According to a Gallup survey released on July 18, the American people now regard immigration as the single most important problem facing the country, and the share of the population expressing this view stands at the highest level ever recorded. This surge of concern crosses partisan lines: the share of […] Read more »
Can Trump’s Republican Critics Find Strength in Numbers?
Even after Hurricane Helsinki, Donald Trump’s Republican critics still find themselves shouting into the wind. While more Republicans than usual criticized Trump’s dizzying news conference with Vladimir Putin earlier this week, the possibility of a sustained backlash inside the party is already dwindling. It’s splintering against the same rocks that […] Read more »
A Democratic Blue Wave? Don’t Forget the Republicans’ Big Hill
Democrats are optimistic about riding a so-called blue wave to control of the House this November, and it’s easy to see why. The president’s approval rating is in the low 40s, the Democrats have a comfortable lead in generic congressional polls, and it’s a midterm election year. Historically, it’s a […] Read more »
Culture of Corruption: 2018 Congressional Battleground Survey Results
A new battleground survey of Republican-held congressional districts shows Democrats are poised to make major gains this November, and that—with Republicans in Congress abandoning oversight of the Trump Administration—an anti-corruption theme has the potential to put Democratic candidates over the top by drawing support outside their traditional voting blocs. In […] Read more »
The Grand Old Patsies
Commenting after President Donald Trump’s performance in Helsinki, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell observed, “I have said a number of times, I’ll say it again: The Russians are not our friends. And I entirely believe the assessment of our intelligence community.” Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander said in a release, […] Read more »
(Mis)interpreting elections
From our first appearance on earth, human beings have searched for meaning. We naturally incline toward interpreting events and ascribing significance to them. … There are both the intrinsic and extrinsic pressures to find meaning in the events of the day and particularly in election results. However, such assessments often […] Read more »