As you might imagine, I have some pretty serious disagreements with “the squad” on issues of real importance (at least to me). But no policy differences could justify Donald Trump’s disgusting, racist, go-back-where-you-came-from diatribe. Indeed, President Trump initially cited no issue differences. It was straight out, inexcusable bigotry and xenophobia. Trump’s outburst, together with the weekend’s Immigration…
June’s Democratic debates seem to bear out the conclusion offered in my last column — primary debates can have more impact than general election confrontations. Pundits and polls agree that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) had an excellent night. The commentariat didn’t need any numbers to declare her the winner, but here the numbers back them up. I…
Primary debates can be different. Despite all the hype, general election debates rarely, if ever, determine presidential election outcomes. If they did, Michael Dukakis and John Kerry would now be celebrated former presidents, while Hillary Clinton would be the current occupant of the Oval Office. All three won their debates decisively, according to the polls. Most often, the impact…
The rule of law rests on respect for the law. Economists would have us believe that obeying the law is all about sanctions. If we fear swift and certain punishment, while believing it to be more costly than the gains to be realized from disobedience, we follow the law. That’s only part of the story…
As I’ve noted here before, opinions on gay rights generally have changed faster than those on almost any subject in the history of polling. While views on transgender rights took off later, and haven’t reached the same point yet, the trajectory of the changes in those attitudes is similar. Americans are quickly adopting positions in…
As I’ve argued before, Donald Trump can be beaten in 2020. “Can” and “will” are two very different things, however. While I’m not a lawyer, I can argue both sides of the case — that Trump will be victorious and that he’ll lose. Democrats would be foolish to merely assume that Trump will be defeated next November.…
To its discredit, the Trump administration has turned “infrastructure week” into a running joke, betraying both the president’s core constituency and the country at large. The need is no joke. At last report, the professional American Society of Civil Engineers rated the nation’s infrastructure a D+, a grade in which no student, and no country,…
The big news in polling this week: the Australian election! In our Netflix world, I’ve become a fan of Australian TV, but don’t recall anything from down under being big news in the U.S. since 2006, when “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin was allegedly killed by a stingray that stabbed him “hundreds of times.” Just as…
For 41 of its 71-year history, prime ministers of the social democratic left presided over Israel. For the last decade, and at least until the next election, a prime minister of the right rules. The same year Bill Clinton was elected to the White House, Israeli voters gave the social democratic Labor Party, the farther-left Meretz and…
Don’t get me wrong. The pollsters at The Washington Post are extraordinary. But even extraordinary people aren’t perfect. Consider the headline attached to their poll a few days ago: “Populist economic frustration threatens Trump’s strongest reelection issue, Post-ABC poll finds.” The article goes on to report, “President Trump’s strongest case for reelection remains the country’s…
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