Commentary by Michael Barone

Democrats and Trump: Both Behaving Irrationally By Michael Barone

What is it about Russia -- some vestige of all those Cold War spy films, perhaps -- that makes so many people, on all political sides, behave so irrationally when it's mentioned?  

The Detroit Riot, 50 Years Later By Michael Barone

Fifty years ago this weekend, a deadly urban riot began in Detroit. It started around 3:30 a.m., when police arrested 85 patrons of a blind pig -- an illegal after-hours bar -- in the midst of an all-black neighborhood that had been all-white 15 or 20 years before.

Anti-Trump Overreach Could Backfire By Michael Barone

Overreach. Donald Trump seems to have an uncanny knack for prompting overreach by his opponents and critics. This often hurts him and the country. But it has the potential to hurt those doing the overreach as well.  

Will Trump Republicans Avoid the Off-Year Curse? By Michael Barone

Curious fact, and one disquieting for Republicans looking ahead to 2018: In the past 65 years, starting with 1952, the president's party has managed to win a majority of seats in an off-year election only four times. In the other 12 off-year elections, the opposition party won a majority.  

Democrats -- and Republicans -- Lack Credibility on Economic Issues By Michael Barone

Liberal writers and political operatives, now that it's finally dawning on them that no one is going to find evidence that Donald Trump conspired with Russia to steal the presidential election, are turning to giving advice to the Democratic Party.

The Outlook After the Special Elections By Michael Barone

The victory of Republican Karen Handel in the special election in Georgia's 6th Congressional District on Tuesday has discouraged Democrats and encouraged Republicans. Democrat Jon Ossoff won 48.1 percent in the special election's first round April 18, and Democrats had high hopes that they could take this House seat from the Republicans.  

The Violent Political Left By Michael Barone

Violence is in the air these days. It was visible to the world in Manchester, Birmingham and London in the days before the British general election June 8. It was visible on the baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday morning as a Donald Trump hater and Bernie Sanders volunteer took a rifle and shot House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and three others while Republicans were practicing for Thursday's congressional ballgame.

Is College Worth It? Increasing Numbers Say No By Michael Barone

"Too many people are going to college," writes my American Enterprise Institute colleague Charles Murray. That's not a response to the mob of students who attacked him and the liberal professor who had invited him to speak back in March at Middlebury College. It's the title of the third chapter in his 2008 book, "Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality."

Let's Stop Acting as if the 2016 Campaign Were Still On By Michael Barone

If you keep up with the news, you might think that the unpleasant and unedifying 2016 presidential campaign is still going on.

Trump Acts Like a Competent, Conventional President Abroad By Michael Barone

What a difference a week makes. On May 19, President Donald Trump took off in Air Force One for the Middle East and Europe. He left behind a Washington and a nation buzzing about his firing of FBI Director James Comey, the multiple reasons he had given for doing so, the meeting he'd had with the Russian foreign minister a day later and his statement that Comey is a "nut job."   

The Demotic Politics of Theresa May -- and Donald Trump By Michael Barone

DURHAM, England -- When I first visited England to cover a British election 20 years ago this month, there were striking similarities between British and American politics.

James Comey Is the Latest Victim of the Clintons By Michael Barone

Why did President Donald Trump fire FBI Director James Comey now? The answer, as my Washington Examiner colleague Byron York has argued, is that he waited until after his impeccably apolitical deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, was in place as Comey's direct superior. Rosenstein was confirmed April 25, and his memorandum titled "Restoring Public Confidence in the FBI" was appended to Trump's firing letter exactly two weeks later.

Cultural Appropriation: A Modest Proposal By Michael Barone

"Cultural appropriation" has become the latest evil denounced by soi-disant social justice warriors, on campus and off. Examples:

"I was taught that white people shouldn't listen to rap music because it's cultural appropriation and could be offensive to my classmates," writes Pomona College student Steven Glick in The Washington Post.

The New/Old Politics of Capital vs. Countryside by Michael Barone

Capital vs. countryside -- that's the new political divide, visible in multiple surprise election results over the past 11 months. It cuts across old partisan lines and replaces traditional divisions -- labor vs. management, north vs. south, Catholic vs. Protestant -- among voters.

Reading the Kansas 4 and Georgia 6 Tea Leaves By Michael Barone

What to make of the results of the first two of this spring's special House elections? Start off by putting them in perspective. They pose a challenge to both political parties, but especially to Republicans, who have been used to an unusually stable partisan alignment, an alignment that has become scrambled by Donald Trump.

Our Three Presidents Born in 1946 By Michael Barone

With the inauguration of Donald Trump this year, we have now had, for the first time in our history, three American presidents who were born in the same year. There have been three pairs of presidents born in the same year -- the very dissimilar John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, in 1767; Richard Nixon and his surprise successor, Gerald Ford, in 1913; and Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, in 1924.

Mistrust of Trump Threatens Political Corrosion and Rule of Law by Michael Barone

Donald Trump's unorthodox campaign and unexpected victory have produced a culture of mistrust permeating our politics and threatening to undermine the rule of law. That's not healthy, whatever you think of Trump or his political opponents.

Doesn't Anybody Know How to Play This Game? By Michael Barone

"Dare I suggest," writes the economist and blogger Tyler Cowen, "that the quality of governance in this country has taken a downward turn of late?" Or as Casey Stengel, while managing the New York Mets on their way to a 40-120 season in 1962, reportedly asked, "Can't anybody here play this game?"    

The Base's Rage Ill Serves the Democratic Party By Michael Barone

In a week chock-full of news, the party that on the night of Nov. 8 found itself, much to its surprise, very much out of power has been having difficulty finding a way to return.   

Perceptions Are That Trump's Policies Are Working By Michael Barone

Perceptions matter. People make decisions, even life-altering decisions, based on what they perceive as likely to happen. To the extent that public policy affects such decisions, the perception of likely policy change can affect behavior even before the change happens -- even if it ends up never happening.