Most of the important action in the Republican presidential race has been out of sight, as candidates have courted donors and party leaders before formally jumping into the race. The first debate on Thursday starts a new phase, as the campaign begins to play out much more in front of […] Read more »
The Trump Conundrum
August is arriving, and we are entering week six of Donald Trump’s rise—first into the double digits, now into first place—in the national polls for the Republican presidential primary race. … The fact that Trump’s very conservative, anti-immigration, militantly anti-establishment, and—most important—angry backers never cared much for the independent and […] Read more »
As the G.O.P. Base Clamors for Confrontation, Candidates Oblige
For Senator Ted Cruz to call his party’s leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, a liar as he did Friday and again Sunday in the Senate was an extraordinary personal attack, but given how much the conservative base of the Republican Party has come to loathe its leaders, it was also good […] Read more »
Among Republicans, GOP Candidates Better Known Than Liked
The GOP presidential field, already 16 candidates strong and brimming with controversy, features a large number of contenders who are familiar to Republicans nationwide. Donald Trump leads the pack as the best-known candidate, at 92%. However, the best-known candidates, Trump and Jeb Bush, are not the best-liked. That distinction goes […] Read more »
A New Poll Shows the Contours of the GOP Field
… There are as many ways to look at the unfolding Republican presidential race as there are people thinking about it, but one common thread is that the fight will come down to one candidate from the more conventional, mainstream side of the GOP and another from the more conservative, […] Read more »
The Supreme Court and the Politics of Fear
When he ran for president the second time almost half a century ago, Richard M. Nixon made Earl Warren’s Supreme Court a target of his campaign. It was a brilliant move. … I thought of Nixon last week as I watched the parade of Republican would-be presidents outdoing one another […] Read more »