Making Ideas Matter.
The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about the present political environment, one that has gone far beyond politics as usual.
The country today is mired in the alarming aftermath of two extremely polarizing presidential elections where the losing side in each refused to accept the outcome. Not a good prescription for a strong democracy.
Read the full piece here.
The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about the role of money and fundraising in politics and the impact they have had on the larger political environment:
The political reward system has created a model that works for consultants, the media and super PACs that dominate the political environment, but it is failing candidates, the donors who fund campaigns and those who value civil political discourse and democracy. And it’s dividing the country in the process.
Read the full piece here.
The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about the divisiveness of our current politics and what we should do moving forward.
“This didn’t start with the 2020 election. It has been years in the making. Whether you voted for Donald Trump or Joe Biden, don’t think this goes away because Trump is no longer in office. This was already in motion long before Trump came on the scene; and unless the system changes, it will continue to deteriorate and become even more dangerous.”
“I don’t know why anyone should be surprised. When anger is the drug of choice in politics, when it takes a bigger and bigger hit to grab eyeballs and get attention, where else would we end up?”
Read the full piece here.
The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about the need for unity in the country, and whether the President’s actions in his first days in office will help achieve that unity.
So far, his support for unity has been more rhetorical than substantive. Biden’s unilateral executive orders will only further divide the nation, but his approach isn’t very different from his most recent predecessors. Whether it was Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, Donald Trump or Biden, right out of the gate, each focused on policies that reflected base priorities rather than looking for compromises that might have avoided what has been a downward spiral of bitter partisanship in Washington.
Read the full piece here.
By David Winston and Myra Miller
The horrific events in the Capitol have made this one of the darkest weeks in recent history. There is no justification whatsoever for what occurred on Wednesday. While Republicans should always support election integrity in the voting process, many people have had difficulty in understanding how President Trump could have lost at the presidential level while Congressional Republicans won seats at a widespread scale, contributing to the theory that the election was stolen or rigged.
Click here for seven statistics from the 2020 election that should help explain this gap between the Congressional and presidential vote.
In his first Roll Call column of 2021, the Winston Group’s David Winston offers an assessment of the 2020 elections in light of the Georgia run-offs:
What happens in the next 48 hours in Georgia and the halls of Congress will change the political dynamics of the next two years.
What it won’t change, however, is how and why President Donald Trump lost and Joe Biden won.
And it also won’t change the fact that congressional Republicans outperformed the president and upended the expected blue wave by focusing on legislative priorities that connected ideologically with a broader electorate.
Read the full piece here.
The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about Joe Biden’s calls for unity since the election, in contrast with Congressional Democrats’ seeming pursuit of a more progressive agenda.
When you lose seats like Florida’s 27th District or Iowa’s 2nd or Texas’ 23rd, perhaps a little introspection on the part of the speaker might be in order. Perhaps rethinking a progressive agenda that is at odds with a center-right country is a good first step. But if the events of the past couple of weeks are any indication, congressional Democrats are gearing up for more ideological battles, not preparing for peace talks.
Read the full piece here.
The Winston Group’s David Winston considers the results of the election in today’s Roll Call, with takeaways for both Democrats and Republicans.
In many ways, the 2020 election has already delivered its verdict. Simply put, the blue wave that was predicted never happened, and while it may not have technically been a red wave, it was certainly a “red surprise” with unexpected Republican strength driving key victories at every level.
In the end, there was “no joy in Mudville” for a party that expected a clean sweep. There was no mandate for Biden or the Democratic leadership on the Hill, nor for the Democratic Party and its policies. The top issue in this election was the economy, as it usually is, but this year, it was complicated by the impact of the coronavirus.
Read the full piece here.
The Winston Group’s David Winston provides an election preview in today’s Roll Call, describing the elements that would need to be in place for a repeat of 2016:
Still, the Trump administration’s communications mistakes on the coronavirus are undeniable. The president has yet to deliver a concise, substantive defense of his administration’s achievements in fighting the virus and its economic impact on families and businesses. There is a reasonable case to be made, but the president has failed to make it.
This leaves the Trump campaign facing an uphill climb to victory next week. But there is still a path if Trump can make this a state-by-state coalition election focused on the economy, just as he did in 2016.
Read the full piece here.
The Winston Group’s David Winston writes in today’s Roll Call about court packing, the Biden campaign’s reticence to take a stance on the issue, and the political implications of doing so.
Our Sept. 26-30 Winning the Issues survey found voters opposed to expanding the court, with 33 percent in favor and 41 percent opposed. And by a 42 percent to 29 percent margin, they believed that “adding seats to the Supreme Court through court expansion would mean we begin to lose any credibility the court has.” On the issue of expanding the number of justices, liberal Democrats were more supportive (56 percent in favor, 23 percent opposed), but moderate Democrats were less so (38 percent in favor, 28 percent opposed), a major difference within the party. Independents opposed it 17 percent to 47 percent.
The Biden-Harris ticket faces a tough call — take a stand and risk alienating the progressives already suspicious of Biden’s promises, or scare moderate voters who are wary that a politically motivated change to the composition and character of the court would do irreparable damage to its credibility.
Read the full piece here.