The Vietnam Era Never Ended for Biden's Party By Daniel McCarthy
"This may be Biden's Vietnam."
Political Commentary
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May 7, 2024
May 3, 2024
Campus Riots and a Chicago Convention: Deja Vu All Over Again? By Michael Barone
As the philosopher and baseball player Yogi Berra once (supposedly) said, it's deja vu all over again. Student protesters are occupying campuses of famed universities across the country. In New York, Columbia University protesters occupied administrative offices in Hamilton Hall and were cleared out by police, exactly 56 years to the day after student protesters occupied and were thrown out of that building in 1968.
May 2, 2024
Districts of Change, Part One: How All 435 Congressional Districts Voted from 2008-2020 By J. Miles Coleman
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE
— One of the most useful tools that the Crystal Ball employs on a regular basis is Dave’s Redistricting App, which helps us make sense of redistricting and includes a plethora of data.
— Using some of DRA’s newly-released data, we are looking back at how the 2008 election compares to 2020 by congressional district.
— Despite doing several points worse nationally than Barack Obama did in 2008, Joe Biden performed better than Obama in nearly half (211) of the current 435 House districts.
— Our home state of Virginia illustrates several of the broader national swings that have taken hold since 2008.
— Most districts cast more raw votes in 2020 than they did in 2008, though there are some interesting exceptions.
May 1, 2024
'Make Government Work' By John Stossel
President Joe Biden says, "I know how to make government work!"
April 30, 2024
Four Radical Reforms to Shrink the Federal Budget By Stephen Moore
It was nearly 50 years ago that a liberal Congress completely dominated by Democrat big spenders passed a new set of budget rules -- the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
April 30, 2024
Nationalists of the World, Unite? By Daniel McCarthy
The historian John Lukacs used to say all the old "isms" of politics were defunct.
April 26, 2024
A Turning Point for American Foreign Policy? By Michael Barone
Was the passage by the House last Saturday and the Senate on Tuesday of the foreign aid package with money for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan a turning point in American foreign policy?
April 26, 2024
Is the GOP the Stupid Party? By Brian Joondeph
The Republican Party has the reputation and hence the name, “The Stupid Party." They nominate weak candidates, fight with each other in a circular firing squad, give good concession speeches and, if somehow elected, then govern against the will of the people they supposedly represent.
April 23, 2024
Foreign Policy Splits the Parties By Daniel McCarthy
In 2024, foreign policy doesn't pit Republicans against Democrats so much as it pits Republicans against Republicans and Democrats against Democrats.
April 23, 2024
Why Small Businesses Hate Bidenomics By Stephen Moore
If the economy is so good, why do small business leaders feel so bad?
The latest Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business could hardly be more depressing. It finds that the men and women who run our 33 million small businesses and hire more than half of American workers are in a somber mood. The survey finds that small-business confidence has reached its lowest point in 12 years.
April 19, 2024
Maybe Larger Families Will Produce Better Leaders, as in the Early US By Michael Barone
Why was America in the Revolutionary War era, with 3 million people, able to generate leaders of the quality of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, while today's America, with 333 million people, generates the likes of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump?
April 18, 2024
Where Trump’s Primary Showing Was (And Wasn’t) Especially Strong By J. Miles Coleman
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE
—Though former President Donald Trump easily won most GOP primaries this year, some areas stood out to us.
—By comparing how Trump did in each county to how he did overall in each state, we can get a better idea of how his coalition is shaping up.
—Geographically, Trump beat his statewide primary share in a majority of counties in most states.
—Meanwhile, and not surprisingly, Trump tended to struggle in areas that are Democratic, or blue-trending, in general elections, although there were some exceptions.
April 16, 2024
Joe Biden on the Economy: I Don't Feel Your Pain By Stephen Moore
In 1992, Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton famously answered a voter question about how the national debt affected him personally. Clinton's response was often paraphrased as, "I feel your pain."
April 16, 2024
Trump and the Pro-Life Dilemma By Daniel McCarthy
Donald Trump is the furthest thing from a threat to democracy where abortion is concerned -- and for activists on both sides, that's alarming.
April 12, 2024
Democrats are Getting Desperate (But Do They Have an Ace Up Their Sleeves?) By Brian Joondeph
President Joe Biden is not popular these days. In the Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll from April 11, only 22% of likely US voters strongly approve of Biden’s job performance. In comparison, 46% strongly disapprove, a 24-point negative swing.
April 12, 2024
A Fail-Safe Society Is Sure to Fail By Michael Barone
When are we going to trust our fellow Americans again? When are we going to allow qualified individuals with responsibility to make decisions without consulting detailed rulebooks and formal procedures?
April 11, 2024
An Electoral College Time Capsule By Kyle Kondik
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE
— The six presidential elections held during the 25-year history of the Center for Politics were often close, although most states voted predictably.
— As part of a time capsule we are putting together to be opened at the center’s 50th anniversary in 2049, we are asking our future students to consider what has changed and what has stayed the same.
— Had we done the same exercise when the center was founded 25 years ago, we would have seen an Electoral College alignment from 1976-1996 that looked a lot different than what we’ve become familiar with this century.
April 10, 2024
A Ban on Freelance Work By John Stossel
The Labor Department just imposed 300 pages of new regulations to reclassify many individual contractors as payroll employees.
