Philip Bump
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Democrats Are in Trouble in North Carolina, Everywhere Else Thanks to Demographics
According to complex voter models and updated theories of voter psychology, we can now state: Democrats are in trouble in 2014, particularly in the close Senate race in North Carolina. Thanks, science!
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2016 Republicans Target Black Democrats and Poor White Republicans with One Magic Bullet
Once 2016 finally rolls around, Republican candidates have to negotiate two very different electorates in the primary (white Republicans) and the general election (black Democrats) that often share one commonality: economic struggle.
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Wall Street Would Be Just Fine with President Hillary Clinton, Unlike She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named
To be clear, there is no indication that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren plans to run for president in 2016 and every indication that she doesn't. But if she did, not even her new book could possibly help her chances more than reports that Wall Street would be a-okay with President Hillary Clinton.
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GOP Congressman Michael Grimm Comes Out for Climate Change, Will Reportedly Be Indicted
New York Rep. Michael Grimm's Friday began with a flurry of good press from the left centered on his change of heart on climate change. It ends with a report from Politico that he will be indicted.
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Meet the Two Most Influential, Beautiful People in the World
This week saw the unveiling of two of the most thorough indices in modern America: Time's 100 Most Influential People and People's 50 Most Beautiful. Only two people — Beyoncé and Kerry Washington — appear on both.
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The Kochs' Alternative GOP Comes Out Against Columbus Zoo Animals
Ohio's chapter of Americans For Prosperity, the Koch-brother-funded activist group, sent out a mailer opposing a funding increase for the Columbus, Ohio zoo.
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Watch: Cliven Bundy Explains Why Martin Luther King Jr. Would Be on His Side
Ohhhhh boy. Cliven Bundy went on CNN's "New Day" to defend himself this morning, one day after we all found out that the former conservative hero rancher is actually pretty racist.
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Boehner Uses Whiny Voice to Mock Republicans Blocking Immigration Reform
In one brief, destined-for-virality clip, House Speaker John Boehner both undercut his main argument for delaying a vote on immigration and gave House Republicans another reason to vote against his leadership role in January.
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The Difference Between Cliven Bundy and Phil Robertson Is That Bundy Didn't Invoke Religion
The outrage at Cliven Bundy's comments about "the Negro" is bipartisan in way that the outrage at Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson was not. The two, you may recall, said broadly similar things about black people, but Bundy never disparaged gay people in the name of his religious beliefs.
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Eric Holder Wants to Maybe Quit Soon, Threatening Obama's Shot at a Record
Attorney General Eric Holder's repeated flirtation with leaving his post renewed on Thursday. Curious about how long cabinet members usually stay in their positions — do they usually leave in year six? — I decided to figure it out.
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What's the Middle Point Between a Tech-Ignorant Supreme Court and an Industry-Linked FCC?
We've seen two extremes of D.C. decision-making this week: a Supreme Court baffled by simple technology concepts and an industry-friendly FCC apparently poised to hand telecommunications firms a giant gift. Is this as good as government gets?
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Once Common, A Controversial Word Reemerges in the New York Times
An uncommon word appeared in a front-page article in Thursday's New York Times: Negro. Has the paper printed that word at any other point this year? This century?
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Cliven Bundy Neatly Encapsulates a Potent Crossroads of Opposition to Obama
There were already a lot of lessons about the modern political landscape to be drawn from the standoff of rancher Cliven Bundy and federal agents in Nevada, but Bundy's comments looping in race and the welfare state reveal one of the most important: President Obama embodies a number of the things that his opponents dislike most.
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The Newly Announced Clemency Process Could Free Thousands of Prisoners — Or Very Few
As anticipated, the Department of Justice on Wednesday unveiled a process for granting clemency to federal inmates convicted under harsh mandatory sentencing guidelines.
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Remembering Movies We Loved Too Much as Teens
The good, the bad, the stuff that stuck with us over the years
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Even in Death, Barack Obama's Aunt Zeituni Is a Talking Point
One detail in an article about President Obama's complex and faltering relationship with his family energized conservatives on Wednesday: Obama missed his aunt's funeral because he was playing golf.
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Texas' Republican Candidate for Governor Is Ginning Up a Bundy-Style Land Fight
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott — who is running for governor in November — wrote a letter to the Bureau of Land Management blasting a (possible) move to make (up to) 90,000 acres of Texas federal property.
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Democrats Lead in Key Southern Senate Races — But Please Don't Panic / Celebrate Just Yet
The Wire strongly recommends that you not tie your emotional state to the fluctuations of Senate polling, but you should you fail to follow that advice: Prepare to be irrationally elated, Democrats.
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GOP Leaders Are Successfully Fighting Off the Tea Party Rebellion (For Now)
The long-expected Tea Party-versus-Republican-establishment primary brawl seems to have largely evaporated. The real battles may emerge in January 2015, when the party needs to pick the House Speaker — and maybe also a new leader in the Senate.
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The FBI Allegedly Used the No-Fly List to Coerce Muslims to be Informants
Four Muslim men are accusing the FBI of using the "no fly" list as an threat in order to coerce them into cooperating with terror investigations
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