RealClearPolitics - Opinion, News, Analysis, Video and Polls

We live in an era of political news that is, all too often, shocking but not surprising. The rise of Donald Trump definitely falls into that... Read More

How Trump Can Win the General Election

Roger Simon, PJ Media

The Donald has nowhere to go but up with blacks and Latinos. Read More

Trump Is the Democrats' Dream Nominee

Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal

Donald Trump’s call on Monday for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” is unlikely to blow... Read More

Hillary Clinton and the Democrats' National Security Problem

Joe Klein, Time

Candidate refuses to listen to party's base Read More

Signal and Noise at the Paris Climate Summit

Amanda Little, The New Yorker

What are international leaders trying to convey to investors and businesses at this weekâs negotiations? Read More

This Dishonest Attack on Justice Scalia Takes the Cake

Dan McLaughlin, Federalist

A lot of arguments and attacks in politics are not totally fair, honest, or logical. But sometimes, the combination of unfairness, idiocy,... Read More

Scalia's Raging Hypocrisy

Paul Campos, Salon

During oral arguments in Wednesday’s Supreme Court case considering the constitutionality of the University of Texas at Austin’s... Read More

The Demagogic Psychology of Trump's Rallies

Ed Pilkington, The Guardian

His popularity continues to befuddle many. But attend one of his rallies and it begins to make sense: make them laugh, then draw them into... Read More

The Trump Data Card: Key to Winning the White House

Sreedhar Potarazu, FOX News

Politics is all about data now, and Trump is generating more of it every day than all the other candidates combined in a week. Read More

America's Immigration Challenge

David Frum, The Atlantic

Coming to the United States would benefit millionsâbut policymakers seldom ask whether their arrival would benefit the United... Read More

Hillary Clinton's Greatest Strength

Ivo Daalder, RCP Changing Lanes

Ivo Daalder shares his thioughts about Hillary Clinton's campaign for president: How many voters still appreciate experience over rhetoric? Read More

A Rash Leader in a Grave Time

Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal

As tribune of the base Donald Trump is successful and inadequate. You see it in the Muslim question. His strength is that he responds to and... Read More

Trump's Rhetoric Will Live in Infamy

David Ignatius, Washington Post

Nobody knows where Donald Trump will stand six months from now in this bizarre Republican presidential campaign. But you can predict with... Read More

While Media Rages, Trump Sees Path to Victory

Byron York, Washington Examiner

As the Acela Corridor fixates on Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslim immigration, the Republican front-runner's supporters in Iowa believe... Read More

The Unknowable Trump Vote

Ross Douthat, New York Times

My Campaign Stops column this week tries to explain how the current intersection of national security and immigration in the headlines... Read More

Rubio-Cruz Relationship Grows Chilly on the Trail

Rebecca Berg, RealClearPolitics

As Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz rise in the GOP presidential race, the two freshmen senators are training their fire on each other, hoping to... Read More

No Political Guardrails

Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal

Twenty-two years ago, my esteemed colleague Dan Henninger wrote a blockbuster Journal editorial titled “No Guardrails.” Its... Read More

Republicans, Guns and Abortion

Gail Collins, New York Times

The presidential race has degenerated to the point where I am going to attempt to cheer you up by talking about abortion and guns. And... Read More

Abortion Is the New Three-Fifths Compromise

Veronica Lark, The Federalist

Last Friday Robert Dear allegedly opened fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, leaving three people dead and several... Read More

Is Affirmative Action Finished?

Garrett Epps, The Atlantic

“If this Court rules that the University of Texas can’t consider race, or if it rules that universities that consider race have... Read More

GOP Ramps Up Criticism of ISIS Strategy, Sees Winning Issue

James Arkin, RCP

Republicans have been rallying against President Obama’s strategy in the war against ISIS for months but recent events have heightened... Read More

Why Take the Trump Stunt Seriously?

Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post

So how exactly does this work, Donald Trump’s plan to keep America safe from Islamic terrorism by barring entry to all Muslims? He... Read More

Trump's Lesson for the Republican Party

Thomas Lifson, American Thinker

Finally, some Trump opponents are starting to get a clue. Ace of Spades HQ has an excellent analysis of Trump’s rise in support,... Read More

The Republican Party's Dangerous Rhetoric

Donna Brazile, CNN

The Twittersphere is erupting, and for good reason: Donald Trump has called for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the... Read More

Trump's Plan May Be Dumb But Obama Is Dumber

Piers Morgan, Daily Mail

Donald Trump’s demand that all Muslims be banned from America has worked. It sparked exactly the kind of furore he hoped it would,... Read More

