… When conservative politicians and pundits invoke “faith, family, and country,” many progressives cringe. On one level, this attitude is understandable. For decades, some leading right-wingers have added a mean-spirited twist to these mainstream values, with sometimes-tragic results. They have invoked “faith” as a reason to restrict the rights of […] Read more »
Why Trump Persists
The failure of the American electorate to rise up in opposition to President Trump — whose outrages are well-documented — suggests that voters are less tolerant, less empathetic and less insistent on integrity than many believe. The election of Trump and his first three years in office have revealed a […] Read more »
President Launches ‘Evangelicals For Trump’ Coalition
President Trump has launched something he’s calling an “Evangelicals for Trump” coalition in support of his re-election. Tom Gjelten, All Things Considered, NPR News Read more »
What Turned the Tide on Gay Marriage?
I don’t think people can fully comprehend how unique an issue gay marriage is when it comes to public opinion research. Most political scientists study issues that may shift a few percentage points across a decade. By and large, change in public opinion is downright glacial. Gay marriage is not […] Read more »
In a Politically Polarized Era, Sharp Divides in Both Partisan Coalitions
Partisanship continues to be the dividing line in the American public’s political attitudes, far surpassing differences by age, race and ethnicity, gender, educational attainment, religious affiliation or other factors. Yet there are substantial divisions within both parties on fundamental political values, views of current issues and the severity of the […] Read more »
Do Americans approve of Trump’s pardons for court-martialed military officers?
In November, President Trump granted executive clemency to three U.S. military officers accused or convicted of war crimes: deliberately killing foreign civilians or prisoners, who posed no immediate threat, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those pardons have been widely criticized by former U.S. military lawyers, senior military commanders and Pentagon civilian […] Read more »