If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

Political Commentary

Most Recent Releases

January 10, 2025

Facebook Embraces Free Speech: The Masses Win, the Experts Lose By Michael Barone

        The times, they are a-changing. The balance of power in the perhaps

White letter R on blue background
January 9, 2025

How the Other Half Votes: The Big Counties Versus the Rest of the Country in 2024 By Kyle Kondik

KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE

— While the nation has more than 3,100 counties, just about 150 of them cast roughly half of all presidential votes.

— In the Trump era, the gap between the biggest counties and the rest of the country is larger than it was previously, although the overall difference contracted slightly in both 2020 and then 2024 after an initial large widening in 2016.

— In improving his margin in the national popular vote by about 6 points from 2020, Donald Trump ran further ahead of his 2020 margin in the nation’s most vote-rich counties than he did in the rest of the country.

January 8, 2025

Victimhood U By John Stossel

Colleges went mad.

January 7, 2025

Another Independence Day Approaches By Brian C. Joondeph

Independence Day, celebrated on July 4 of every year, is a national holiday commemorating the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, which established the United States of America, gaining freedom from British subjugation and tyranny.

January 7, 2025

Donald Trump's Worldwide Election By Daniel McCarthy

        Winning the 2024 election was only the beginning -- the Trump effect is
now sweeping the globe.

January 7, 2025

Why America Is in So Much Trouble By Stephen Moore

        Shortly before Milton Friedman's death in 2006, I had the privilege of

January 3, 2025

Toward a Political History of the Last 75 Years By Michael Barone

New Year's Day is a good time to take a long look backward with a cautious eye toward possible futures. My guide here is RealClearPolitics analyst Sean Trende's 2012 book "The Lost Majority," whose bold thesis was unduly neglected by political scientists spinning tales of a permanent New Deal Democratic majority.

December 31, 2024

Make a Resolution to Fix Social Security By Daniel McCarthy

In the dreamlike days between Christmas and the regular work week's return in the new year, it's easy to believe all things are possible.

December 31, 2024

Trump and Musk Are Right: Legal Immigrants a Boon to US Economy A Commentary By Stephen Moore

The media have been playing up the "civil war" inside the GOP between what Politico calls the "MAGA Republicans and Big Tech." The restrictionists in the party want fewer visas, and the pro-growth wing wants more.

December 26, 2024

Time for Trump to Drop Lawsuits and for the Press to Apologize By Michael Barone

Maybe the lesson this Christmas season is that even if turnabout is fair play, at some point, enough is enough.

December 26, 2024

Give or Take? By John Stossel

'Tis the season for giving.

December 25, 2024

Christmas Goodwill Is Also Good Politics By Daniel McCarthy

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year -- especially in an election year.

December 24, 2024

10 New Ideas to Make America's Economy Great Again in 2025 By Stephen Moore

Here's my wish list for the incoming Trump administration to make America healthy and prosperous and great again in 2025.

December 18, 2024

Biden’s Christmas Gift to Trump: A Partridge in the Syrian Pear Tree By Brian C. Joondeph

President Joe Biden may not always be aware of his surroundings or activities, but he surely knows that Christmas is approaching. He is playing the role of Santa Claus, preparing his sleigh with holiday treats for his White House successor, Donald Trump.

December 18, 2024

The White Pill By John Stossel

The movie "The Matrix" gave us the "red pill" and the "blue pill." The red wakes you up to reality; the blue keeps you indoctrinated.

December 17, 2024

To Bring Joy to America: End the Weaponization of the IRS By Stephen Moore

One of the highest priorities for the incoming Trump administration should be to end the Democrats' weaponization of powerful government agencies against taxpayers and businesses they don't like. Nowhere has this mission been more pernicious than the party-line vote to fund the IRS with nearly $80 billion and hire tens of thousands of new tax snoops.

December 17, 2024

Fighting Communism After the Cold War By Daniel McCarthy

Communism didn't win the Cold War, but it's doing surprisingly well in the 21st century, including in America.

December 13, 2024

Free Speech: Why a Tech Titan Backed Trump By Michael Barone

Why did Marc Andreessen -- inventor of the first internet web browser, and perhaps the prime venture capitalist in Silicon Valley today -- switch from his longstanding support of the Democratic Party and back President-elect Donald Trump this year?

White letter R on blue background
December 12, 2024

Wisconsin 2024: Not Critical But Still Crucial By J. Miles Coleman

KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE

— Though she still lost it by less than a percentage point, Wisconsin was Kamala Harris’s best state out of the 7 that we rated as Toss-ups during the election.

— In the traditionally red WOW counties around Milwaukee, Harris gained votes, but fewer than she would have liked.

— Though it is still a Democratic bastion, Donald Trump saw some of his biggest vote gains in Milwaukee County.

— Much of Trump’s margin in the state came from doing just a little bit better across the board in 2024 than he did in 2020.

— In the northeastern part of the state, Harris held up relatively well in the BOW counties, and several cities in that region will be worth watching going forward.

December 11, 2024

Your Tax Dollars Not at Work By John Stossel

Government excels at NOT getting things done.

But politicians promise more things anyway.

Kamala Harris declared that our government would "build thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable!" This "Broadband Connectivity Agenda" was supported by "every House Republican on Energy and Commerce," write Republican representatives.

Three years later, not a single person has been connected.