Immigration crises, erupting like long-dormant volcanoes every few years, have redefined what ‘immigrant’ means to us. These crises cause us to react in deeply personal ways, forging our opinions on what laws we want and whether we will fight for them. … What drives these reactions is not all pretty, […] Read more »
Racial Voting Lines In Hawaii Senate Primary Leave Pollsters Mostly Clueless
I don’t know who is going to win Saturday’s special Democratic Senate primary between Sen. Brian Schatz and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa — and it’s not just because there’s a lot going on in Hawaii right now (an earthquake rattled Hawaii on Thursday, and two tropical storms are on course to […] Read more »
Democrats Have a White Working Class Problem—and Not Just in the South
Whenever elections approach, there is always a flurry of concern among Democrats regarding the white working class. Despite a steady and gradual decline in its size over the last several decades, this group remains a substantial percentage of the electorate; even relatively small decreases in its support for Democrats can […] Read more »
Republicans’ increasing reliance on white voters may not spell electoral doom just yet
It’s a widely accepted idea that Republicans are sitting on a demographic time bomb: The GOP is getting whiter and whiter in terms of the voters it attracts even as the country is growing increasingly diverse. Marisa Abrajano, an associate professor of political science at the University of California at […] Read more »
50 years after Civil Rights Act, Americans see progress on race
Fifty years after the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, majorities of blacks and whites think real progress has been made in getting rid of racial discrimination, but most say at least some discrimination still exists today. African-Americans are more likely than whites to see discrimination as widespread. More […] Read more »
How the Politics of Nostalgia Sank Eric Cantor
… Like Tea Party challengers across the country, Brat sought to make immigration reform a defining issue in the campaign, accusing Cantor of supporting “amnesty” for immigrants in the country illegally, even though Cantor opposed the comprehensive, bipartisan Senate bill and only supported (but did not bring to the floor) […] Read more »