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- Feed Preview E.J. Dionne
Biden’s road back: Asking Republicans ‘What are they for?’
The president needs to focus incessantly on the virus and inflation — twin challenges that are top of mind for most Americans.
Dr. King was bold. Don’t make him bland.
The civil rights leader's role in our history was not that of a politician but of a prodder of our national conscience.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/16/dr-king-was-bold-dont-make-him-bland/
History will judge Senate Democrats on voting rights, not Senate rules
Now comes the test of President Biden's powers of persuasion.
Garland’s caution is an asset when it comes to holding Trump accountable
If the former president is to be indicted, we are better off with an attorney general who is widely seen as cautious, not reckless.
Biden tells the truth in the best speech of his presidency
The most passionate, forceful and effective address of his tenure.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/06/biden-tells-truth-best-speech-his-presidency/
How to get real accountability for Jan. 6
The GOP position on voting rights shows how much Donald Trump has corrupted his party.
Must Democrats get crushed in 2022?
To avoid a midterm shellacking, Democrats need to do some things to help themselves.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/02/must-democrats-get-crushed-2022/
Our obligations to history in 2022
Our history will always be contested.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/29/our-obligations-history-2022/
Democrats’ 2022 choice: Govern or lose
Democrats have a narrow window to get a lot done. They can’t afford to indulge in recriminations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/25/democrats-2022-midterms-biden-manchin/
For Biden, going all in against the virus is the key to everything else
One speech can't solve the covid-19 crisis. But the president's Tuesday address, chock-full of new initiatives, shows that he's on the case.
The alternative to Supreme Court enlargement is surrender
Why Elizabeth Warren’s endorsement of court enlargement matters.
President Biden, push the voting bills now
At the moment, there appears to be more room for hope on the voting legislation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/15/president-biden-push-voting-bills-now/
Can Germany’s new leader teach Democrats to stop feuding?
A bit of free advice to the feuding factions blaming each other for the Democrats’ falling polling numbers: Parties that are bitterly and openly divided rarely win.
The Summit for Democracy’s challenge for Biden
The most important thing about the summit is that it's happening.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/08/summit-democracys-challenge-biden/
Say it loud, Democrats: Economic issues are ‘values’ issues, too
Republicans want to complain about "big spending." Democrats should shift the conversation to shared economic values such as care for children, workforce training and educational opportunity.
The Supreme Court’s pro-gun, pro-life problem
Conservative jurists are ready to expand states’ rights when it comes to limiting or banning abortion but equally prepared to block states from enacting gun laws.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/01/supreme-courts-pro-gun-pro-life-problem/
The hypocrisy argument on the filibuster is itself phony
No Democrat or progressive who has flipped on the filibuster is pretending they didn’t.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/28/hypocrisy-argument-filibuster-is-itself-phony/
Proper thanks to our Afghan allies requires more than words
Veterans of the long war in Afghanistan are at the forefront in welcoming Afghan refugees.
The GOP bets on resentment over problem solving
McCarthy is fully aware that the dominance of a resentment narrative serves Republicans' interest.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/21/gop-bets-resentment-over-problem-solving/
A fragile truce in Catholic bishops’ war over Biden
A split remains over Pope Francis's vision.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/17/fragile-truce-catholic-bishops-war-over-biden/
Why do Democrats let Republicans set the terms of debate?
Democrats have been tearing themselves apart over the controversies Republicans want them to talk about.
Asking military service of so few takes a toll on our democracy
We also need to take stock of the burdens that 20 years of war have imposed on a limited share of American families.
Democrats avoided defeating themselves. Now they must defeat the plutocratic populists.
Passing the infrastructure bill was essential. But the lesson of Tuesday's elections is that Democrats must find a way to attract working-class voters.
What can Democrats expect from Youngkin in Virginia? Opinions columnists answered your questions.
