Views of the national economy have soured over the year while Americans’ evaluation of their own personal finances have not changed. Still, many Americans report financial challenges. Most are facing growing household expenses while fewer say their income has increased. Recent increases in the prices of goods and services are […] Read more »
A new poll finds major warning signs for Biden and fellow Democrats
Americans don’t feel the direct payments or expanded child tax credits doled out earlier this year helped them much, according to the latest NPR/Marist poll, and they don’t see Democrats’ signature legislation as addressing their top economic concern — inflation. Additionally, they’re down on the job President Biden is doing, […] Read more »
The Year America Lost Its Democracy
… Adopting an outsider’s point of view has helped to clarify the terrible stakes of the political game now playing out across the country — and has filled me with a sense of deep despair and foreboding. Because if the assaults on democracy that occurred in America in 2021 had […] Read more »
Trump Won’t Let America Go. Can Democrats Pry It Away?
… Do Democrats’ difficulties grow more out of structural advantages of the Republican Party — better geographic distribution of its voters, the small-state tilt of the Electoral College and the Senate, more control over redistricting? Or do their difficulties stem from Democratic policies and positions that alienate key blocs of […] Read more »
Biden goes from a contrast to Trump to a contrast to competency
… This is my last column for 2021, and so maybe a little reflection is in order on what has been a difficult year for the country and a disastrous one for President Joe Biden and his party. … Now, as we close the door on this most miserable year, […] Read more »
Popularity vs. impact
… While it’s certainly better to be talking about popular agenda items than about those that are unpopular or talking about nothing at all, popularity is just one criterion — an important one, but only one. Two other related criteria are impact and interest. Do voters feel the policies will […] Read more »