Common wisdom holds that former president Donald Trump remains the dominant force within the Republican Party. The truth is that his personal influence and standing are not as powerful as many imagine, and his power is as likely to decline as it is to increase. There’s no denying that many […] Read more »
Preparing for the election, whatever the rules
Democrats have been understandably upset at Republican efforts to make voting more difficult — especially for minority voters and others who have supported Democrats in the past. … National and key state Democrats have been doing what they can to stop GOP efforts, but unless Congress acts to protect and […] Read more »
Joe Manchin is a bona fide centrist. Deal with it
Joe Manchin is a bona fide centrist, a political animal nearing extinction in the Democratic Party, whose home state of West Virginia gave Donald Trump his second-highest winning percentage last fall, with 69 percent of the vote. … Manchin’s the kind of senator that presidential candidate Joe Biden and, once […] Read more »
Evidence and experts or common sense
In our hyperpolarized society, the left can’t talk to the right and the right can’t talk to the left. … Liberals and conservatives not only reach different conclusions, they arrive at them in different ways. One of the important distinctions is in who we look to for guidance. We Democrats […] Read more »
How America Fractured Into Four Parts
Nations, like individuals, tell stories in order to understand what they are, where they come from, and what they want to be. … Tracing the evolution of these narratives can tell you something about a nation’s possibilities for change. Through much of the 20th century, the two political parties had […] Read more »
Republicans won an election in a heavily Latino Texas city. Democrats should be nervous.
Nonpartisan mayoral races don’t usually have large political implications. But Saturday’s win by a Republican in McAllen, Tex., is different, as it confirms that Latino voters are up for grabs. McAllen has long been a Democratic stronghold. The city, which is 85 percent Hispanic or Latino, has elected Democratic mayors […] Read more »