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Jan 9, 2025 | 
brookings.edu | Elaine Kamarck |Jordan Muchnick
The richest man in the world now sits close to the President elect and uses his powerful social media platform, X, to opine on everything from daylight savings time to visas for skilled workers. As the new administration takes shape, the number of multi-millionaires and billionaires moving to Washington grows. While this is good for Washington area real estate agents, is it good for democracy?
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
brookings.edu | Elaine Kamarck
The Trump administration should be congratulated for making government efficiency a high priority. Absolutely no one, liberal or conservative, wants to see their tax dollars wasted. But cutting government is a tricky business for two reasons. The first, outlined in a companion piece here by John Dilulio, is that the vast majority of the government’s work is not conducted by civil servants paid by the federal government—it is conducted by contractors who spend tax dollars.
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Nov 7, 2024 | 
brookings.edu | Elaine Kamarck
In the weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election, speculation was rampant that if Harris won it would be because of a historic gender gap in favor of women, a gap that ran through all the age cohorts in the electorate and that would be magnified by the gap in voter turnout between men and women.
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Oct 28, 2024 | 
brookings.edu | Elaine Kamarck
The closing weeks of the presidential election have been full of disinformation. Some of it—like Haitian immigrants stealing cats and eating them, for instance—is downright false. But some of it starts with a kernel of truth and either misrepresents the facts, blows small problems into huge ones, or ignores the all-important role of context in interpreting what happened.
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Oct 25, 2024 | 
brookings.edu | Elaine Kamarck |Jordan Muchnick
Welcome to the 2024 Presidential Candidate Tracker.
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Oct 16, 2024 | 
brookings.edu | Elaine Kamarck |Jordan Muchnick
Every time a new form of media comes along, politicians work to master it. In the 1930s, FDR understood the power of radio and connected with the American people through his “fireside chats.” Kennedy understood the power of television and utilized it to communicate his messages, appearing fit and immaculate every time he was on camera. Now podcasts have joined the rest as the newest method of communication, especially among young people.
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Oct 7, 2024 | 
brookings.edu | Elaine Kamarck
A great deal has been written about the gender gap ever since it appeared in presidential elections in the 1980s. Since then, many elections have seen a clear difference in the way men and women vote—in general, women tend to vote more frequently for Democratic candidates and men for Republican candidates.
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Oct 2, 2024 | 
brookings.edu | William Galston |Elaine Kamarck
To the surprise of many Americans, last night’s vice presidential debate was civil, substantive, and focused on the policy issues that people care about the most. The candidates refrained from personal attacks and even found surprising areas of agreement. Citizens interviewed right after the debate ended expressed their appreciation for a debate that wasn’t painful to watch and actually stuck to major issues. This was not the only surprise.
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Sep 30, 2024 | 
brookings.edu | Elaine Kamarck
The first televised presidential debate occurred in 1960 between Senators John Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Richard Nixon (R-Calif.). But the first vice presidential debate didn’t occur until 16 years later in 1976. In those 16 years, two vice presidents became presidents: the first, Lyndon B. Johnson, as the result of the assassination of President Kennedy and the second, Gerald Ford, as the result of the resignation of Richard Nixon.
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Sep 11, 2024 | 
brookings.edu | William Galston |Elaine Kamarck
Presidential debates have impact when they address questions and concerns about the candidates that are top of mind for voters. As last night’s crucial presidential debate began, in a race that was statistically dead even, both candidates had work to do. Kamala Harris faced three key challenges. First, 37% to 42% of voters in some swing states knew virtually nothing about her except that she serves as Joe Biden’s vice president. Filling in this gap, or at least beginning to, was job one.
