Political Commentary

Most Recent Releases

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
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                            November 7, 2025Bad News for Republicans, Warnings for Both Parties By Michael Barone
        Virginia and New Jersey, the two states that voted for governor in 2025, both voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris over then-candidate Donald Trump by 52%-46% margins in 2024. Democrats ran significantly better in both states on Tuesday. One reason is that Trump Republicans, as an increasingly downscale party, see their turnout sag in off years than when the presidency is up. But that wasn't their only problem this time.

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                            November 5, 2025Ending ‘Corporate Welfare’ While Keeping America Competitive By Brian C. Joondeph, M.D.
A recent Rasmussen Reports survey found that 67% of likely voters support ending so-called “corporate welfare,” with only 17% opposed. The idea sounds simple enough – stop giving handouts to big business. But corporations aren’t Ritchie Rich or the Monopoly guy with the top hat.

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                            November 5, 2025Dirty Cars and Dirty Politics By John Stossel
        When there's crime, I blame the criminal.

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                            November 5, 2025Bill Gates Gets Mugged by Reality By Stephen Moore
        You've probably heard by now the blockbuster news that Microsoft founder Bill Gates, one of the richest people to ever walk the planet, has had a change of heart on climate change. For several decades, Gates poured billions of dollars into the climate-industrial complex and was howling that the end is nigh unless we stop using fossil fuels, cars, air conditioning and general anesthesia.
November 5, 2025Dem Wave Hits Virginia, New Jersey, and Elsewhere; a Dozen House Ratings Shift in California Following Approval of New Dem Map By Kyle Kondik
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— Democrats turned in an impressive showing in last night’s elections, and 2025 still feels a lot like 2017 did.
— Loudoun County, Virginia, whose early reporting suggested Donald Trump was on the way to a significant national win in 2024, pointed the way to Abigail Spanberger’s (D) big gubernatorial win and Jay Jones’s (D) attorney general victory.
— Following the passage of Proposition 50 in California, we are making a dozen House rating changes, all but one in favor of Democrats.
— The changes come fairly close to restoring the status quo prior to the start of redistricting, but there are many more dominoes to fall on the gerrymandering front.

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                            November 4, 2025Trump's Tariffs on Trial By Daniel McCarthy
        This question confronts the justices this week in Learning Resources v. Trump, a case that puts the president's tariff powers to the test.

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                            October 31, 2025Democrats Want Open Borders; Most Americans Don't By Michael Barone
        Who said this? "If you don't have any borders, you don't have a nation." The speaker went on, "Trump did a better job. I don't like Trump, but we should have a secure border. It ain't that hard to do. Biden didn't do it."

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                            October 28, 2025MAGA Makes Allies Great Again By Daniel McCarthy
        From Argentina to Japan, MAGA is going global.

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                            October 28, 2025Deposit Insurance for Billionaires? By Stephen Moore
        Politicians in Washington have the shortest memories.

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                            October 24, 2025The Trends in New Jersey and Virginia By Michael Barone
        No two states voted more alike and closer to the national average in last year's presidential election than the two states that have gubernatorial elections in this odd-numbered year: New Jersey and Virginia. New Jersey voted 51.8% for Kamala Harris and 45.9% for Donald Trump. Virginia voted 51.8% for Harris and 46.1% for Trump. Aside from the seven target states and Democratic underperformance in New Hampshire and Minnesota, these were the two closest states in the country.

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                            October 23, 2025Did Hospital Protocols Make COVID Outcomes Worse? By Brian C. Joondeph, M.D.
A new Rasmussen Reports survey reveals an unsettling reality: nearly one-third of American adults say someone they know died of COVID-19 while hospitalized, and almost half believe hospital treatment protocols likely contributed to that death.
October 23, 2025Notes on the State of Politics: MN-SEN to Likely Democratic; Watching Voter Dropoff in VA-AG Race By Kyle Kondik
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— Republicans have a couple of open-seat Senate targets in Kamala Harris-won New Hampshire and Minnesota.
— History suggests Democrats should be able to hold both races, but Minnesota has clearly become a less attractive target for Republicans than New Hampshire.
— In Virginia’s closely-watched attorney general race, we are curious to see how many voters skip the AG contest entirely. Typically, the amount of dropoff from the gubernatorial race to the AG race is quite low.

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                            October 22, 2025To Lower Health Costs, Legalize Catastrophic Health Insurance Plans for All By Stephen Moore
        The following column is coauthored by Stephen Moore and David M. Simon.

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                            October 22, 2025Free Speech By John Stossel
       The Constitution's First Amendment protects free speech for good reason.
        If people can't say what they want, we don't have honest debate.
        I was relieved when Donald Trump, campaigning for the presidency, said, "If we don't have free speech, then we just don't have a free country!"

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                            October 21, 2025How To Make the Americas Great Again By Daniel McCarthy
        President Donald Trump is in a fight for the destiny of the Americas.

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                            October 17, 2025Trump Defies Conventional Wisdom ... So Far By Michael Barone
        "What all the wise men promised has not happened, and what all the damned fools said would happen has come to pass." That was the mordant comment of Lord Melbourne, Queen Victoria's first prime minister, on the failure of a liberal reform to achieve the results promised with great assurance by the articulate liberal eminences of the day.
October 16, 2025Maine Senate Primary Tests Whether Democrats Will Keep Deferring to Their Leaders By J. Miles Coleman and Kyle Kondik
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— Gov. Janet Mills’s (D-ME) Senate run sets up an intriguing primary that will test Democratic voters’ willingness to go along with the preferences of party leaders.
— Mills’s most prominent rival, oyster farmer Graham Platner (D), is already attacking her, and the primary illustrates several fissures in the party, including insider vs. outsider and older vs. younger.
— There are several instances of sitting governors losing Senate primaries in the postwar era, but these are generally from decades ago.

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                            October 15, 2025Shut Down! Do You Care? By John Stossel
        The government is "shut down."

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                            October 14, 2025Stop the UN Global Climate Tax on American Ships By Stephen Moore
        Later this week the United Nations will hold a vote on a multibillion-dollar climate change tax targeted squarely at American industry. Without quick and decisive action by the White House, this U.N. tax on fossil fuels will become international law.

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                            October 10, 2025Are Democrats the Party of Murder? By Michael Barone
        Why are so many Democrats fond of wishing death on their opponents? That's a question raised by two astonishing developments early this month. On Oct. 3, National Review's Audrey Fahlberg revealed texts Jay Jones had sent, perhaps mistakenly, to Virginia state Del. Carrie Coyner, bemoaning the cordial remarks then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, was delivering after the death of a Democrat.