The House’s public impeachment hearings will test whether Donald Trump was right when he declared that his political support is so rock-solid that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without consequence—and what it means for a bitterly divided nation if he was. Even some Republican political professionals privately acknowledge […] Read more »
It May Be a Good Idea for Democratic Front-Runners Not to Look Back
Elizabeth Warren’s seemingly inexorable rise and Joe Biden’s dogged resilience have been the two major stories of the Democratic primary so far. Over the next and more intense period of campaigning in the early states, the story could be very different. The two will probably have to confront their vulnerabilities […] Read more »
Are Republican Views Really That Unpopular?
In the New York Times, Nicole Hemmer argues that Republicans have been able to succeed politically even as they take one unpopular position after another, thanks to undemocratic features of our political system and to undemocratic policies and attitudes they have added to that system: “Not every policy that parties […] Read more »
Republicans need to study the lessons of 2018 and 2019 before racing to 2020
Whenever there is a special election or an off-year one, you can count on both parties to react in a familiar fashion. They focus on the bright spots and dismiss losses by telling us, “Don’t read too much into it.” Last Tuesday’s elections were a mixed bag for Republicans with […] Read more »
What Impeachment Will Cost the GOP
On December 19, 1998, the day House Republicans impeached President Bill Clinton, he recorded his highest-ever score in Gallup’s presidential approval poll: 73 percent favorable. … President Donald Trump and this generation of Republicans plainly are looking to the politics of the Clinton impeachment as a source of comfort. They […] Read more »
‘Incomprehensible’ Numbers: How Republicans Are Losing N.Y. Suburbs
Well before Representative Peter King announced that he would retire next year, enough evidence existed that his prospects for re-election on Long Island as a Republican were narrowing. Like so many suburban areas around the country, Long Island is undergoing a profound political shift, a transformation evident in the voter […] Read more »