For GOP, Cruz May Not Be Best Alternative to Trump

Caitlin Huey-Burns, RCP

While the Republican Party is trying to figure out what to do about Donald Trump, it may have a bigger issue on its hands. Ted Cruz, who... Read More

Jingle Hell: The Debasement of Christmas Songs

Andrew Ferguson, Weekly Standard

In the city where I live, one of the pop music radio stations shifts to an all-Christmas music format beginning in... Read More

Ankara Falls Into Moscow's Trap

Kadri Gursel, Al-Monitor

What should be the key question to ask for an accurate understanding of why Ankara downed a Russian Su-24 warplane in the Turkish-Syrian... Read More

Venezuela Throws Out Socialism

Washington Examiner

Venezuela held legislative elections last weekend and the results are heartening for anyone who believes in freedom. Not since the late... Read More

Supreme Court Should Uphold Affirmative Action--Again

Washington Post

WHAT HAS happened since Grutter v. Bollinger, the 2003 Supreme Court case that upheld narrowly designed affirmative action programs at public... Read More

Rubio Has Already Cut Obamacare's Throat

New York Post

ObamaCare is on death watch. On Wednesday, Cigna CEO David Cordani said the giant insurer won’t commit to offering policies on the... Read More

Merkel a Model Person of Year

Denver Post

If Time's Person of the Year were a recognition confined to the United States, there is no doubt that it would have to be Donald Trump. He... Read More

More From Real Clear

Energy: How Congress Messed Up Ethanol - William Tucker, RealClearEnergy

History: Why Hitler Jumped at War With U.S. - Gerhard Weinberg, HNN

Markets: Grantham: 12 Economic Facts to Ruin Investors' 2016 - ThinkAdvisor

Science: Most Likely Spots for Life in Milky Way - Ramin Skibba, Science News

Sports: Does Puig Have Any Friends Left in L.A.? - Scott Miller, Bleacher Report

Videos

Hillary on Trump: "I No Longer Think He Is Funny"

Buzzfeed

CNN's Cuomo to Fiorina: "Rhetoric Coming Out Of You" Influenced Planned Parenthood Shooter

Buzzfeed

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Although Trump Isn't Committing The Terrorism, He Exploits It

Buzzfeed

"Morning Joe" Panel: What Would A Brokered Convention Look Like?

RealClearPolitics Thursday

Liberals Have Chosen The Donald as Their 'Destructor'

Glenn Reynolds, USA Today

“Choose the form of the Destructor,” says the demon in Ghostbusters. Bill Murray, et al., got thegiant Stay Puft Marshmallow... Read More

The Slippery Slope of Trumpism

E.J. Dionne, Washington Post

Remember the "Mosque at Ground Zero"?With little fanfare this fall, the New York developer who had planned to build an Islamic community... Read More

When Elites Just Don't Get It

Heather Wilhelm, RealClearPolitics

You’ve got to hand it to Donald Trump: The man knows how to command attention. Earlier this week, just as the country sat on the verge... Read More

Donald Trump, ISIS's Candidate

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Time

The terrorist campaign against American ideals is winning. Fear is rampant. Gun sales are soaring. Hate crimes are increasing. Bearded... Read More

Laying Odds on the GOP Presidential Race

Sean Trende, RealClearPolitics

After following the Republican primary race for almost a year now, it’s hard to believe that we’re less than two months away from... Read More

It's Not the Economy Anymore, Stupid

Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times

Last year, Islamic State seized control of big chunks of Iraq and Syria. This year, it's hijacking the U.S. presidential campaign.The biggest... Read More

Is Hillary Clinton the Hubert Humphrey of 2016?

Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal

With the terrorist massacre Dec. 2 in San Bernardino, the law-and-order issue returns to presidential politics.From 1968 into the 1980s, law... Read More

It's Not Chaos. It's Trump's Campaign Strategy

Schwartzman & Johnson, Wash Post

He referred to Mexicans as “rapists,” questioned Sen. John McCain’s status as a war hero, ridiculed the physical appearance... Read More

Can Trump, Cruz Win Over GOP's "Four Factions"?

Peter Berkowitz, RealClearPolitics

Republicans who actually want their party to win the White House next year are increasingly worried.When billionaire businessman and reality... Read More

Is Marco Rubio the GOP's Bill Clinton?

Eleanor Clift, The Daily Beast

In more ordinary political times, Marco Rubio’s position on abortion, opposing any exceptions, not even for rape and incest, would be a... Read More

The Coming Republican Immigration Civil War

James Antle, Washington Examiner

"This is not conservatism." With those four simple words, House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed Republican front-runner Donald Trump's proposal... Read More

Jeb Bush's Falling Star

Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe

Jeb Bush was talking Social Security in a room filled with retired people. And in case you forgot, his claim to fame — besides the... Read More

How Trump Appeals To Our Anxiety

Ivo Daalder, RCP Changing Lanes

Ivo Daalder and Tom Bevan discuss the 2016 election, specifically the wild Republican field and Donald Trump. Read More

Do College Students Hate Free Speech? Let's Ask.

