Election Day delivered a presidential victory for the Democratic Party and narrowed the partisan split in the U.S. House and Senate. But it was nevertheless a victory for Republicans in the battle every decade to draw state and congressional districts that favor their party. Beginning in 2021, states will begin […]
Trump’s Challenge Of The 2020 Election Will Not Lead To Civil War Five Reasons Why
Some Americans fear that the deep political divisions in the country and President Donald Trump’s determination to challenge the results of the election will cause civil war. Those who object to Trump’s tactics argue that he behaves like an autocrat. Delegitimizing sources of information that resist his narrative, demonizing political […]
A Brief History – Why The Founders Favored Civility Instead Of Presidents Snubbing Their Successors
It’s beyond dispute: Donald Trump won’t go down in history as a model of civility. Examples of his bad manners abound. When he gave his first inaugural speech, the president craftily avoided any nod to his defeated opponent, Hillary Clinton, or to the other half of the electorate. Then he […]
Congress And The White House May Act, While The Supreme Court Deliberates On The Affordable Care Act
For the third time in a decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has heard oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. The case of California v. Texas, heard on Nov. 10, is its most recent major legal challenge. Taking place eight days after Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s first […]
Biden Recalls The Democratic Charity Of Abraham Lincoln In Appealing To ‘Give Each Other A Chance’
On Nov. 7, in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Joe Biden delivered his first speech as president-elect. In declaring victory, Biden spoke directly to those who didn’t support him. “And to those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of elections myself. But […]
Experts On What A Biden Win Means For Race Relations, US Foreign Policy And The Supreme Court
The American public has had its say and for the first time in a generation denied a sitting president a second term. President Donald Trump’s tenure lasted just four years, but in that time he dragged policy on an array of key issues in a dramatic new direction. Joe Biden’s […]
The 2020 Election – Trump’s Pennsylvania Lawsuits Invoke Bush V. Gore, But The Supreme Court Probably Won’t Decide The Election
The Trump campaign has filed two lawsuits in federal court over ballot counting and voting deadlines in Pennsylvania, threatening to take the election to the Supreme Court. Both consciously echo the two main legal theories of Bush v. Gore, the infamous Supreme Court case that decided the contested 2000 presidential […]
The United States Has A Long History Of Contested Elections – A Contested Election Won’t Destroy American Democracy
With the outcome of the 2020 presidential election still hanging on the uncounted votes in a handful of battleground states, President Donald Trump has already prematurely declared victory and said he will take the election fight to the Supreme Court. Joe Biden said that “It’s not my place or Donald […]
Resolving A Disputed Presidential Election Why There’s So Much Legal Uncertainty
As I’ve Zoom-traveled the country speaking about legal issues involving the election, I have found myself, as well as audiences, bewildered and frustrated by one underlying question: Why is there so much legal uncertainty about so many critical questions concerning the rules for resolving a disputed presidential election? If ever […]
What Was Trump’s Trade War Good For? Not Much
The 2016 election was a referendum on free trade, which many blamed for destroying millions of American manufacturing jobs. In 2020, it could be about the merits of trade wars. During President Donald Trump’s first term, he tore up deals, launched a trade war with China and renegotiated NAFTA. His […]