Columnists David Byler, E.J. Dionne, Henry Olsen and Karen Tumulty answered reader questions.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/04/va-elections-opinions-reader-qa/
Democrats have only themselves to blame
Democrats best not dismiss this election as an off-year fluke.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/03/ej-dionne-youngkin-win-in-virginia-is-no-fluke/
Take the win, Democrats, and don’t look back
Pass the spending bill and then call it a win.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/31/take-win-democrats-dont-look-back/
Pope Francis and President Biden: Their enemies bring them together
For American Catholics, the meeting between Biden and Francis will underscore how out of step many U.S. Catholic leaders are with the pontiff.
True conservatives should support filibuster reform
Democrats can fight for democracy or they can maintain the Senate’s filibuster rule. Republicans have made clear that they cannot do both.
Glenn Youngkin and the Trump Hypocrisy Two-Step
The election success or failure of the Republican candidate for Virginia governor will send a clear message on strategy to the rest of the GOP.
Our system is biased against reform. Get used to it, Democrats.
It is no good for any Democrat to have their party's legislative priorities pitted against each other.
Greg Abbott’s vaccine demagoguery: Welcome to ‘lethal partisanship’
Many Democrats will welcome the fight that Abbott and others on the far right have started.
Biden needs a reboot. Fighting for democracy is the key.
The president has suffered damage that could last if he doesn’t repair it.
Thanks to McConnell, even Biden is losing faith in the filibuster
There are better ways for the Senate to do business, the long-reluctant president has acknowledged.
Wanted: A better Build Back Better campaign
If there is good news for Biden and his party, it is that after the public chaos of the past week, now progressives and moderates know each other's strengths and red lines.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/03/wanted-better-build-back-better-campaign/
Are Democrats repeating their Obamacare mistakes?
Most Democratic senators and House members do not have a death wish, but as a party they have a gift for never making things simple.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/29/are-democrats-repeating-their-obamacare-mistakes/
Democrats: Political suicide is not a strategy
A misguided focus on the Biden agenda's $3.5 trillion price tag is feeding other misunderstandings.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/26/biden-spending-plan-misconceptions/
In Canada, challenges for both the right and left
Conservatives can't move left; progressives ignore covid-19 at their peril.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/22/canada-challenges-both-right-left/
Anthony Gonzalez gets what Democrats need to know
For all of Biden’s honorable efforts to pull the nation together, our politics remain dangerously abnormal and Donald Trump continues to be a cancer on the GOP.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/19/anthony-gonzalez-gets-what-democrats-need-know/
Boston’s quiet revolution
In Tuesday's mayoral election, four women of color amassed roughly 95 percent of ballots.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/15/bostons-quiet-revolution/
A make-or-break moment for our democracy
Democrats will either overcome their differences or prove themselves incapable of delivering the level of change they promised in 2020.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/12/make-or-break-moment-our-democracy/
We best remember 9/11 by moving beyond it
Let's move past the hubris that made us think we could remake the world by force.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/08/we-best-remember-911-by-moving-beyond-it/
Labor Day is a celebration of solidarity — and freedom
The moral worth of freedom — the ability to accomplish one’s ends — has been recognized since the founding of our country.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/05/labor-day-celebrates-solidarity-freedom/
It was time to end the long wars. Now, Biden must make a new era work.
In justifying his decision on Afghanistan, the president gave an unabashedly antiwar speech.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/01/biden-antiwar-speech-new-foreign-policy-era/
Advancing democracy abroad requires defending it at home
We must push back hard against attempts to contain or block political participation by any given group.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/29/democracy-everyone-counts-including-losers/
Can religion strengthen democracy?
The use of religion by a hard, often authoritarian right suggests that it is not always a positive force.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/25/can-religion-strengthen-democracy/
The Afghanistan outcome is ugly. Biden was still right to say: Enough.
More time would not have made things better.
When culture wars turn deadly
Political and cultural distortions of the vaccine argument are potentially catastrophic for millions of Americans.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/18/culture-war-covid-vaccine-mandates-deadly/
It’s liberals who are the tough-minded realists about policy
The spending they favor, including in Biden’s American Families Plan, is for government interventions that have been tested and proved.
