Commentary by Michael Barone

Democracy Not at Risk, but Not Operating Optimally By Michael Barone

Is democracy at risk this election year?

Our Inevitably Negative Politics By Michael Barone

To explain the latest young generation's pessimism, Washington Post opinion writer Taylor Lorenz took to what was then called Twitter last February to lament "the fact that we're living in a late stage capitalist hellscape during an ongoing deadly

pandemic w record wealth inequality, 0 social safety net/job security, as climate change cooks the world."

Startling Surprises in Latest Census Numbers By Michael Barone

How's America doing? Government statisticians provide mounds of data that provide useful clues, and none more so than the Census Bureau's estimates of population, announced in the holiday weeks at the end of each calendar year.

The latest numbers measure the estimated population of each state as of last July 1 as compared to the constitutionally required decennial census dated April 1, 2020.

The Politics of Incumbent Rejection By Michael Barone

        At a time when voters have rejected the party of the incumbent president in the last two elections, and in which current polling has the incumbent trailing,

both parties seem bent on nominating two men who have served as president and about whom substantial majorities of voters have negative feelings. What gives?

The Intellectual Elite's Institutional Rot By Michael Barone

Institutional rot. That's the verdict recorded in recent days on the performance of leading institutions by observers not known for pessimistic temperaments or alarmist analysis.

For True Evil, Look Not to Israel or America but to Communism By Michael Barone

For those dismayed at how many college and university students and faculty, even, or especially, at selective and prestigious institutions, have been cheering Hamas' Oct. 7 atrocities and calling, in only slightly veiled language, for the destruction of

Israel and genocide of Jews, the question is how this vicious line of thought gained hold in American secondary and higher education.

Orwell and Monroe Got It Right By Michael Barone

George Orwell, call your office. That's my initial and slightly out-of-date response to news stories about the Biden administration's efforts to stamp out "misinformation." It's an interesting irony that covert censorship should be

undertaken enthusiastically by those who call themselves "liberal" or "progressive" and who claim the opposition would threaten the survival of liberal democracy.

Memo to Hamas: Settler Societies Aren't Evil By Michael Barone

In the nauseating demonstrations celebrating Hamas' slaughter of Israelis, one hears repeated, again and again, the refrain that Israelis are "settlers" and "colonists" -- and therefore, in the catechism inculcated in universities in recent decades,

oppressors not deserving of mercy or sympathy when tortured and murdered by those who deemed themselves the oppressed.

Young Voters Spring (Contradictory) Political Surprises By Michael Barone

What's with young voters? It's a question prompted by two surprising and perhaps contradictory developments that are out of line with conventional wisdom and prevailing expectations among political observers.

Is a Trump Renomination Really Inevitable? By Michael Barone

Is it inevitable that Donald Trump will be the second person in history -- Richard Nixon was the first -- to win the Republican Party's nomination for president three times? Many thoughtful observers, and others as well, think so.

Can a New Speaker Reinstate an Old Norm? By Michael Barone

After a little more than three weeks, House Republicans have finally elected a speaker. He's Mike Johnson, first elected to the House in 2016 from a district in northwest Louisiana. He's almost unknown to the public, has a right-wing voting record, and has been a supporter of Donald Trump. He grills witnesses effectively but calmly, with no visible anger.

Time to Stop Appeasing Terrorist Iran By Michael Barone

 The 2020s are starting to look like the 1930s, as I wrote last week in the wake of Hamas' unprecedentedly vicious attack on Israel.

The Gathering Storm By Michael Barone

Russia has been attacking Ukraine for 20 months now. Iran, through its terrorism partner Hamas, attacked Israel this weekend. China has been threatening to attack Taiwan.

New Deal Politics Turned Upside Down By Michael Barone

"The World Turned Upside Down." That's the song, or so longstanding legend would have it, that the British army band played after surrendering to American and French forces at Yorktown, 242 years ago. You can understand, even while not sympathizing, with the choice of ditty.

The Problems With Net Zero By Michael Barone

 Net zero is in trouble. In utterly predictable trouble, in the king's-wearing-no-clothes trouble.

The Surge of Populism -- and Nationalism By Michael Barone

"Populist politicians and parties," writes the Ethics and Public Policy Center's Henry Olsen in The Spectator, are "rapidly gaining strength and power across the developed world."

People of Color Trending Republican By Michael Barone

Are non-white voters really  moving away from the Democratic Party? To partisan Democrats confronting this question on Twitter (sorry, X), it seems preposterous that the party of former President Donald Trump, whom they routinely call a racist, could be gaining support from blacks, Hispanics and Asians.

Legalized Shoplifting Becomes a Racket, and Minorities Hardest Hit By Michael Barone

You could blame Victor Hugo. In 1846, the French novelist observed a young man being arrested for holding a loaf of bread he stole.

The Tom and Daisy Buchanans North of Richmond By Michael Barone

"These rich men north of Richmond, Lord knows they just wanna have total control." So goes the refrain of singer and songwriter Oliver Anthony's suddenly famous song. "Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do, and they don't think you know, but I know that you do."

Republican Debate: Whatever Happened in the Debate, Fundamentals Could Still Matter By Michael Barone

Having completed the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign cycle, it's tempting to focus on minor but perhaps momentarily decisive details, such as whether Ron DeSantis was wise to outsource strategy to a committee that he's legally barred from communicating with or whether it was wise for Trump campaign spokesmen to not be allowed in the Fox News spin room.