… I think it is worth asking why the myth of a discrete evangelical voting bloc motivated by explicitly religious concerns persists. Why, for example, do so many pundits – and their readers – continue to believe that evangelical leaders hold the power to sway presidential elections? Why do candidates […] Read more »
Impeachment’s Limited Political Impact on 2020
We live in a political era of incredible volatility and mind-numbing predictability. For only the third time in American history, a president is about to be impeached. Even so, Americans aren’t particularly captivated by a story in which they already know the ending. … As such, the fact that Trump […] Read more »
Impeachment rhetoric reaches its natural conclusion: It’s just those urban, coastal elites
There’s a neat little trick at the heart of one of the most common criticisms of the House impeachment inquiry. That criticism offers that the push to investigate President Trump’s interactions with Ukraine is tainted by partisanship, a function of hyperactive Democrats seeking to oust a president they hate. … […] Read more »
What Is Voters’ Highest Priority? There’s a Way to Find Out
Republicans in Congress have tried to discredit the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry by arguing that it distracts Congress from its real duties. One Republican-aligned group recently released a poll of 1,600 voters in four congressional districts that suggested Americans “prioritize issues over impeachment.” But when we look at data on revealed […] Read more »
The Russification of the Republican Party
Just how far will Republicans go in following President Donald Trump’s embrace of Russia? An answer may be crystallizing as the GOP mobilizes its defense of the president against impeachment. Both congressional Republicans and conservative commentators are defending Trump from impeachment partly by accusing Ukraine of intervening against him in […] Read more »
The Impact of Increased Political Polarization
As I write this, the House Intelligence Committee has voted to adopt the committee’s Impeachment Inquiry Report along strict party lines. All 13 Democrats on the committee voted “Yes”; all nine Republican committee members voted “No.” This party-line split is neither unusual nor unpredictable, but reflects the deep partisanship that […] Read more »