The Virginia State Capitol building in Richmond (Jay Paul/Reuters) Democrats reclaimed both chambers of the Virginia state house on Tuesday night, wresting complete control from Republicans for the first time since 1994. By Wednesday morning, Democrats had won 21 of the state’s 40 Senate seats and at least 53 of the 100 seats in the

Sen. Kamala Harris speaks at the 2019 National Forum on Wages and Working People in Las Vegas, Nev., April 27, 2019. (Gage Skidmore) Politico‘s Christopher Cadalago has a long look at the collapse of the Kamala Harris campaign. Just how bad are things? “Aides sometimes talk about the campaign in the past tense before catching

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) gestures in a televised townhall on CNN in Los Angeles, Calif., October 10, 2019. (Mike Blake/Reuters) Some unpleasant news for progressives consumed by the ever-evolving demands of properly administering their identity-politics agenda: A new study conducted by the progressive firm ThinkNow Research has found that

Julian Castro speaks to members of the media in Miami, Fla., June 27, 2019. (Mike Segar/Reuters) Former Obama cabinet member Julian Castro will dismiss campaign staff in New Hampshire and South Carolina effective next week, Politico reported Tuesday. The campaign is aiming to focus its resources on Iowa and Nevada, with $50,000 in television ads

President Donald Trump attends a campaign kick-off rally at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., June 18, 2019. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters) National surveys and approval ratings don’t tell the full story when trying to determine whether Trump will defeat the eventual Democratic nominee. Democrats are in a frenzy over the latest survey of the upcoming general

Deputy Head of the Department of International Legal Cooperation of the Prosecutor Generalís Office of Ukraine Kostiantyn Kulyk attends a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, April 11, 2019. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters) Ukraine is planning to fire the prosecutor who directed investigations into the natural gas company that hired former vice president Joe Biden’s son to serve

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks with supporters in Marshalltown, Iowa, July 4, 2019. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr) Former vice president Joe Biden’s campaign staffers have begun playing down expectations in the Iowa caucuses in response to their candidate’s underperformance in recent polls conducted in the first primary state. “I think we’re the only ones who don’t

Joe Biden speaks at the Presidential Gun Sense Forum in Des Moines, Iowa, August 10, 2019. (Gage Skidmore) Former vice president Joe Biden fell to fourth place in the latest poll of Democratic presidential primary candidates in Iowa. The poll, conducted by the Times and Siena College, shows Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in the lead with

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks at a campaign town hall meeting in Durham, New Hampshire, October 30, 2019. (Brian Snyder/ Reuters) What Senator Elizabeth Warren has just unveiled is less a plan to pay for the costs of Medicare for All than a plan to hide them. A massive tax on all workers, including

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden (left) speaks in South Carolina, U.S. October 26, 2019. (Sam Wolfe/Reuters) Presidential candidate Joe Biden took a shot at the Medicare for All white paper released Friday by rival 2020 contender Senator Elizabeth Warren, saying her plan would require a nearly $9 trillion middle-class tax hike.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg listens during the Democratic presidential candidates debate in Westerville, Ohio, October 15, 2019. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) In an op-ed last week for USA Today, Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg doubled down on his position that, as president, he would support no regulations on abortion. Despite portraying himself as a moderate option in

A tourist holds a “Make America Great Again” hat outside the White House, August 2, 2018. (Brian Snyder/Reuters) Two recurring themes of mine over the last few years have been a) that the removal of a president by Congress practically requires an extraordinary degree of public consensus and b) that a lot of arguments about

Beto O’Rourke speaks at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, June 1, 2019. (Gage Skidmore) Former Texas congressmen Beto O’Rourke suspended his presidential campaign Friday afternoon, citing a lack of funding. “Our campaign has always been about seeing clearly, speaking honestly, and acting decisively,” O’Rourke wrote on Twitter. “In that spirit:

Sen. Michael Bennet speaks on the second night of the second Democratic presidential debate in Detroit, Mich., July 31, 2019. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Democratic senator and long shot presidential candidate Michael Bennet panned the new details of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare for All plan on Friday, arguing that the cost estimates she provided simply won’t cover

Twelve Democratic U.S. presidential candidates debate during the fourth U.S. Democratic presidential candidates 2020 election debate in Ohio, October. 2019. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) Let the 2020 cycle be a warning to political correspondents who write glowing profile pieces on the next great Democratic party hope. For some of us, the best part of this cycle so

Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks to reporters after a town hall meeting in Franconia, N.H., August 14, 2019. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters) A reporter who now works for the New York Times failed to report on public records which he obtained in April that cut against Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D., Mass.) claim that she was fired from a

“Besides, the Party was in the right. It must be so; how could the immortal, collective brain be mistaken? By what external standard could you check its judgements?” — George Orwell, 1984, Part III, Section IV For the French Communist Alain Badiou, philosophy is merely an elaboration of some great … Read More

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced Wednesday that the company will halt all political advertising on its platform, both on behalf of political issues and individual candidates. “A political message earns reach when people decide to follow an account or retweet,” said Dorsey. “Paying for reach removes that decision, forcing highly optimized and targeted political messages

Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) during a gun-safety forum in Las Vegas, Nev., October 2, 2019 (Steve Marcus/Reuters) Senator Kamala Harris is reportedly slashing her campaign staff and shifting her campaign strategy to focus almost solely on Iowa as her presidential bid struggles to remain afloat both financially and in the polls. Dozens of aides

Attendees walk past a Facebook logo at the company’s developers conference in San Jose, Calif., April 30, 2019. (Stephen Lam/Reuters) Facebook announced on Wednesday that it had removed three Russian-backed influence networks from its platform that targeted several African countries including Cameroon, Mozambique, Libya, and Sudan. The networks posted information in Arabic critical of U.S.

George Papadopoulos with his wife Simona Mangiante arrive for his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., September 7, 2018. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos on Tuesday announced his interest in running for representative Katie Hill’s (D., Calif.) seat in the House. “Announcement soon on my interest in Katie Hill’s

Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks at the Rainbow PUSH broadcast and community forum, in Chicago, Ill., June 29, 2019. (Kamil Krzaczynski/Reuters) Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) on Tuesday slammed a proposal reportedly being pushed by the chairman of the New York State Democratic Party that would place more hurdles in front of third parties seeking to

Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses attendees at the “Bernie’s Back” rally at Queensbridge Park in Queens, N.Y., October 19, 2019. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters) Senator Bernie Sanders (D., Vt.) promised to “pay for every nickel of Medicare for All,” during a Tuesday interview but said that he doesn’t feel compelled to explain how he would fund the program

From left: Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren at the Democratic presidential candidates debate in Westerville, Ohio, October 15, 2019. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) Impeachment and then … In the 20th century, no Congress brought impeachment proceedings against a first-term president facing a reelection. Both the Nixon and Clinton efforts were

Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia delivers a speech in Hampton, Va., August 24, 2019. (Michael A. McCoy/Reuters) Virginia holds state-legislative elections this year, and the outlook is cloudy for the state GOP, despite this year’s earlier scandals of Governor Ralph “Blackface” Northam, allegations of sexual assault against Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and another blackface scandal

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the Democratic presidential candidates debate in Westerville, Ohio, October 15, 2019. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) Ever since he entered the race, Joe Biden has been considered the default frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary. A former vice president, he has two advantages: nearly unparalleled name recognition and

Hillary Clinton appears on stage at the Women in the World Summit in New York City, April 12, 2019. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters) She could triumph over a weak and divided field, but many Democrats are terrified to see her as the face of their party again. The Ghost of Hillary Past is threatening to become the

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard speaks at the first Democratic presidential debate in Miami, Fla., June 26, 2019. (Mike Segar/Reuters) Representative Tulsi Gabbard announced Friday morning that she will not seek reelection to her Hawaii congressional seat in 2020, saying she is “fully committed” to her presidential bid. “I’m so grateful to the people of Hawai’i for

Hillary Clinton speaks at the IBEW union hall in Commerce, Calif., May 24, 2016. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters) In the wake of reports that Hillary Clinton is considering making a late entry into the 2020 presidential race, Senate Democrats are warning her against it, saying the party has moved on. “She’s done a great service to our

President Donald Trump speaks to reporter on the South Lawn of the White House, October 25, 2019. (Tom Brenner/Reuters) The President’s best Ukraine defense has always been that any quid pro quo demand of Ukraine was not close to an impeachable offense. Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-column series this weekend, dealing