It’s hard to ignore the storm clouds gathering for Republicans looking toward the 2018 elections. Midterms are typically referenda on the incumbent president and the party in power, and Donald Trump’s job-approval ratings are lower than those for any newly elected president. Worse still, a badly divided Republican Party holds […] Read more »
Why Republicans are frozen on climate change
The swirling winds, pounding rains and enveloping floods of hurricanes Irma in Florida and Harvey in Texas have left deep scars across two of the nation’s largest states. But it’s still unlikely that these irresistible forces will dislodge one of Washington’s most immovable objects: the steadfast resistance of President Donald […] Read more »
Haley’s UN Brinkmanship Comes With Advice by Long-Time Pollster
As Nikki Haley confronts her biggest test so far as U.S. envoy to the UN — persuading the Security Council to further tighten sanctions on North Korea — she’s leaning on a key adviser with little foreign policy experience: her South Carolina pollster. Jon Lerner, a political strategist who helped […] Read more »
Why Republicans Can’t Govern
You might think that securing the White House, Senate, House of Representatives and a majority of seats on the Supreme Court would enable a party to practically dictate laws and policy. But so far, unified government hasn’t worked out too well for Republicans. … There are several things that a […] Read more »
In Free-Range Trump, Many See Potential for a Third Party
The Republican Party likes to think of itself as a big tent — not always a harmonious one, but full of all types. In the minds of many, however, it’s grown too full, and badly needs an excision. Now more than at any point in its modern history, the party […] Read more »
The debate over DACA is about what makes a ‘real American’
President Trump’s termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, at first blush, flies in the face of popular will. If widespread criticism was not evidence enough, public opinion polling shows a consistent and increasing supermajority support for the program and similar concepts. Our own recent Ipsos polls show […] Read more »