Democrat

Social media has indeed amplified, but still simply carried on, the tradition of American politics that favors appearances over reality.

BY JEFF ROUSSET Be prepared for eight years of President Trump. Van Jones recently offered that warning at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. That’s the cost if Democrats fail to learn from 2016. We can’t just blame Russia for Trump, and it’s not enough to criticize Republicans. We need to understand the problems facing […]

BY MATTHEW ERIC SPECTOR Throughout a fraught 2017, my home state of New Jersey has been frequently, even exquisitely, dragged through the mud on the national stage. Governor Chris Christie will leave office as the most unpopular governor in the state’s history. This summer, Christie even outed himself as a “shoobie,” a term Jersey natives […]

BY JAMES PAGANO The Democratic National Committee is in trouble. Revelations by former Interim Chairwoman Donna Brazile have re-aggravated still-open wounds from the 2016 primary battle. If the DNC can’t quickly re-establish itself as a neutral arbiter of party functions, current suspicions that the party systematically favors specific candidates will metastasize in voters’ minds, depressing […]

BY LIZ HANSON Governor Dean is not interested in rehashing the 2016 election. There are a range of reasons he believes contributed to Secretary Hillary Clinton’s loss on November 8th, but that is all, as he puts it, “hindsight.” While he rattled off a few—globalization, populism, Russian influence, Jim Comey—he was more interested in looking […]

BY JAMES PAGANO To kick off the Kennedy School Review’s special series In the Statehouse, Governor Dukakis spoke with me about what drew him to politics, how racial attitudes in Massachusetts have changed over time, his own advice for policy students interested in state government, and his aspirations for a more united Democratic Party. Michael […]