A recent study from Pew Research found that white people who identify as Christians represent about two-thirds of all Republicans. Meanwhile, Americans unaffiliated with any religion, and racial minorities who identify as Christians, now each make up a bigger share of the Democratic coalition. This week, we take a look […] Read more »
The Suburban Backlash Against the GOP Is Growing
The shift of metro areas away from the Republican Party under President Donald Trump rumbled on in yesterday’s elections, threatening the fundamental calculation of his 2020 reelection plan. Amid all the various local factors that shaped GOP losses—from Kentucky to Virginia, from suburban Philadelphia to Wichita, Kansas—the clearest pattern was […] Read more »
Is Politics a War of Ideas or of Us Against Them?
Is the deepening animosity between Democrats and Republicans based on genuine differences over policy and ideology or is it a form of tribal warfare rooted in an atavistic us-versus-them mentality? Is American political conflict relatively content-free — emotionally motivated electoral competition — or is it primarily a war of ideas, […] Read more »
This group of voters could swing the 2020 election
Few questions may shape the result of the 2020 election more than whether Democrats can exploit the religious gap in attitudes toward President Donald Trump that has emerged among his core constituency of working-class white voters. While polls generally show Trump retaining strong support overall among blue-collar whites, more detailed […] Read more »
Democrats far more likely than Republicans to see discrimination against blacks, not whites
Americans are more than twice as likely to say there is at least some discrimination against blacks in the U.S. (77%) as they are to say this about whites (36%). But these opinions differ substantially along partisan lines: Far larger shares of Democrats than Republicans say there is a lot […] Read more »
The changing Democratic electorate could upend Iowa’s role in 2020
… In every contested Democratic nomination race in this century, the winner of the Iowa caucuses has eventually won the nomination. That’s a measure of how much momentum candidates can earn, especially in this era of pervasive news coverage, from winning that kickoff contest. Conscious of that history, the leading […] Read more »