Bipartisanship for infrastructure is great. Don’t expect it for much else.
If the Senate’s archaic rules remain unchanged, Republicans are still certain to block political reform.
Rich Trumka lived in solidarity
A man rooted in an old industry and in organized labor’s oldest traditions worked to secure its future by acknowledging the shortcomings of its past.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/06/richard-trumka-lived-solidarity/
The lesson from Ohio: Democrats want to fight Trump, not Biden
Progressives deliver far more as critics who are also allies of the president.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/04/lesson-ohio-democrats-want-fight-trump-not-biden/
Biden cannot sit back and let our democracy sink. He’s now showing us he gets that.
But if Biden has been right in saying that our democracy’s health depends on the country’s political system demonstrating its capacity to undertake ambitious projects, democracy’s success a...
Jan. 6 police officers give a master class on the dangers of right-wing extremism
The officers' testimony made it clear that right-wing extremism is a threat to our democracy.
Republicans unleashed a deadly vaccine skepticism. Can they now contain it?
It’s the new political geography of sickness and death.
Pelosi calls the GOP’s bluff on the Jan. 6 committee
You can’t say that Democrats didn’t try to have a fair investigation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/21/pelosi-jan-6-committee-mccarthy-jordan/
We are living in a new social democratic moment
It's easy to miss how much this president and his policies reflect a fundamental transformation of politics in recent years.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/18/joe-biden-social-democratic-moment/
Biden must embrace his own logic on voting rights
Democrats face a conundrum: How do you govern like normal in a time of crisis?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/14/biden-must-embrace-his-own-logic-voting-rights/
Stacey Abrams prods our constitutional imagination
We have become far too timid about amending our founding document to deal with new problems and changed circumstances.
Will Democrats find their inner Goldilocks?
Doing everything that Democrats would like could exceed the spending total some might find comfortable, but spending too little means priorities will be excluded.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/07/will-democrats-find-their-inner-goldilocks/
A progressive’s brand of patriotism
It should be no surprise that we have complicated attitudes toward our Founders.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/04/progressives-brand-patriotism/
Oligarchy Day at the Supreme Court
Time for advocates of democracy and equal rights to stop pretending that the court’s conservative majority is impartial or nonpartisan.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/01/oligarchy-day-supreme-court/
Biden wins on substance. So McConnell clings to process.
Can Democrats move the debate to what Biden, Sanders and others on the left want to accomplish?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/30/biden-wins-substance-so-mcconnell-clings-process/
The Catholic bishops’ anti-Biden project is backfiring
This movement is putting politics ahead of faith and ideology ahead of theology.
The GOP shows Manchin and Sinema that saving democracy is a partisan issue
The senators must accept the evidence Republicans have laid before them.
Taking on racism and crime should be the same fight
The movement for change ignited by police killings of Black Americans is running headlong into public alarm at a wave of murders across the nation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/20/taking-racism-crime-should-be-same-fight/
Biden to Putin: Stability, sure. But democracy matters.
In the end, Biden gave little ground to Putin beyond the respect he showed by meeting with the Russian president.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/16/biden-putin-stability-sure-democracy-matters/
There’s no escape from holding Trump accountable
Merrick Garland’s Democratic critics should be a bit more empathetic because he faces a genuine dilemma.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/12/theres-no-escape-holding-trump-accountable/
Advancing democracy abroad requires defending it at home
If we ignore our grand principles at home, it's our adversaries who profit.
The GOP superspreaders of Trump’s contagion
Why tying the GOP's fate to a washed-up demagogue and the extremists he cultivates could be a colossal political mistake.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/06/gop-superspreaders-trumps-contagion/
Can Biden’s conciliatory side survive the GOP’s assault on democracy?
How can there be common ground if Republicans resist action to undo what Biden called “un-American” assaults on voting rights?
