Democrats are hoping health care will be a winning issue across the 2026 midterm elections and see North Carolina as the top potential pickup opportunity in their long-shot play to regain control of the Senate.
They think Cooper's record as governor — working with and pressuring the GOP-dominated Legislature across two terms until he could expand Medicaid — makes him the perfect messenger.
In his campaign launch video, Cooper previewed what will likely be a c...
Month: July 2025
A blue wave in the 2026 elections? It’s not likely, and here’s why.
Democratic strategists have been counting the days to the 2026 midterms ever since Nov. 5, 2024. Republicans, meanwhile, have kept their foot on the gas since reclaiming full control of Washington this January, well aware that political winds rarely blow a political party's way after two years of unified governance.
But Democrats are bound to be disappointed at the 2026 midterm results, finding that the wave elections of old resemble little more than faint white caps off a qui...
Senate GOP must think ahead this time and remove the Senate parliamentarian now
During President Trump’s push for his "big, beautiful" budget bill, either a betrayal or a political blunder occurred as an unelected bureaucrat became the most powerful person in the U.S. Congress. Before we go any further with a new budget — a process that is already underway — that needs to change.
Trump campaigned with the message that federal engagement on the abortion issue should be cut back. Although I disagree given the life-and-death stakes...
Six months in, Trump’s numbers are stronger than in his first term
Six months into his second term, President Trump and Republicans are in better shape than eight years ago.
Unquestionably, President Trump remains a divisive political figure. However, he has expanded his base and continues to hold it. In contrast, Democrats have been unable to capitalize on Trump’s political vulnerabilities and have lost ground compared to 2017.
With the House’s passage of his rescission package, Trump scored another major win. He ...
Democrats divided over looming government shutdown fight
Democrats are deeply divided over how hard to press their leverage with President Trump and his Republican allies on getting concessions in a bill to fund the government that needs to pass by Sept. 30 to avoid a shutdown.
Senate Democrats held a tense lunch meeting Tuesday to discuss their plan for how to vote on the first spending bill to reach the floor — the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill — as well as their strategy for how to handle the end-o...
Memo advises GOP to extend ACA tax credits
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After the Epstein fallout, Republicans are finally finding their spines
As President Trump hits the six-month mark in his second term, only a minority of Americans approve of his dismal job performance. His approval ratings will fall even lower as his incompetence, dishonesty, cruelty, destructive policies and efforts to rule like a dictator become ever more apparent.
The most recent RealClearPolitics average of 12 polls published between July 6 and July 20 finds that 45.5 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s overall job performanc...
The ugly truth about Trump’s ‘concepts’ of a health care plan
Republicans decided to let enhanced subsidies for Americans who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act expire.
Lawmakers reintroduce bill to repeal Hyde Amendment
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Carville: Democratic Party ‘a cracked-out clown car’
Democratic strategist James Carville said in a new opinion piece for The New York Times that the current Democratic Party is “a cracked-out clown car.”
“Constipated. Leaderless. Confused. A cracked-out clown car. Divided. These are the words I hear my fellow Democrats using to describe our party as of late. The truth is they’re not wrong: The Democratic Party is in shambles,” Carville said in the Times piece released Monday.
Carville pointed to the recent clinchin...