New polling shows a sharp increase in skepticism about Trump’s relationship to Russia

… Monmouth was in the field (that is, interviewing poll respondents) for a survey as news broke on Monday night that President Trump had revealed classified information in an Oval Office conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. They’d started polling on Saturday night and continued the polling through Wednesday […] Read more »

The Right Builds an Alternative Narrative About the Crises Around Trump

… As Americans process a dizzying week of damning revelations about the president — his firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey; his disclosure of highly sensitive intelligence to the Russians; and his plea to Mr. Comey to drop the bureau’s investigation of his fired national security adviser, Michael […] Read more »

Trump Is Testing the GOP’s Limits

… Events are pressing on Trump so quickly that it’s hazardous to project his current support from his party too far into the future. Congressional Republicans aren’t defending Trump because of deep personal loyalty. Instead the GOP alliance with Trump is rooted in shared political interests. Congressional Republicans need him […] Read more »

Why populism is a threat to electoral integrity

Since the earthquake of Brexit in June last year, and Trump’s victory four months later, the news has been dominated by stories about populism, including whether European elections suggest that populist support is either rising or stalled. The media has also been fascinated simultaneously by problems of electoral integrity. This […] Read more »

Even The Biggest Scandals Can’t Kill Party Loyalty

There have been lots of questions, especially among liberals, about when congressional Republicans might turn on President Trump, particularly in the wake of his controversial firing of FBI Director James Comey and the reports late Monday that he compromised classified information. The assumption behind these questions is that at a […] Read more »