… One way of looking at the GOP nomination fight is to think of three lanes or brackets: a populist lane—obviously dominated by Trump—a conservative lane, and a conventional/moderate lane (the libertarian lane that Rand Paul was banking on failed to emerge). CONT. Charlie Cook Read more »
California: Cruz surges to top in new Field Poll
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s growing support among California’s hard-core conservatives and evangelical voters has pushed him out in front of Donald Trump among likely voters in the state’s June 7 Republican presidential primary, a new Field Poll shows. CONT. John Wildermuth, San Francisco Chronicle Read more »
Why Trump may be winning the war on ‘political correctness’
… In the 2016 Republican presidential primary season, “political correctness” has become the all-purpose enemy. The candidates have suggested that it is the explanation for seemingly every threat that confronts the country: terrorism, illegal immigration, an economic recovery that is leaving many behind, to name just a few. Others argue […] Read more »
Election 2016 Predictions: Partisan Divide Deepens and Voters Remain Displeased
No election in decades has offered more cause for humility among political prognosticators than the 2016 presidential race, now just weeks from its first real contests. A candidate dismissed as preposterous from the outset, celebrity businessman and GOP front-runner Donald Trump, has commanded center stage since July. Jeb Bush, the […] Read more »
One year, two races: Inside the Republican Party’s bizarre, tumultuous 2015
The year 2015 will be remembered as one of the most bizarrely compelling and yet genuinely unnerving in the nation’s modern political history. It is clear now that there were two halves to the year for the Republican Party: BT and AT, Before Trump and After Trump. From January to […] Read more »
What’s the biggest problem facing the country? Democrats and Republicans disagree.
As they barnstorm across the caucus and primary states, the Republican and Democratic frontrunners for the presidential nomination often sound as if they’re from different countries, not just different parties. … They’re not just offering different answers to the nation’s problems; they’re asking different questions. CONT. Doyle McManus, Los Angeles […] Read more »