Service, patriotism and the promise of Black liberation
What did freedom mean for those who faced racial oppression?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/30/service-patriotism-promise-black-liberation/
It’s crunch time for Biden
It’s clear that some of Democrats' most important objectives, especially guaranteeing the right to vote, will never win enough Republican votes to overcome a Senate filibuster.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/26/its-crunch-time-biden/
Netanyahu has more than the left to worry about
Inside the faceoff between Israel’s staunchest Democratic supporters and progressives who are sharply critical of Israel and outspoken about Palestinian rights.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/23/netanyahu-has-more-than-left-worry-about/
Congressional Democrats must remember this moment if they want to make change
Today's Republican Party is not the party of Bob Dole or Orrin Hatch.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/19/mccarthy-mcconnell-illusion-bipartisanship/
Democracy depends on two guys named Joe
Biden and Manchin's past opposition to ending the filibuster has to give way in the face of the GOP’s assault on voting rights.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/16/democracy-depends-two-guys-named-joe/
The GOP’s past election lies led to Trump’s big one
Republicans’ false allegations of voter fraud dating back two decades set the stage for the debacle with Cheney.
Tory lessons for Republicans
A Trumpist Republican Party that had taken the pandemic more seriously and delivered tangible benefits to working-class supporters might not be in such a hole today.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/09/tory-lessons-republicans/
Will Democrats break the GOP’s deficit doom loop?
Many Biden revenue proposals have been successfully applied in U.S. states and in other countries.
Biden could be the one to finally begin poaching the GOP’s core voters
Can Democrats expand on the inroads Biden began to make among voters who didn’t attend college?
Biden goes big, bold and populist
The president’s program addresses not just the past four years but the four decades since Reagan.
Joe Biden’s hundred days at the kitchen table
100 days into his presidency, Biden’s priorities are clear.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/25/joe-bidens-hundred-days-kitchen-table/
Three guilty verdicts against Chauvin are the first, absolutely necessary step forward
Our nation should celebrate this moment of justice. But there is still work to be done.
Republicans are posturing without a purpose
On infrastructure, does the GOP want to strike a pose or build things?
On taxes, the cheaters and the shirkers cost everybody else
Cheating begets more cheating.
Respectfully, Justice Breyer, court enlargers aren’t the problem
Enlarging the court is precisely what would preserve the court’s legitimacy.
What’s more important than slashing child poverty?
Biden’s improvements to the child tax credit should be made permanent.
A paralyzed democracy can’t protect us
Minority rule gets in the way of the majority’s common sense.
Biden is transforming the nation’s political assumptions
The president’s infrastructure program is good policy and smart politics.
Joe Biden is a paradigm shifter
Liberals have spent far too much time apologizing. The president said enough of that.
Treating fellow citizens as landfill
Republicans are denying D.C. citizens their constitutional right to representation.
The far right’s global retreat
Recent elections in Europe and Australia seem to herald a resurgence of liberal democracy.
Goodbye and good riddance to the filibuster
The Senate filibuster’s stranglehold on majority rule is coming to an end.
Will China get our country moving again?
China is a worthy common enemy.
Biden is leading a quiet revolution
Passage of the $1.9 trillion package could finally supplant Reaganism.
Biden is rolling back the culture war. The country should thank him.
President Biden is blunting the GOP’s wedge politics.
The crisis Biden can’t duck
The Senate’s undemocratic rules and the Democrats’ wafer-thin majority threaten President Biden’s agenda.
The GOP is trapped in Trump’s rendezvous with yesterday
His display at CPAC will do nothing to unleash a national wave of nostalgia.
The day I saw Neera Tanden’s bipartisan side
The OMB nominee is a loyal and, yes, sometimes combative Democrat, but she cares far more about policy than politics.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/25/neera-tanden-tweets-confirmation/
In defense of partisanship — the right kind
We don’t suffer from too much partisanship. We suffer from the wrong kind of partisanship.
We can’t let the gun imperialists win again
We need the reasonable among us to wrest control of the gun debate.