While many have focused on the trouncing of the Tea Party in high profile Senate and House primaries (think Kentucky, Idaho, Georgia, and North Carolina), the reality is that GOP problems go beyond the candidates themselves. To be sure, it only helps Republicans to avoid a replay of 2010 and […] Read more »
Still More on ACA Advertising: “F” Words and the “B” Word
How do you know Republicans are shifting their message against Obamacare? Because Americans for Prosperity just aired a TV ad that doesn’t mention healthcare reform. After the months and millions invested by AFP in attacking the Affordable Care Act, that line almost passes for a joke. The group is attacking, […] Read more »
Where Is the Tea Party?
With the 2014 primary calendar rolling on, one question has come to dominate the discussion: Where’s the tea party? The Republican Party’s populist force of 2010 has a rough go of it so far. … But looking at the numbers, the tea party’s struggles should not be a surprise. Polling […] Read more »
Politics Is More Broken Than Ever—Political Scientists Need to Admit It
The widespread public belief that our political system is dangerously broken is often met with skepticism among longtime students of American politics. “We’ve seen it all before,” “this too will pass,” “nothing can do done about it anyway” say the scholars. … But I believe these times are strikingly different […] Read more »
Americans’ view of Congress: Throw ’em out
A mere 5 percent of voters think most members of Congress have done a good enough job to deserve re-election, according to a CBS News Poll released Wednesday. While this number has been low historically, 5 percent is the lowest ever recorded in CBS News polls; nearly nine in 10 […] Read more »
Will the tea party rally behind GOP establishment?
… All through the early part of this year, there has been one political narrative above all others: tea party vs. Republican establishment, or a Republican Party at war with itself. It is both a real and flawed concept, as the first rounds of primaries have demonstrated. Real because there […] Read more »