In his 2016 campaign, President Trump ran as a relative moderate among Republicans — opposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare, talking up federal efforts to rebuild the nation’s roads and bridges, staying away from culture war issues such as same-sex marriage. But in office, Trump has aligned himself firmly […] Read more »
The Democratic candidates are unabashedly liberal. Is that what Democratic voters want?
Many political observers see the Democratic presidential candidates as veering to the left. As veteran political journalist Thomas Edsall writes, “Leading Democratic candidates are supporting bold progressive policy initiatives.” Even the supposedly moderate Joe Biden is proposing policies that are more liberal than Hillary Clinton’s, according to a recent study. […] Read more »
Grassroots Blossom Across America, Reshaping Country’s Political Geography
As the 2018 midterm campaigns hit their stride last summer, there was finally some mainstream recognition that post-2016 grassroots groups — sometimes discussed as “Resistance” groups — had become an electoral force to be reckoned with. Reporters and academics have established certain baseline facts: • The new groups are disproportionately composed […] Read more »
The Suburban Vote Isn’t as Blue as It Looks
My colleague, David Wasserman wrote a (typically) insightful analysis on GOP state Sen. Dan Bishop’s narrow win in Thursday’s special election in North Carolina’s 9th district. His main conclusion was that the special election continued a trend we’ve seen since 2016 of suburbs voting more Democratic, while small town and […] Read more »
Can Republicans Escape Racism?
Is the Democratic Party prematurely winnowing its crop of presidential candidates? This week on “The Argument,” the columnists discuss the narrowing 2020 field. … Then, can American conservatism exist free of nativism? The columnists debate whether the political right can escape racism. And finally, Ross builds up a British television […] Read more »
Democrats Lead Trump in Key Swing States
Each quarter this year, we have surveyed 2020 general election voters to gauge public opinion heading into 2020. This month we surveyed general election likely voters in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan through a combination of live landline, live cell, and text messaging between September 7th and […] Read more »