Brookings Institution
Senior Fellow in the Governance Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and the Director of its Center for Effective Public Management; author of Primary Politics: Everything You Need to Know about How America Nominates Its Presidential Candidates and Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again; Hillary Clinton superdelegate
Post primary wrap, what’s the takeaway? California’s billed as the heart of “resistance” to President Trump. But in this month’s Golden State primary, young and Latino voters stayed home. That’s produced a clash of voices between Progressive Democrats and Clinton-era Centrists. What will that mean come November with control of the Congress at stake?
Are too many Democrats are vying for House seats? Democrats see this year’s midterm elections as a way to take back some control and many are running for House seats. At the same time, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is pressuring some progressive Democrats to drop out. Is that a winning strategy?
Are millennials embracing democratic socialism? Millennials helped Democrats to a major upset in Alabama’s Senate race. Will their growing preference for socialism be a threat to party unity in this year’s Congressional elections? Idealists and realists disagree. Added Attraction: Robin Wright on the background and the future of instability in Iran.
The Democrats in Philadelphia: Looking for Brotherly Love Bernie Sanders will address the convention tonight, along with Michelle Obama and Elizabeth Warren. But even before tonight's opening session, the Democratic Convention has seen its first casualty. National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz took the fall for some 20,000 leaked emails showing some staff members favored Hillary Clinton and wanted to sabotage Bernie Sanders.
Will Party Concessions Put Out "The Bern?" Hillary Clinton calls Donald Trump "a divider, not a uniter." But it's Bernie Sanders who's dividing her own Party. Hoping to make peace, the Democrats have given him a big voice in the party platform…only to have him promise to make the process "messy." His appointees include a supporter of Palestinian rights and one of President Obama's harshest African-American critics. So, as the campaign heats up in California, the battle continues — despite Clinton supporters who warn that it's making life easier for Donald Trump.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?