The state of the nation? Not great – but it’s sure been worse. That summarizes public attitudes as Barack Obama prepares to deliver his penultimate State of the Union address. There are grace notes, largely based on improving views of the economy. But deep concerns about long-term and structural economic […] Read more »
Mood on Economy Up, Race Relations Sharply Down
Americans’ views about the economy, their overall quality of life and the opportunity to get ahead through hard work are more positive than they were before the 2014 State of the Union Address — echoing their improving economic confidence. At the same time, Americans are markedly less satisfied with the […] Read more »
‘Wealthy plutocrat’ isn’t Mitt Romney’s issue. It’s the Republican Party’s issue.
… If Republicans pursue an anti-inequality or anti-poverty agenda, the issue is less that any individual Republican messenger is wealthy. It is more that the Republican Party is fighting an image that is decades old and not easy to change. CONT. John Sides, The Monkey Cage Read more »
What does it take to win the Democratic nomination in 2016?
Get out your pitchforks, Democrats! A showdown over populism is coming. The core of the problem is the decline of Democratic support among white working-class voters. White voters without a college degree made up 36 percent of the midterm electorate this year. They voted nearly 2-to-1 Republican. … Now an […] Read more »
Learning from 2014 and Turning to 2016
Now that we are getting the second and third level dissections of Campaign 2014 from thoughtful Democratic analysts, we thought it would be a good time for a review. The starting point for the post-election discussion amounted to efforts to reassure dispirited Democrats that the 2014 election was typically unique […] Read more »
Many Feel the American Dream Is Out of Reach
Despite an improving economy and jobs picture, the public is more pessimistic than it was after the 2008 financial crisis that it is possible to work hard and become rich, according to a New York Times poll. … Notwithstanding the bleaker view of upward mobility, a majority of those polled […] Read more »