Words matter. These are the best Thomas E. Mann Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
Congress requires states to draw single-member districts.
The increase in straight-ticket party voting in recent years means that competitive congressional races can tip one way or the other depending on the showing of the candidates at the top of the ticket.
Private sector labors unions continue to suffer losses in their membership while public sector and service unions grow.
Further-more, partisan attachments powerfully shape political perceptions, beliefs and values, and incumbents enjoy advantages well beyond the way in which their districts are configured.
Second, the President’s popularity has not translated into increased support for the Republican party or for the policies and approaches on domestic policy championed by the President.
While Republican voters have remained universally supportive of their President, Democrats and Independents are returning to a more naturally critical stance.
A healthy degree of party unity among Democrats and Republicans has deteriorated into bitter partisan warfare.
Presidents are elected not by direct popular vote but by 538 members of the Electoral College.
In the House, Republican prospects have been buoyed by several successful rounds of redistricting, which have sharply reduced the number of competitive seats and given the Republicans a national advantage of at least a dozen seats.
Party and ideology routinely trump institutional interests and responsibilities. Regular order – the set of rules, norms and traditions designed to ensure a fair and transparent process – was the first casualty. The results: No serious deliberation. No meaningful oversight of the executive. A culture of corruption.
Democrats do best in urban centers, Republicans in outer suburbs and rural areas.
The country has sorted itself ideologically into the two political parties, and those partisan attachments have hardened in recent years. It will take an extraordinary event and act of leadership to break this partisan divide. I thought 9/11 might provide such an opportunity, but it was not seized.
In addition to the decline in competition, American politics today is characterized by a growing ideological polarization between the two major political parties.
First, his job approval ratings have been trending down for many months, a trend that has accelerated in recent weeks as the war on terrorism has been supplanted in the public’s mind by corporate scandals, stock market declines, and a growing sense of economic insecurity.
