Hill column  .

Consultants are trained by experience, and by mentors, to go negative. There are few more powerful norms among political professionals. When in trouble, when in doubt — whenever, really —…

With all eyes fixed firmly on the fissures Donald Trump is creating in the GOP, the deep divisions among congressional Republicans are going largely unnoticed. It’s hard to overestimate the…

It’s often said that Democrats and Republicans inhabit different countries. At least, they seem to see the same country quite differently. They certainly feel differently about it. Last month, a…

Presidential approval is the single most important piece of political data that is regularly collected. That’s not just because the presidency is the most important office in the land; it…

I’m about to make some enemies. In recent weeks, passionate denunciations of “superdelegates” have rolled in from most quarters of the Democratic Party. They’ve been labeled unfair, unjust and even…

We dissect the failings of political pollsters at length — and there’s much to criticize. However, those of us in politics face a test each Election Day. We’re either right…

It’s the question I get most often from those who, like me, abhor Donald Trump and the poison he peddles: “How can so many people find him appealing?” Part of…

Having failed (as of Monday) to stem the Trump tide with voters, the Republican establishment is looking to the party’s Cleveland convention as the site of its counter-coup. It won’t…

Leadership consists, in important measure, of creating identities, defining situations, interpreting realities and explaining what’s happening to people in terms that followers understand and can relate to. Charismatic leadership emerges…

Imitation is, as we all know, the highest form of flattery. It can also be dumb. Politics, where anecdote passes for evidence, is particularly susceptible to the dangers of imitation.…