The Beltway hosted a dueling set of Republican conferences this past weekend, which perfectly highlighted the party’s struggles: the Conservative Political Action Conference, taken over by former President Trump; versus Principles First, put on by center-right and never-Trump organizations. Trump triumphantly declared his takeover of the party complete, saying things […] Read more »
This is the dynamic that could decide the 2024 GOP race
The same fundamental dynamic that decided the 2016 Republican presidential primaries is already resurfacing as the 2024 contest takes shape. As in 2016, early polls of next year’s contest show the Republican electorate is again sharply dividing about former President Donald Trump along lines of education. In both state and […] Read more »
Inside the Panic at Fox News After the 2020 Election
A little more than a week after television networks called the 2020 presidential election for Joseph R. Biden Jr., top executives and anchors at Fox News held an after-action meeting to figure out how they had messed up. Not because they had gotten the key call wrong — but because […] Read more »
Republicans are trying to build a multiracial right – will it work?
GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event on Feb. 16, 2023, in Exeter, N.H. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Joseph Lowndes, University of Oregon and Daniel Martinez HoSang, Yale Divinity School Former Republican South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley launched her bid for president recently […] Read more »
Why Red v. Blue Became Me v. You: Polarization, Part II
A political identity–being a liberal or Democrat (a “D”) versus being a conservative or Republican (an “R”)–has become viscerally more important to more Americans, reaching partisan intensities not seen for at least a century and not seen elsewhere in the western world. R’s and D’s have increasingly and heatedly differed […] Read more »
Winning at the Rules Game
… In the gauzy, “West Wing” TV version of politics, campaigns are won with compelling speeches, dazzling debate performances and perfectly crafted campaign ads. In reality, campaigns are won on grit, endurance and attention to detail. And luck. To win the nomination for president, a campaign must be able to […] Read more »