Political Jason

Republicans care a whole lot about election security these days. Fueled in part by the “Big Lie,” the baseless claim that there was widespread fraud in last year’s election, Republican lawmakers around the country have made an aggressive push to pass new laws to prevent what they saw as a nightmare scenario from happening again. While the motivation to improve election security is spurious, the ostensible goal isn’t — everyone would agree that a secure election is important for democracy….

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The murder trial for Derek Chauvin was notable in many ways. Not only was it significant to George Floyd’s family, who was able to receive some semblance of the justice they’ve pushed for since Floyd’s death, but it’s also notable simply because of how rare it is for police officers to be charged for using excessive or fatal force — let alone convicted.  On Tuesday, a jury in Minneapolis ruled that Chauvin was guilty on all three charges: second-degree murder,…

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In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight politics podcast, the crew talks about the politics of reparations for slavery after a Democratic proposal in the House advanced out of committee for the first time since it was first introduced in Congress in 1989. They also discuss the appeal of celebrity candidates and what it tells us about our politics. Powered by WPeMatico

The political media has long been both powerful and controversial — no surprise, as it essentially plays the role of referee in American politics. But how the media covers politics is perhaps more important than ever right now, as the United States is dealing with big, super high-stakes issues, most notably the COVID-19 pandemic and America’s partisan “uncivil war.” Like major corporations, the media is in the crosshairs of fights between the two parties where there may be no middle…

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By Galen Druke, Perry Bacon Jr., Alex Samuels and Micah Cohen, Galen Druke, Perry Bacon Jr., Alex Samuels and Micah Cohen, Galen Druke, Perry Bacon Jr., Alex Samuels and Micah Cohen and Galen Druke, Perry Bacon Jr., Alex Samuels and Micah Cohen   More: Apple Podcasts | ESPN App | RSS The idea of the celebrity politician isn’t going away just because former President Trump is out of office. Caitlyn Jenner says she’s in the process of deciding whether to…

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Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup. Poll(s) of the Week Only 47 percent of American adults said they were members of a church, mosque or synagogue, according to recently released polling that was conducted by Gallup throughout last year. It marked the first time that a majority of Americans said they were not members of a church, mosque or synagogue since Gallup first started asking Americans about their religious membership in the 1930s. Indeed, Gallup’s finding was a kind…

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If you’ve ever been in a conversation about politics, you’ve probably heard someone say, “I don’t like either party” or “Politics is just so ugly these days.” That person also may have claimed not to identify as a Democrat or a Republican but as an independent instead. Today, that person is pretty representative of how Americans identify politically. The share of Americans who say they’re independent has climbed considerably, according to Gallup’s quarterly party affiliation data. In the late 1980s,…

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By Galen Druke, Alex Samuels and Anna Rothschild, Galen Druke, Alex Samuels and Anna Rothschild and Galen Druke, Alex Samuels and Anna Rothschild   More: Apple Podcasts | ESPN App | RSS A Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer shot and killed Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, after a traffic stop on Sunday. His death occurred while a jury continues to hear arguments over whether Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in 2020. In the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s death, public…

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In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses how public opinion of the Black Lives Matter movement has changed since last summer and what that means for police reform more broadly. Powered by WPeMatico

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited. sarah (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): With unified control of the White House and Congress, Democrats are pushing a number of sweeping legislative priorities, from an expansive voting-reform bill to weakening the filibuster to now possibly adding (or at least studying the possibility of adding) more justices to the Supreme Court. This raises a number of questions about the Democrats’ ambitious agenda, including: Is it good for democracy?  Is…

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