President Donald Trump on stage at a campaign rally in Panama City, Fla., May 8, 2019. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) The times are good and his opponents are not. The full proportions of the debacle that awaits the Democrats next fall is starting to penetrate their complacent disdain and revulsion toward President Trump. Rank-and-file Democrats are so

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, Calif.) addresses the North America’s Building Trades Unions in Washington, D.C., April 9, 2019. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters) I’ll be off Monday through Wednesday for a speaking engagement; the next Jim-written Morning Jolt will be Thursday, May 16. Making the click-through worthwhile: If this is a “Constitutional crisis,” it’s a really boring

I wrote today about one of the lessons of the new report on Trump’s taxes: The surprise about the big New York Times story on Donald Trump’s tax returns is that there are no real surprises. Trump’s taxes have been an obsession of the Left since he, in violation of a longstanding norm, reneged on his promise

Campaign signs outside a polling place during early voting in Dallas, Texas, November 2, 2018. (Mike Segar/Reuters) Voters have repeatedly demonstrated opposition to politicians’ proposals for funneling money to politicians. The progressive catechism teaches that there is “too much money” in politics. A codicil to this tenet, written in fine print, is that the term

Joe Biden addresses a campaign rally in Iowa City, Iowa, May 1, 2019. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Fans of Joe Biden who contend that he’s the only one who’s “electable” and that the other candidates are not have another small but intriguing bit of data to support their view. An OH Predictive Insights survey completed May 1-2 in

Hillary Clinton speaks at the Woman’s National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C., November 2, 2017. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) Over at The New York Times, columnist Farhard Manjoo urges Democrats to nominate a woman: Democratic voters say that while they themselves may support Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and other women who are running for president, they worry

Robert Mueller on Capitol Hill in 2012. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) If anyone not named Donald J. Trump were subjected to this new prosecutorial standard, it would occasion widespread consternation. The last thing the world needs is more of Robert Mueller’s commentary, but Congress is determined to have him hold forth at a public hearing. It’s not

Joe Biden delivers remarks at the First State Democratic Dinner in Dover, Del., March 16, 2019. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Making the click-through worthwhile: The hilariously ironic implications if Joe Biden’s current polling boost continues and he goes on to win the Democratic nomination; Kamala Harris and the question of what kind of Democrat can win in

Former President Ronald Reagan in 1991 (Gary Cameron/Reuters) Joe Biden was already in his second term as senator from Delaware when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980. What did America’s 40th president think of the man trying to become its 46th? The Reagan Diaries, edited by Douglas Brinkley and released in 2007, provides some answers.

Pete Buttigieg speaks during a town hall meeting in Fort Dodge, Iowa, April 16, 2019. (Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters) Did the Buttigieg hype hit its peak already? Yes, Pete Buttigieg and his husband are on the cover of Time this week. But since Joe Biden’s formal entry into the race, the South Bend mayor’s standing in the

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign event in Chicago, Ill., March 3, 2019. (Joshua Lott/Reuters) Pundit accountability time: I did not think hard enough about Joe Biden. While part of my brain still screams “sell” on Biden’s chances to the win the nomination, I have to reckon with how strong he seems right now.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (Brendan McDermid/Reuters) With 0 percent support, he has nowhere to go but up. New York is a town that enjoys a good quarrel, but it’s all but impossible to find someone to argue, “I love Bill de Blasio.” Rarely do you meet anyone who can even tolerate Bill

Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper speaks in Washington, D.C., January 24, 2019. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) In response to Hickenlooper Makes His Case, Poorly Kevin, Allow me to give John Hickenlooper a few molecules of credit for what he lays out in his Wall Street Journal op-ed. For all of his incuriosity, reflexive faith in government and comforting

President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., May 6, 2019. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) He keeps getting stronger as the Democratic field grows more dismal. Most of the elements are now in place for a decisive electoral victory for the current president, and a clear mandate to drain the

Senator Cory Booker (D, N.J.) speaks during his 2020 presidential campaign at the Iowa River Brewing in Marshalltown, Iowa, February 9, 2019. (Scott Morgan/Reuters) Senator Cory Booker (D., N.J.) on Monday introduced an ambitious gun control proposal as part of his 2020 presidential platform that calls for the establishment of a national licensing program for

