President Trump and his conservative allies now see their effort to confirm Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh as central to salvaging the Republican Party’s fortunes in the midterm elections, and hope to use the fervent liberal opposition to his nomination to the Supreme Court as a graphic example of the threat […] Read more »
Ratings Changes: House, Senate, and Governor
As we enter the final month of Campaign 2018, the political world remains fixated on embattled U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who awaits the findings of an FBI investigation into whether he tried to sexually assault Dr. Christine Blasey Ford while both were in high school. The allegations, somewhat […] Read more »
Is Kavanaugh Helping Republicans’ Midterm Chances?
In midterm elections, with different candidates on the ballot in every state and district, it’s rare to see the sort of sharp, turn-on-a-dime shifts in the polls that we frequently saw during the 2016 presidential election, for example. Instead, races are more localized. But the past few weeks — during […] Read more »
Why Sen. Bob Menendez is still favored to win in New Jersey
A Republican winning a US Senate race in deep blue New Jersey? It hasn’t happened since 1972. Yet new polls show Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez in trouble against Republican Bob Hugin. Three high-quality polls released over the last two days give Menendez a lead of anywhere from just 2 to […] Read more »
It’s Trump, Not Kavanaugh, Who Will Matter in November
When I first got involved in politics in the 1970s, we had 24-hour news cycles. Today they’re more like 24 minutes, if that. Cable television and news alerts now on our phones have transformed what was a steady trickle of headlines into a fire hose of news and, increasingly, opinion. […] Read more »
Amid Kavanaugh Confirmation Battle, Democratic Enthusiasm Edge Evaporates
Just over a month away from critical elections across the country, the wide Democratic enthusiasm advantage that has defined the 2018 campaign up to this point has disappeared, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. In July, there was a 10-point gap between the number of Democrats and Republicans saying […] Read more »