-long loss of faith in government activism, particularly among the white middle class. For decades, Democratic strategists have viewed universal health care as their best opportunity to reverse the doubt among many voters, […] Read more »
Voters Don’t Want to See Anyone Win
The day after Election Day 2012, the worst fear for many Republicans was that the GOP’s problems—in terms of the overall party brand and its image among minorities, young people, women, and moderates—would not improve. The biggest concern for many Democrats was that their success had peaked with President Obama’s […] Read more »