Perry Bacon

Jan 15, 2025 | washingtonpost.com | Perry Bacon

Diversity initiatives, particularly the diversity, equity and inclusion programs that proliferated in corporate America over the past decade, have some shortcomings. But the rapid retrenchment of DEI is another indication that the United States is going backward only a few years after the widespread protests of George Floyd's killing seemed to signal that the country was finally ready to truly address its long history of discrimination and inequality.

Dec 11, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Perry Bacon

Since Vice President Kamala Harris's election defeat last month, a new talking point has become increasingly prominent among Democratic politicians and strategists - both centrists and progressives. Republican efforts to limit transgender rights, these Democrats argue, are a "distraction," an attempt to essentially trick Democrats into focusing on issues that don't affect most Americans. I'm very leery of this distraction thinking.

Dec 5, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Perry Bacon

Center-left and establishment Democrats are trying to marginalize the party's left wing in the wake of Vice President Kamala Harris's loss last month, in some ways mirroring what moderates - including Bill Clinton - did in the late '80s and early '90s. The bashing of progressives started almost immediately after the election - and hasn't stopped since. Commentator James Carville said Harris could " never wash off the stench" of left-wing rhetoric such as "defund the police." Rep.

Dec 3, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Perry Bacon

Some of Vice President Kamala Harris’s top advisers spoke to “Pod Save America” in an interview that aired last week. Like the campaign they ran, the interview was unconvincing and uninspiring. Here are some of the lowlights:They didn’t admit mistakes.

Nov 25, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Perry Bacon

Democracy Dies in DarknessIt’s a rare area with surprising bipartisan coalitions that might continue, even under Trump. November 25, 2024 at 6:30 a.m. ESTThe Biden years have featured some surprising bipartisan and cross-ideological coalitions on education issues, including school vouchers and protests on college campuses, that might extend into Donald Trump’s presidency. It’s the rare policy area where the divides aren’t simply along party lines.