The good news for Republicans is that President Trump’s approval rating has, on balance, ticked up from 38 percent to 40 percent since January as attention has shifted from unpopular GOP proposals on healthcare and taxes to the economy, tariffs and Stormy Daniels. Commensurately, Democrats’ lead on the question of […] Read more »
The post-Trump GOP looks a lot like the pre-Trump GOP
Has Donald Trump fundamentally reshaped the Republican Party in his image? In fact, what evidence we have suggests that Republicans are only temporarily aligned with Trump on a range of issues, and the party will likely return to its earlier stances once his substantial media presence has faded. CONT. Christopher […] Read more »
Democrats’ victory parade looks like it will hit a wall in Arizona
The press has focused a lot on special and other elections that seem to be going the Democratic Party’s way. Last month, it was Democrat Conor Lamb’s victory in Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district. This week it was liberal candidate Rebecca Dallet’s win in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Later this […] Read more »
The Contract With Authoritarianism
… The election of Donald Trump — built as it was on several long-term trends that converged in 2016 — has created an authoritarian moment. This somewhat surprising development is the subject of “Remaking Partisan Politics through Authoritarian Sorting,” a forthcoming book by the political scientists Christopher Federico, Stanley Feldman […] Read more »
Mirror images of partisan vulnerability in Senate and gubernatorial races
With Mississippi now hosting two Senate races this year, 2018’s Senate and gubernatorial races have achieved something of a mirror-image symmetry. On the Senate front, Democrats are defending 26 seats (including two independents who caucus with Democrats from Maine and Vermont) while the Republicans, even with the addition of a […] Read more »
Dems, GOP using immigration in House races, but differently
Both Democrats and Republicans think the stalemate between President Donald Trump and Congress over immigration can help them in November’s congressional elections. Each could be right. In House races across the country, both parties are using the fight over immigration — fanned by tweets from President Donald Trump about a […] Read more »