Political Commentary

Most Recent Releases

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_michael_barone/what_s_ahead_if_the_polls_are_right_or_wrong/1844250-1-eng-US/what_s_ahead_if_the_polls_are_right_or_wrong.jpg" />
                
                            October 23, 2026What's Ahead If the Polls Are Right -- or Wrong By Michael Barone
   With less than two weeks until the midterm elections, things look bad for President Donald Trump's Republican Party. \

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_daniel_mccarthy/why_george_washington_would_deport_mahmoud_khalil/1844207-1-eng-US/why_george_washington_would_deport_mahmoud_khalil.jpg" />
                
                            October 22, 2026Why George Washington Would Deport Mahmoud Khalil By Daniel McCarthy
  Mahmoud Khalil wants to take the case against his deportation all the way to the Supreme Court -- and if the justices accept it, they will be deciding one of the oldest and most controversial questions in American politics, a dispute more than 200 years old.
October 22, 2026The Governors: Ohio to Leans Democratic Among Other Changes as Dems Eye Gubernatorial Majority By Kyle Kondik and J. Miles Coleman
Overall ratings summary:HOUSE: 223 at least Leans D, 200 at least Leans R, 12 Toss-ups. See ratings.
SENATE: 49 at least Leans D, 46 at least Leans R, 5 Toss-ups. See ratings.
GOVERNORS: 26 at least Leans D, 22 at least Leans R, 2 Toss-ups. See ratings.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_john_stossel/guilty_of_wasting_our_time/1843827-1-eng-US/guilty_of_wasting_our_time.jpg" />
                
                            October 21, 2026Guilty of Wasting Our Time By John Stossel
 I shouldn't get so angry. It isn't healthy.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_stephen_moore/the_fda_should_grant_americans_the_right_to_try_new_cancer_treatments/1843739-1-eng-US/the_fda_should_grant_americans_the_right_to_try_new_cancer_treatments.jpg" />
                
                            October 20, 2026The FDA Should Grant Americans the Right to Try New Cancer Treatments By Stephen Moore
 Every few months, a young 19-year-old woman from South Carolina boards a plane to London.
October 20, 2026The House: 28 Rating Changes Push Number of Seats at Least Leaning to Democrats Past 218 By Kyle Kondik
Overall ratings summary:HOUSE: 223 at least Leans D, 200 at least Leans R, 12 Toss-ups. See ratings.
SENATE: 49 at least Leans D, 46 at least Leans R, 5 Toss-ups. See ratings.
GOVERNORS: 25 at least Leans D, 22 at least Leans R, 3 Toss-ups. See ratings.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_michael_barone/has_trump_broken_his_mcdonald_s_promise/1843381-1-eng-US/has_trump_broken_his_mcdonald_s_promise.jpg" />
                
                            October 16, 2026Has Trump Broken His McDonald's Promise? By Michael Barone
The defining moment of the 2024 presidential campaign, it can be argued, came almost exactly two years ago, on Sunday, Oct. 20, when then-former President Donald Trump traded his suit coat for a yellow apron and worked the fry station and the drive-thru window at a McDonald's.
October 16, 2026The Key State Legislative Races: GOP Plays Defense in Midwest and Elsewhere By Louis Jacobson
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— In what has become a blue 2026 midterm environment, Democrats are poised to make gains in the state legislatures, according to our second and final handicapping of state legislature control before the 2026 elections.
— In all, 15 chambers are competitive. Befitting the dynamics of the first midterm election of President Donald Trump’s second term, the Republicans are currently playing defense to a disproportionate degree.
— The GOP holds 9 of the competitive chambers, while the Democrats hold 3. Both Alaska chambers are controlled by a cross-partisan alliance, while Minnesota currently has a tied chamber. Among the 8 Toss-up chambers, 5 are currently held by the GOP.
— With this assessment, we are shifting the ratings of 10 chambers, each of them in the Democrats’ direction.
— In several legislative chambers controlled by Republicans, Democrats are hoping to ride a blue wave and break GOP supermajorities even as we do not expect them to truly challenge for the actual majority in these states.
October 15, 2026Five Senate Rating Changes as Close Battle for Majority Control Rages By J. Miles Coleman and Kyle Kondik
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— Rating changes this week leave us with five Senate Toss-ups, all in Republican-held seats.
— Republicans now need four of these five Toss-ups (Kansas, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, and Texas), although all of these save the Pine Tree State are naturally red states where it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Republicans hold on.
— Other changes involve races that are more on the periphery of the core battleground but merit watching for possible upsets or surprising trends.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_john_stossel/not_fine_at_all/1843034-1-eng-US/not_fine_at_all.jpg" />
                