Attorney General William Barr testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., April 9, 2019 (Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters) Barr Controversy Rich: So Xan, exit question to you on this one. If Bill Barr is ousted as attorney general, you’d like to see him return as: Trump’s off-the radar whisperer White House council chief of staff Vice

Former vice president Joe Biden speaks at a rally with striking Stop & Shop workers in Boston, Mass., April 18, 2019. (Brian Snyder/Reuters) Making the click-through worthwhile: On the campaign trail, Joe Biden offers an assessment of China’s leaders that is simply stunning; the Democrats rage about Attorney General William Barr but are vague on

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Michael Bennet (D., Colo.) speaks in Washington, D.C., April 10, 2019. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) Colorado senator Michael Bennet makes 21 Democratic presidential candidates, and the impending announcement of New York City mayor Bill de Blasio will bring the total to 22. Our Dan McLaughlin asks whether we should include Mike Gravel and

Then presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Fresno, Calif., May 27, 2016. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Making the click-through worthwhile: The New York Times confirms that the FBI sent undercover investigators to talk to Trump-campaign officials in 2016 after all; the Washington Post uncovers some unnerving new details about Bernie Sanders’s “honeymoon” to

This week, the New York Times got itself into hot water for printing a blatantly Jew-hating cartoon in its international edition. The cartoon depicted Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an elongated dachshund, a Star of David hanging around his neck, leading a fat, blind, yarmulke-wearing Donald Trump … Read More

Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke reacts during a kickoff rally in El Paso, Texas, March 30, 2019. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Over at the Daily Beast, Margaret Carlson doesn’t think it’s too early to administer last rites to the Beto O’Rourke presidential campaign, and offers a blistering assessment of O’Rourke as a fundamentally unserious candidate: According

Hillary Clinton speaks in Las Vegas, Nev., in 2016. (Steve Marcus/Reuters) Her political power is waning, and her attempts to suggest indictment of Trump show her personal fears. Hillary Clinton recently editorialized about the second volume of special counsel Robert Mueller’s massive report. She concluded of the report’s assorted testimonies and inside White House gossip

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D, N.Y.) waits to go on stage during her campaign kick off event in New York, March 24, 2019. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters) If you have an appetite for schadenfreude, one of the pleasures of the ongoing 2020 Democratic primary will be watching once-highly-touted politicians realize just how limited their appeal is, as they

On the day Joe Biden announced for president, I re-read one of my favorite articles about him. Brit Hume was a correspondent for ABC News in 1986 when he profiled Biden for The New Republic. Published under the headline “Mighty Mouth” in the September 1, 1986, issue, Hume’s piece expresses the strengths and weaknesses of

(File photo: Robert Galbraith/Reuters) The push to allow felons to vote is more about gaining Democratic voters than rehabilitating people. Bernie Sanders, the Brooklyn socialist who represents Vermont in the Senate, has called for extending voting rights to prisoners currently incarcerated — all of them, he says, meaning: Terry Nichols, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Nidal Hasan, sundry

Joe Biden speaks at a rally with striking Stop & Shop workers in Boston, Mass., April 18, 2019. (Brian Snyder/Reuters) Less than a week after entering the Democratic presidential primary, former vice president Joe Biden is running substantially ahead of the other 19 primary candidates, according to a new poll from CNN out this morning.

Former vice president Joe Biden arrives at a rally with striking Stop & Shop workers in Boston, Mass., April 18, 2019. (Brian Snyder/Reuters) If they’ll let him, which is far from certain Joe Biden’s announcement of his candidacy for president must be seen as the last stand of forces trying to prevent the Democratic party

Former Vice President Joe Biden addresses union workers at the Teamsters Local 249 hall in Pittsburgh, Pa., April 29, 2019. (Aaron Josefczyk/Reuters) That Biden is considered a moderate is a testament to how far his party has moved to the left. That Joe Biden, at this writing the most recent candidate to file for the

Former Vice President Joe Biden announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination, April 25, 2019. (Biden Campaign Handout via Reuters) Harold Schaitberger, president of the AFL-CIO-affiliated International Association of Firefighters, declared at a campaign rally for Joe Biden today that “Joe Biden is genuine. There’s nothing phony or artificial about Joe Biden.” This is

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally in New York City, March 2, 2019. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters) He is now winning the money race, thanks to activists. But do we want voters on the fringe setting a party’s course? Joe Biden’s entry into the Democratic primary sets up what looks to be an epic clash of