Erika D. Smith

There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of Max Miller, the Republican congressman from Ohio at the center of an ugly, he-said, she-said, he-said family feud that has roiled Capitol Hill this week.

At a time when left-wing candidates are racking up a dizzying number of wins in primaries across America, most recently in the swing state of Michigan, the Democratic Party seems more divided than ever over whether to double down on establishment politics or embrace the insurgency of progressivism.

With the worst approval rating of any modern US president ahead of a midterm election, Donald Trump doesn’t get much praise these days. The one exception to that is on border security. A recent Marquette Law School poll found that 52% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of illegal crossings from Mexico. Apprehensions in June were 94% below the monthly average under the Biden administration.

In late July, as Americans were preparing for another round of high-stakes midterm primaries, top elections officials were on a webinar, warning about the dangers of prediction markets — specifically how both Kalshi and Polymarket are ripe for manipulation by bad actors looking to influence public opinion to turn a profit.

When Angie Nixon, a newbie member of the Democratic Socialists of America, pulled off a double-digit victory this past week to become the Democratic Party’s US Senate nominee in Florida, it was surprising. But not half as surprising as the types of voters who supported the longtime union organizer over her establishment-backed opponent, Alex Vindman.

There are still many uncertainties over whether President Donald Trump can really implement his executive order to restrict voting by mail. But one thing is certain: If he does, he will make life more difficult for one of the Republican Party’s most loyal voting blocs — rural Americans.

Democratic socialism is having a moment — and, for much of the Democratic Party establishment, it’s been a moment of pure panic. Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who is running for Los Angeles mayor, seemed to understand this when she was asked during a recent debate how her lefty politics would affect running America’s second-largest city.

In the weeks after Graham Platner was forced to halt his Senate campaign in Maine, his career in tatters after a rape allegation, the Democratic Party has been trying to move on and forget about the oysterman's problematic........

It’s ironic that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has so often found himself at odds with the immigration hardliners who are among President Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters. Just last month, Mullin (correctly) acknowledged there’s a difference between immigrants seeking legal status and those flouting the law, and then — sin of all apparent sins — advocated for employment visas to address labor shortages.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is used to walking fine political lines. But how he navigates the one before him now will say a lot about whether he’ll be able to define himself as a populist or be cast as an elite in a likely campaign for president in 2028.