Without Trump to kick around, GOP’s blue-state govs sink

As recently as October, Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker was basking in his typically stratospheric poll ratings. More than 70 percent approved of his job performance. Roughly the same amount felt the same way about his handling of the Covid-19 crisis. Those were the days. Since then, Baker’s numbers have […] Read more »

Why Republican voter restrictions are a race against time

With their drive to erect new obstacles to voting, particularly across the Sun Belt, Republicans are stacking sandbags against a rising tide of demographic change. In many of the states where Republicans are advancing the most severe restrictions — including Georgia, Arizona and Texas — shifts in the electorate’s composition […] Read more »

Can this political moment of good feelings last?

In our partisan times, it’s hard to find polling results that go against the grain, so to speak. Over the past four years, then-President Trump’s position on any given issue cleaved public opinion along party lines, regardless of the merits. Democrats opposed opening schools simply because Education Secretary Betsy DeVos […] Read more »

Can Biden make it ‘the economy, stupid’ again?

Eight weeks in, President Joe Biden has overseen a huge Covid relief win, surging vaccinations and declining case counts. As Wall Street sets new records, forecasters predict an economic boom. And yet, from his sixth day in office to his sixtieth, Biden’s approval rating barely budged. … And history suggests […] Read more »