                            October 14, 2026Not Fine at All By John Stossel
 Imagine getting a bill from your local government for $900,000 because they see a greenhouse on your property and just assume you're growing marijuana without a permit.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_stephen_moore/medicare_for_nobody/1842985-1-eng-US/medicare_for_nobody.jpg" />
                
                            October 13, 2026Medicare for Nobody By Stephen Moore
 Political pros will remember that a dozen or so years ago, the Democrats produced a famous (or infamous) TV ad showing a man wheeling an elderly lady in a wheelchair up a path to an overlook on a mountain. At the end of the ad, the man pushes the woman out of her chair and off the cliff.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_daniel_mccarthy/does_ai_deserve_human_rights/1842922-1-eng-US/does_ai_deserve_human_rights.jpg" />
                
                            October 13, 2026Does AI Deserve Human Rights?  By Daniel McCarthy
You can't be cruel to a toaster; inanimate objects don't feel pain.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_michael_barone/how_populist_politics_succeeds_and_fails/1842475-1-eng-US/how_populist_politics_succeeds_and_fails.jpg" />
                
                            October 9, 2026How Populist Politics Succeeds and Fails  By Michael Barone
 Why is populism, broadly defined, on the brink of historic victories around the world, while populism in the form of President Donald Trump's Republican Party is poised to lose one or both houses of Congress in the United States?

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_brian_joondeph/careful_what_you_wish_for_young_americans_and_sharia_law/1842385-1-eng-US/careful_what_you_wish_for_young_americans_and_sharia_law.jpg" />
                
                            October 8, 2026Careful What You Wish For: Young Americans and  Sharia Law  By Brian C. Joondeph, M.D.
Young Americans take pride in being socially progressive.
October 8, 2026Four Rating Changes, Headlined by Alaska Senate Moving to Leans Democratic By J. Miles Coleman and Kyle Kondik
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— Of the Democrats’ red state Senate targets, Alaska may be the most promising, and we are moving the race from Toss-up to Leans Democratic.
— For the first time all cycle, Republicans now need to win more of our Toss-ups to hold the Senate than Democrats need to win in order to flip it.
— Other rating changes come in the Alaska and Oregon gubernatorial races, which both land in Leans Democratic from opposite directions, while South Carolina’s Senate election moves from Safe Republican to Likely Republican.
October 8, 2026Republicans Try to Avoid a Crossover District Shutout; Four House Rating Changes By Kyle Kondik
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE— While we don’t expect this to happen, Republicans may not win a single House race this year in a district that Kamala Harris carried in 2024.
— As it stands now, we think Democrats are favored in every Harris-won seat but two: Rep. Mike Lawler (R, NY-17) is in a Toss-up race, and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R, PA-1) is in Leans Republican.
— We have four rating changes this week, including upgrading Democratic chances in the open NE-2, one of the few Harris-won districts Republicans carried in 2024.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_john_stossel/trillionaires/1842199-1-eng-US/trillionaires.jpg" />
                
                            October 7, 2026Trillionaires By John Stossel
 How much money should any one person have?

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_stephen_moore/why_are_americans_so_pessimistic/1842111-1-eng-US/why_are_americans_so_pessimistic.jpg" />
                
                            October 6, 2026Why Are Americans So Pessimistic? By Stephen Moore
In nearly every way, Americans have more material wealth, better health, better housing and more of just about everything than ever before. Not just the rich, but nearly everyone.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_daniel_mccarthy/latin_america_s_many_trumps/1842091-1-eng-US/latin_america_s_many_trumps.jpg" />
                
                            October 6, 2026Latin America's Many Trumps By Daniel McCarthy
  Latin America is turning right, and it's a vindication for President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

                    <img src="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/var/plain/storage/images/_aliases/wide_266/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_michael_barone/toward_the_final_stretch_and_beyond/1841595-1-eng-US/toward_the_final_stretch_and_beyond.jpg" />
                
                            October 2, 2026Toward the Final Stretch -- and Beyond By Michael Barone
Haven't we seen this movie before? Voters, weary of a Republican president whose foreign or domestic policies don't seem to be delivering as promised, seem on the verge of a massive rejection of his party.