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June 21, 2016A Tale of Two Elections: Clinton’s 2016 Primary Performance Versus 2008 By Geoffrey Skelley
One striking aspect of the Democratic primary race was the stark role-reversal in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 performance compared with her narrow loss to Barack Obama in 2008’s Democratic nomination battle. Whereas she ran against Obama in 2008, she positioned herself as his successor at every turn during her race against insurgent Bernie Sanders in 2016. It’s very easy to see the effect of this in a county-level map of the change in her performance from eight years ago to this cycle, as shown by the coloring in Map 1 below (a choropleth map). (We recommend clicking on the map for a much larger version.)

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                            June 21, 2016Party Affiliation Dictates Responses to Orlando
Two competing narratives have emerged in the wake of the terrorist shooting massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida: President Obama and most Democratic leaders say it highlights the need for increased gun control, while most prominent Republicans say it represents the growing threat of domestic Islamic terrorism. Voters are divided along similar partisan lines when it comes to how best to prevent such attacks in the future.
June 21, 2016Why We Have -- and Probably Will Keep Having -- Sluggish Job Growth By Michael Barone
Why has the American economy had such sluggish job creation and economic growth? That's a pretty fundamental question, and one for which most conventional economists have had unsatisfying answers.   
June 21, 2016Trolling for War with Russia By Patrick J. Buchanan
Some 50 State Department officials have signed a memo calling on President Obama to launch air and missile strikes on the Damascus regime of Bashar Assad.
A "judicious use of stand-off and air weapons," they claim, "would undergird and drive a more focused and hard-nosed U.S.-led diplomatic process."

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                            June 21, 2016Young Voters Favor A Gay President; Older Voters Do Not
An openly gay candidate for the White House is still a long shot, but voters under 40 are a lot more enthusiastic about the prospect than their elders are.
June 21, 2016The Gun Control Farce by Thomas Sowell
Surely murder is a serious subject, which ought to be examined seriously. Instead, it is almost always examined politically in the context of gun control controversies, with stock arguments on both sides that have remained the same for decades. And most of those arguments are irrelevant to the central question: Do tighter gun control laws reduce the murder rate?

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                            June 20, 201626% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction
Following the terrorist massacre at an Orlando nightclub, only 26% of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey for the week ending June 16.

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                            June 20, 2016Confidence In America’s Safety From Terrorism Plummets
Following the recent terrorist attack on an Orlando nightclub, fewer voters than ever believe the United States today is safer than it was before 9/11.
June 20, 2016Obama Scores Better than Clinton, Trump When It Comes to Orlando
Voters aren’t overly enthusiastic about how President Obama and the two likely major party presidential candidates have responded to the Orlando terrorist massacre, but the president does best, especially among those who want more gun control. Democrats are happier with Hillary Clinton’s response than Republicans are with Donald Trump’s.
June 18, 2016To Win Bernie Voters, Hillary Must Make Big Changes By Ted Rall
Unless you follow politics closely, you could be forgiven for thinking that Hillary Clinton has locked up the Democratic presidential nomination. This is not true. She still doesn't have the requisite number of delegates. That could, and probably will, happen next month when her lead in superdelegates puts her over the top at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia -- when the superdelegates actually, you know, cast their actual votes.

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                            June 18, 2016What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending June 18, 2016
The politicking barely slowed as America absorbed the biggest terrorist attack since 9/11.

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                            June 17, 2016Clinton, Trump Still Battle High Unfavorables
It’s lucky for them that this year’s presidential election isn’t a popularity contest or both major party candidates might lose.
June 17, 2016Brexit Causes Elites Angst -- But Britain May Leave EU Anyway By Michael Barone
"Market Angst as U.K. Edges to Exit," proclaims the headline on The Wall Street Journal's lead story. The exit referred to is Britain's departure from the European Union, a move that will be mandated if a majority votes "leave" rather than "remain" in the national referendum next Thursday.  
June 17, 2016Is Islamic Terror America's Future? By Patrick J. Buchanan
If the cliches hold -- nothing succeeds like success, the past is prologue -- this generation will not likely see an end to the jihadist terror that was on display at Pulse in Orlando on Sunday.

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                            June 17, 2016Voters Expect More Attacks Like Orlando, Want Muslims to Speak Out
Most voters think the government won't be able to stop further terrorist attacks on the homeland and say the country’s Islamic community should be doing more to condemn such violence.

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                            June 16, 2016Americans Still Worry About Overpopulation
Last year produced the lowest U.S. fertility and birth rate on record, but Americans still are far more concerned about the population growing too fast.

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                            June 16, 2016Voters Say Orlando More About Terrorism Than Gun Control
Most voters say the massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub this past weekend is more about terrorism than gun control, but most also agree that someone on a terrorist watch list should not be able to purchase a gun.
June 16, 2016As Deadline Approaches, Rubio Ponders. But his re-entry would not dramatically change the Senate calculus By Kyle Kondik
The horrifying massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando forces us to ponder whether it will somehow change the national electoral calculus. The short answer is that it’s too soon to tell, but the grim reality is that the frequency of mass murder in the United States — committed by ISIS-inspired lone wolves or others — suggests that this, terrifyingly, might not be the last major spasm of violence that takes place between now and the election. How candidates react could have consequences in November, although it’s also easy to overstate the potential impact of jarring events on the choices that voters make. After all, the American electorate is partisan and the vote choices for the vast majority of them don’t waver much throughout the campaign.

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                            June 16, 2016White House Watch: Clinton 44%, Trump 39%
With Donald Trump under increasing criticism from leaders in his own party, Hillary Clinton has moved to a five-point lead in Rasmussen Reports’ latest weekly White House Watch survey.

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                            June 15, 2016Support Increases for Gay Marriage
More voters support same-sex marriage, but most still don't believe it's an area that should be governed by the feds.