Opinion Today
January 5, 2022
CBS News poll: Threats to Democracy and elections - What are they and who sees them?
Jennifer De Pinto & Anthony Salvanto, CBS News
Two-thirds of Americans feel democracy is threatened. They also tell us that having "free and fair" elections is a key part of democracy. So how do those two things connect? For one, most across the party spectrum want their state's elections to be run by a nonpartisan or bipartisan entity. But when we ask where the threats come from, it's a different story.
A Year Later, Who is to Blame for the Attack on the Capitol?
AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research
Most Americans say Congress should continue to investigate the violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. In addition to holding the rioters accountable, most of the public blame former President Trump.
Share of Trump voters who believe Biden 'won fair and square' falls to 9% amid declining trust in U.S. democracy
Andrew Romano, Yahoo News
One year after a mob of Donald Trump loyalists tried to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory by laying violent siege to the U.S. Capitol, the “big lie” that fueled their attack has only become more entrenched. Today, a full three-quarters of Trump voters (75 percent) falsely believe the election was “rigged and stolen,” according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll — more than ever before.
USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll: Red flags for the GOP on the midterms, for Biden on leadership
Susan Page, USA Today
A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll raises a red flag for Republicans on the midterm elections and offers mixed advice for President Joe Biden on whether he should fight or fold on his big domestic initiative.
CNBC/Change poll: Biden disapproval hits new high as voters give him bad grades on economy
Thomas Franck, CNBC
President Joe Biden’s disapproval rating hit a new high in December as more voters signaled their unhappiness with his administration’s supervision of the economy and the Covid-19 pandemic. Frustrations over the economy are the main culprit behind Biden’s flagging popularity as nearly every demographic declared it their No. 1 issue.
A look back at Americans’ reactions to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol
John Gramlich, Pew Research Center
A year later, here’s a look back at how Americans saw the events of Jan. 6 and how some partisan divisions grew wider over time.
Coloradans still deeply divided over COVID policies, election legitimacy
Daniel Strain, University of Colorado Boulder
A new survey of the state of politics in Colorado during 2021 has revealed deep divisions between Democrats and Republicans around a wide range of issues—from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to how the country manages elections. The findings are part of the latest Colorado Political Climate Survey, an annual project led by political scientists at CU Boulder.
2022 House Overview: Still a GOP Advantage, but Redistricting Looks Like a Wash
David Wasserman, Cook Political Report with Amy Walter
The surprising good news for Democrats: there are on track to be a few more Biden-won districts after redistricting than there are now — producing a congressional map slightly less biased in the GOP's favor than the last decade's. The bad news for Democrats: if President Biden's approval ratings are still mired in the low-to-mid 40s in November, that won't be enough to save their razor-thin House majority (currently 221 to 212 seats).
The Holiday Redistricting Flurry
Kyle Kondik & J. Miles Coleman, Sabato’s Crystal Ball
Nearly two-thirds of districts now complete, barring judicial intervention; Republicans remain well-positioned to win House
New districts, new ratings point to California battles ahead
Nathan L. Gonzales, Roll Call
For Republicans, the road to the House majority includes a slog through California. The GOP needs a net gain of just five seats to win control, and the party has midterm history and the current political environment on its side. In short, Republicans are on the offensive in most places around the country, except for the Golden State.
Trump Isn’t the Only One to Blame for the Capitol Riot
Osita Nwanevu (New Republic), New York Times [via opiniontoday.com]
The riot was an attack on our institutions, and of course, inflammatory conservative rhetoric and social media bear some of the blame. But our institutions also helped produce that violent outburst by building a sense of entitlement to power within America’s conservative minority.
‘But the people like me the best, by far’
Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times [via opiniontoday.com]
Six weeks after the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, Donald Trump’s pollster, Tony Fabrizio, conducted a survey of Republicans that looked at how well liked the former president was among several distinct groups of voters within the party. The people who described themselves as the most committed Republicans were also the most likely to say they were committed to Trump.
The Riot and the Republic
Jonathan Allen, NBC News
One year after a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol, experts, historians and politicians warn of a democracy still at risk.
Some say the U.S. is headed toward civil war. History suggests something else.
Julie Novkov (U. at Albany, SUNY), Monkey Cage
A year after the Jan. 6 insurrection, political scientists largely agree that U.S. partisanship has become deeply toxic, even dangerous
How the January 6 Insurrection Birthed a New Right
Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine
Trump has transformed his party into something once unrecognizable.
5 Things To Watch Going Into The Midterms
Kaleigh Rogers, Alex Samuels, Geoffrey Skelley & Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, FiveThirtyEight
Democrats’ loss in the Virginia governor’s race last year — and their surprisingly narrow win in the New Jersey governor’s race — both suggested that we could be heading for a red wave in this year’s midterm elections. And overall, the political environment is looking favorable for Republicans. But there are also a lot of factors that could shake things up.
Why The Republican Party Isn’t Concerned With Popularity
Daniel Cox (American Enterprise Institute), FiveThirtyEight
The first and overriding goal for national political parties is to win elections. So if Republican candidates keep winning elections without offering an agenda that garners widespread public support, there is no reason to expect the party to change.
Ideologues and pragmatists clash in member-vs.-member primaries
Josh Kraushaar, National Journal
Due to redistricting, at least 10 lawmakers will face colleagues from the same party in this year’s House primaries. The outcomes of these contests will indicate the public’s mood for compromise.
The Radicalization of J.D. Vance
Simon van Zuylen-Wood, Washington Post Magazine
As he runs for the Senate, the ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author has gone from media darling to establishment pariah. Is his new, fiery, right-wing persona an act? Or is something more interesting going on?
Prominent political podcasters played key role in spreading the ‘Big Lie’
Valerie Wirtschafter & Chris Meserole, Brookings Institution
Our findings suggest that the most popular political podcasts in the United States played a critical and underappreciated role in spreading false electoral narratives prior to the Jan. 6 attack. Without a better understanding of how the “Big Lie” spread so widely in the weeks and months after last November’s election, similarly false narratives are likely to plague future elections as well, with dire consequences for American democracy.
Recalling Jan. 6: A national day of infamy, half remembered
Jake Coyle, Associated Press
The Capitol riot — the violent culmination of a bid to delegitimize the 2020 election and block its certification — has morphed into a partisan “Rashomon,” the classic Japanese film about a slaying told from varying and conflicting points of view. Indeed, the act of remembering can be a highly mercurial thing — particularly when deep-seated political views are involved.
A televised insurrection: AP video documents Jan. 6 riot
Nathan Ellgren, Associated Press
The Jan. 6 riot was an insurrection with a 360-degree view. The Associated Press compiled a short film of the day’s key moments to capture the record and rebut falsehoods that continue to spread about what happened.
Why Jan. 6 Was Not A Turning Point
FiveThirtyEight podcast
In the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, it appeared that Republican leaders might be ready to break ties with then-President Trump once and for all. But a year later, Trump still appears to be the de facto leader of the Republican Party, and those within the party who voted to impeach him over Jan. 6 are pariahs. The crew discusses why the country responded to the attacks the way it did and how healthy American democracy is today.
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