Political Commentary

Most Recent Releases

June 15, 2023Pumping the Brakes Post-Milligan By Kyle Kondik
Surveying the redistricting picture after the Supreme Court’s unexpected decision.KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— The Supreme Court’s Allen v. Milligan decision should give Democrats at least a little help in their quest to re-take the House majority, but much remains uncertain.
— As of now, the Democrats’ best bets to add a seat in 2024 are in Alabama, the subject of the ruling, and Louisiana.
— It also adds to the list of potential mid-decade redistricting changes, which have happened with regularity over the past half-century.
— The closely-contested nature of the House raises the stakes of each state’s map, and redistricting changes do not necessarily have to be prompted by courts.

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                            June 14, 2023Fighting Woke By John Stossel
 People hate Chris Rufo.

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                            June 13, 2023To Reduce Airline Ticket Prices, Expand Washington's Reagan Airport By Stephen Moore
Those who live in or near the nation's capital, or routinely travel there, know that the Washington, D.C., region is home to the best airport in the country, Reagan National. It's also home to one of the worst airports, Dulles International.

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                            June 12, 2023America Has Become a Banana Republic By Brian C. Joondeph
Dictators and tyrants arrest or murder their political opponents. Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Castro, and Chavez are but a few examples. Their power is absolute, and any opposition is hastily eliminated, regardless of laws, ethics, or decency.

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                            June 9, 2023Sununu's Good Move and Bad Advice By Michael Barone
Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) is not running for president. In his state's first-in-the-nation primary, "I can be more effective for the Republican Party in ways few other leaders can," he wrote in the Washington Post. 
June 8, 2023Moving Beyond the Good Ol’ Boys Club: Recent Trends in Women’s Representation in State Legislatures By Carah Ong Whaley
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— The percentage of women in state legislatures has increased in recent years. However, there is still a significant gender gap in most states as women have not reached parity in representation.
— The majority of women in state legislatures are Democrats. While more Republican women ran for office in 2022 than in previous years, that didn’t amount to closing the gender gap in representation.
— The percentage of women in state legislatures has increased more in Western and Northeastern states than in Midwestern and Southern states. This is likely due to a number of factors, including the political climate, the level of motivation and activism among women, and the availability of resources for women’s campaigns.

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                            June 7, 2023Socialism Versus Nature By John Stossel
"Greed of the fossil fuel industry" is "destroying our planet," says Sen. Bernie Sanders. Young people agree. Their solution? Socialism.

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                            June 2, 2023Only One Republican Candidate Gets Results By Michael Barone
The Wollman Rink episode, or, rather, the unduly optimistic conclusion I drew from it, explains a lot about Donald Trump's presidency and why he may not do as well against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) in the contest for the Republican nomination, as current poll numbers suggest.
June 1, 2023Plotting the GOP’s Most Efficient Electoral College Pathways By Seth Moskowitz
How the 2020 map provides a template for 2024.KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— In 2020, Donald Trump would have needed to flip 37 additional Electoral College votes to reach 269, thereby winning an effective majority in the Electoral College, thanks to a likely Republican advantage if the Electoral College produces a tied outcome.
— The 2024 Electoral College map will reflect the 2020 census’s reallocation of electoral votes. Using this new map, the GOP will need to flip 34 electoral votes (down from 37) to reach 269.
— Using 2020 presidential election results, we can map out the different paths that Trump had to winning 269 electoral votes. These routes give us a template for how presidential candidates might plan their strategies for next year’s election.
— Flipping Georgia, Arizona, and Wisconsin is likely the GOP’s best chance at winning back the presidency. But there are other viable routes to 269 as well that involve Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.

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                            May 31, 2023Time Bomb By John Stossel
Social Security is toast.

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                            May 30, 2023Stop Scaring Our Kids to Death By Stephen Moore
As nearly every standardized test is showing, our schools are doing an abysmal job teaching kids how to read or do math. In some cases, kids graduating from high school can barely read their diplomas.

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                            May 26, 2023Mugged by Reality? Or Respectful of Common Sense? By Michael Barone
A conservative, to paraphrase and slightly alter Irving Kristol's saying, is a liberal who has been mugged by reality -- especially by a reality that is plain to the vast bulk of ordinary people but remains inexplicably invisible to liberal intellectuals and politicians.
May 25, 2023Leaning Into State Trends: The West Coast By J. Miles Coleman
Also some larger observations on how all the states have trended.KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— The West Coast states have all been Democratic-leaning in nearly every recent presidential election.
— One exception was Oregon, which leaned slightly right of the nation in 2000, although it is now a solidly blue state.
— Looking nationally, Biden was the best-performing recent Democratic nominee in several Sun Belt states — many of which will be at the center of the 2024 campaign.
— Donald Trump, between his two elections as the GOP nominee, turned in the best recent Republican performances in half the states — this includes much of the electorally-critical Rust Belt.

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                            May 24, 2023President DeSantis? By John Stossel
Recently, Gov. Ron DeSantis sat down with me for a one-hour interview.

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                            May 23, 2023What's the Matter With Texas Republicans When It Comes to School Choice Legislation? By Stephen Moore
This has been the year for school choice all over the country. At least six additional states joined Arizona and Florida to give parents the funds to send their children to private and charter schools.

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                            May 19, 2023The Russia Collusion Hoax: Unpatriotic? By Michael Barone
The report of special counsel John Durham is, or ought to be, devastating for anyone who has put any credence in what has now been definitively revealed to be the Russia collusion hoax.
May 18, 2023Rewriting the Parable of the Good Samaritan By Brian C. Joondeph
In the Book of Luke, chapter 10, Jesus told the “Parable of the Good Samaritan.” Is it time for a rewrite?

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                            May 17, 2023President Ramaswamy? By John Stossel
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is obviously a long shot presidential candidate, but he's refreshing. Unlike most politicians, he speaks clearly and seems smart.

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                            May 16, 2023The Green Movement Is a Jobs Killer. Are Unions Finally Figuring This Out? By Stephen Moore
Could it be that union bosses are finally waking up to the cold reality that the greatest threat to steel workers, the United Auto Workers, miners, machinists and the Teamsters is the radical climate change agenda of the environmentalists?

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                            May 12, 2023'Segregation' Is a Deliberate Act By Michael Barone
Getting words right can clear up a lot of confusion about politics and public policy. Example: "segregate" is a verb that requires a subject. "Segregate" is not an impersonal verb, nor is "segregation" a mere accidental result of unrelated outside processes.