Month: July 2014
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New NYT: Impeachment as a wedge issue
From my new Upshot column: A useful definition of a wedge issue is one that unifies a party while splitting the opposition. By that definition, Republican calls to impeach President Obama look like a wedge issue — in favor of Democrats. As a recent CNN poll shows, 65 percent of Americans oppose impeaching Obama, including
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New NYT: Growing animus against presidents
From my new Upshot column: How much do members of the opposite party dislike whoever happens to be president? A lot, and the feeling seems to be getting stronger. A Quinnipiac University poll found that Barack Obama was the most frequent choice of Americans who were asked to name the worst president since World War
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New NYT: Obama and the myth of presidential control
From my new Upshot column: One of the most common criticisms of presidents – especially struggling ones during their second term – is that they have lost control of events. This charge, which has been leveled at chief executives such as Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, has become a mantra lately in coverage of
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New NYT: Avoiding Obama or denouncing him
From my new Upshot column: When an unpopular president faces a difficult midterm election, candidates from his party tend to avoid him and try to focus on local issues, but the nationalization of politics has made this strategy increasingly difficult. Instead, some red-state Democrats are going out of their way to talk about President Obama
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New NYT: When beliefs and facts collide
From my new Upshot column, which will run tomorrow in Sunday Review: Do Americans understand the scientific consensus about issues like climate change and evolution? At least for a substantial portion of the public, it seems like the answer is no… As a result of surveys like these, scientists and advocates have concluded that many
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New NYT: How Hillary Clinton is like John McCain
From my new Upshot column: Hillary Clinton’s artificially inflated poll numbers have made her seem like an especially strong presidential candidate, but the Clinton bubble is quickly coming to an end. Earlier in June, Ross Douthat of The New York Times noted that she has been “leading every potential Republican candidate by around 10 points”