Weissmueller & Garcia, Reason TV

The faculty council at Occidental College is considering instituting a system for students to report microaggressionsperpetrated against them... Read More

No, Scalia's 'Less-Advanced' Schools Remark Wasn't Racist

Michael McGough, LAT

Wednesday’s oral argument in the Supreme Court over affirmative action at the University of Texas had barely concluded before the... Read More

Emanuel Sorry, But Still Dodging Tough Questions

Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times

If black aldermen wanted to see Mayor Rahm Emanuel humbled, they got a good showing on Wednesday. Emanuel apologized for being the mayor... Read More

The Rahmea Culpa - an Expression of Deep Rahmorse

John Kass, Chicago Tribune

Just a few weeks ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said his cops had gone "fetal" on him.So what will the cops do now after the mayor threw them all... Read More

PM Update

The Evil That Cannot Be Left Unanswered

Roger Cohen, New York Times

Just outside Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey, there is a refugee camp where more than 2,700 Yazidis languish in makeshift tents more than a... Read More

Our Duty as American Muslims

Khurram Dara, Wall Street Journal

After San Bernardino, American Muslims have to come to terms with an ever more apparent truth: that we, and our mainstream Muslim brethren,... Read More

Trump Is An Embarrassment for America

Frida Ghitis, CNN

A British soldier has now taken up the cause against Donald Trump's remarks about Muslims, saying in a Facebook post gone viral that he... Read More

Why Do Democrats Insist on Clinton?

Bill Greener, Newsday

Day after day, we are treated to liberal columnists wringing their hands in feigned concern over the fate of the Republican Party.None of... Read More

Sorry Won't Cut It, Rahm, But Your Resignation Might

Derrick Clifton, Chicago Reader

Don't let "big talk" Rahm fool you. This is a mayor on the ropes yet again, but he's sure to return to his old ways.Emanuel's police... Read More

Obamacare Is Now on Life Support

Ed Morrissey, Fiscal Times

Democrats gained the political muscle to push the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through Congress on three basic arguments.First, they argued that... Read More

Millennial Voters Favor Insurgents of Both Parties

Janet Hook, Wall Street Journal

Millennial voters of both parties are leaning toward anti-establishment candidates in the 2016 campaign, a new poll released Thursday finds,... Read More

The Crisis of Republican Authority

Ross Douthat, New York Times

To understand the bind in which Donald Trump’s fascistic forays have placed the Republican Party’s leaders, it’s useful to... Read More

Win or Lose, Trump Has Awakened White Supremacist Beast

Shaun King, NYDN

For six months I've been saying that what Donald Trump is primarily offering America is a brash new form of white supremacy.The most racist... Read More

Why's CAIR Helping California Terrorists After the Fact?

Joel Pollak, Breitbart

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has sought the media spotlight following the San Bernardino terror attack last... Read More

2016 Is The Campaign From Hell

Brent Budowsky, The Hill

Campaign 2016 is becoming the campaign from hell for both parties, and for an unhappy electorate that hungrily yearns for leadership that... Read More

When It Comes To Donald Trump, I Hate Everyone

Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist

We’re now in month eight or so of Trumpmania. He has a core of support, and the media can’t get enough of him. The effect he has... Read More

Laying Odds on the GOP Presidential Race

After following the Republican primary race for almost a year now, it’s hard to believe that we’re less than two months away from the start of voting. At the same time, it’s hard to believe we still have two months until the start of voting! And while these things tend to shift radically at the end, sometimes in unpredictable ways, the race has taken enough shape that we Read More

Battle for White House

Rubio-Cruz Relationship Grows Chilly on the Trail

As Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz rise in the GOP presidential race, the two freshmen senators are training their fire on each other, hoping to distinguish their individual records and themselves. But Rubio’s and Cruz’s recent rhetoric contrasts sharply with the two men’s quieter relationship over the past few years in the Senate, where they rarely intersected or butted heads Read More

The Islamic State

The Hatred More Powerful Than a Mother's Love

Spilt across their cluttered kitchen counter was the last meal enjoyed by Tashfeen Malik and her husband, Syed Farook. Along with orange juice and paratha bread were bottles of Adderall and Xanax pills prescribed to steady the nerves. Unwashed dishes lay in the sink of the modest two-bedroom home at 53 North Center Street in Redlands, California. There were boxes of Pampers nappie Read More