If he has nothing else going for him in the presidential race, Donald Trump has charisma. His provocative comments and trademark mannerisms grant him the power to elicit extreme reactions in the American people. According to polling since the beginning of the race, Trump’s primary basis of support has been coming from the far right of the … Read more
While tensions were certainly high between the GOP candidates during the third Republican Debate, in an unexpected twist, the GOP candidates launched most of their attacks on the CNBC moderators. What started out as a cordial affair gradually broke down as candidates began by accusing the moderators of asking malicious questions, and then eventually took the … Read more
Chris Christie entered Wednesday night’s debate with more on the line than any other Republican candidate. According to RealClearPolitics, Christie has fallen in the polls from a high of 20% in December 2013 to a paltry 2% average in the four most recent national polls. In fact, it’s easy to forget that less than a … Read more
Falsehoods, missteps, and exaggerations are endemic to all political debates, especially presidential ones. An informed viewer often times feels frustrated by the end of these discussions, annoyed especially by the candidate’s ability to say anything unchallenged. In the last Republican Debate, though, the moderators exhibited that same frustration and were able to press the candidates … Read more
America’s schools have begun to fall behind the international competition, with American students ranking 24th in the world in reading, 28th in science, and an especially disappointing 36th in math according to the most recent data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). In recent years, education reformers and political leaders from both political … Read more
Political correctness, an often-ambiguous phrase, has in recent months become a hallmark of Republican rhetoric against Democrats. Those on the right have asserted that the First Amendment rights of Americans are slowly eroding. Those on the left have responded that our diversifying society is simply becoming more tolerant and accepting. Yet the American understanding of … Read more
It has now been over a month since Turnbull took to Australia’s highest office. Approval ratings remain high as 63 percent of voters rate the new leader as their preferred Prime Minister and the government leads two-party preferred polls at 52 per cent to the Opposition’s 48 per cent. Turnbull’s gamble for leadership has already … Read more
Shea Serrano is a staff writer for Grantland. He recently published The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated and Deconstructed, which became a New York Times best-seller this week. Harvard Political Review: In 1992 VP candidate Dan Quayle said that “2Pacalypse Now” “has no place in our … Read more
Bernie Sanders has been called many things: a socialist, an “elderly dyspeptic Bilbo Baggins,” and most recently—in the words of climate change activist and Sanders supporter Bill McKibben—a “hurricane.” Fittingly, on October 3, more than 26,000 Bostonians flooded the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center to hear to the unconventional Democratic presidential candidate speak. Walking up to the podium, … Read more
In the two years since he assumed the pontificate, Pope Francis has made it clear he won’t abstain from politics. As pope, he has weighed in on a wide range of politically divisive topics, including climate change, immigration, and the globalized economy, often with a sharp tongue, referring to unrestrained capitalism as the “dung of … Read more